| You know, it's really a pain when your favorite CD's start to skip from scratches they've endured over time. In the past, it's meant a trip out to the music store to buy a new copy, and use the old copy as a coaster. WipeOut! helps you bring back those CD's. The kit, which comes in a package the size of a kid's juice box, is very simple. It includes a bottle of micro-abrasive compound, and a polishing cloth.
Wipe Out!
Esprit Development Corporation
Suggested Retail: $14.99
Highlights: Inexpensive, easy to use, and it works great.
Low lights: Now everybody wants their CDs fixed.
The concept is simple: the micro abrasive compound is used to polish away any scratches, restoring the CD. It sounded too good to be true, so we put it to the test.
We found a CD that had been skipping rather annoyingly, and very consistently. Turning it over, we found the scratch, near the outside edge on the shiny side. When looking for the offending scratch, remember that CDs play from the inside out.
We applied a small dab of polish onto the included cloth, and began to rub the area. Very shortly, the scratch seemed to be gone, although the surface of the CD seemed to be a bit hazed, and coated with very fine scratches. This is normal.
The CD was popped into the player, and "Eureka!" it worked! No skipping! We tried a few other CDs, with similarresults. This stuff really worked.
A bottle of this stuff goes for less than fifteen bucks, which is what you'd pay for one CD, and it can repair approximately 80 CDs. It more than pays for itself with just one or two saved discs.
The compound works by softening the surface of the hard plastic disc, allowing it to be polished more easily.
According to the manufacturer, scratches up to 90% of the disc's thickness can be eliminated without affecting the thin metal layer onto which the music data is encoded.
For the money, this is a great product, and an easy way to save those favorite CD's from the trash heap.
-Leo Soderman
Copyright (c) 1998 EH Publishing, Inc. |
