Can you tell if a disc has been buffed???

[neogamer]

Here is another question I thought I would ask the members of this forum. Is there any way to tell if a disk has been "buffed"? I buy a lot of PS2 and Xbox games and I don't normally buy used. However, it is getting hard to find new games that I need to fill in the gaps in my collection.

Can you tell if a disc has been buffed? I would love to know. Any experts out there on this particular subject?

[DKTheArcadeRat]

Usually I can only tell because I do the resurfacing and know what I have done, that and I tend to leave resurfacing solution residue on the outside of the disc. But not having seen discs "buffed" by other people(on different types of machines)I'd say that there is a chance you can tell(check outside and center of disc for residue)(check for marks left behind from polishing cloth, or other marks from resurfacing). Its hard to tell whether or not PS2 or XBOX games have been resurfaced though(esp. DVD based games) as they really do just end up looking basically like new.

So hopefully something in there was helpful.

Dave

[neogamer]

I'm just wondering if there is a way to tell, because I believe in the future most collectors would consider this a form of restoration. I have seen games that I believe are suspect, but cannot prove it. I know if I'm paying $100+ for a disc based game, I want it untouched!

I do not have enough experience on this subject yet so that is why I asked if anybody knew if you could tell the difference.

[Griking]

Personally if I bought a CD based game and couldn't tell then it wouldn't bother me. I'd only be concerned if something was obviously noticeable.

[walrusmonger]

there is no way to tell if a disc has been buffed if the person is using a fresh buffing pad, a clean cloth and knows what they're doing.

if they don't have fresh material or are inexperienced, you can check (as dk said) for residue or wavy lines.

When I worked at a game store with a buffing machine, most of the discs would look the same as new games after I was done.

Of course the condition of the disc before buffing makes a huge difference too :)

[Niku-Sama]

i hjave acually noticed that after buffing the edge of the disc is more tapered off that it would be normally, i notice such stupid little things as such but i wouldnt let it affect the collection, i doubt many people will pay that close attention in the future and call buffed discs a form of resto.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

I dont know how on earth to describe what it looks like. But if you've used a disc doctor, etc. you can tell the difference.

[neogamer]

I dont know how on earth to describe what it looks like. But if you've used a disc doctor, etc. you can tell the difference.


A disc doctor is a very crude contraption. I am talking about a couple hundred dollar device used by game stores, retailers, and movie rental stores, that buff out scratches and essentially resurface the disc.

They are two different things. Trust me, don't ever use a disc doctor on your games! I can tell you from experience that I have ruined some very expensive games that way!

[intvsama]

A disc doctor is a very crude contraption. I am talking about a couple hundred dollar device used by game stores, retailers, and movie rental stores, that buff out scratches and essentially resurface the disc.

They are two different things. Trust me, don't ever use a disc doctor on your games! I can tell you from experience that I have ruined some very expensive games that way!

If you bought it from Game Crazy it's been buffed. 8*)

Seriously man, go to Microplay. It's 2 minutes farther down the road and the staff there isn't a bunch of Madden asshats, they actually play more than just mainstream 'hardcore' games. I've had the crew there buff some stuff for me and I've never had any issues with any buff jobs, even with Dreamcast games.

[DKTheArcadeRat]

Wow, dreamcast games? Even I can't do those. And I am pretty awesome, but I am just afraid to touch the games if they are working just because it is such a delicate thing.

Anyway, Walrusmonger, I would think you might have done PS1 games before. How do i get it so it doesn't leave little "scratch-marks" as it were when i finish cleaning the disc? (we use the one-step CD-Repairman unit thing at Drexel923's store where I do the buffing).

(continue on, don't mean to threadjack)

Dave

[otaku]

I don't mind a game being "restored" with buffing as long as its done well all of my small local shops do a fine job stuff looks brand new when I get it

[Icarus Moonsight]

Disk Doctor and other at-home resurfacing is quite obvious. Makes the disk look much like a satelite view of a hurricane. It works, unless the damage is too severe, it's just not pretty. Deep gouges and certain angles of scratches requires a better machine.

[sisko]

It is pretty obvious if a game has been resurfaced by GameStop and their inferior machines.

They usually have some solution left on disc interior, and have millions of very very fine arced scratches which are hard to see at first glance. I would avoid those if possible.

[neogamer]

A disc doctor is a very crude contraption. I am talking about a couple hundred dollar device used by game stores, retailers, and movie rental stores, that buff out scratches and essentially resurface the disc.

They are two different things. Trust me, don't ever use a disc doctor on your games! I can tell you from experience that I have ruined some very expensive games that way!

Doug (the owner):

Is that you??

Microplay is a complete mess!

Please, if that is you, learn to clean! I'll appreciate it! And make your associates dress a little more professional then rock T-shirts and clothes that smell of drugs that high school dropouts do!

[neogamer]

It is pretty obvious if a game has been resurfaced by GameStop and their inferior machines.

They usually have some solution left on disc interior, and have millions of very very fine arced scratches which are hard to see at first glance. I would avoid those if possible.

If you ever take a disc to be buffed by a major video game chain and they are busy, expect to get horrible quality! This is what prompted me to ask this question in the first place. I have had several experience where the disc looks ten times worse than it does, before I even had it "buffed." Go figure!

[intvsama]

Doug (the owner):

Is that you??

Microplay is a complete mess!

Please, if that is you, learn to clean! I'll appreciate it! And make your associates dress a little more professional then rock T-shirts and clothes that smell of drugs that high school dropouts do!

Reason why Microplay's so dirty? They do business. They generally don't have a whole lot of time to clean when there's... you know... customers buying stuff. A problem Game Crazy doesn't really have. 8*)

[youruglyclone]

perhaps someone will indulge me.

how much does a good cd resurfacing machine costs? got any companies worth recommending?

[neogamer]

perhaps someone will indulge me.

how much does a good cd resurfacing machine costs? got any companies worth recommending?




I wish I knew, as I was looking to buy one as well! If anyone has any info on the matter, please post!

[PapaStu]

Wow, dreamcast games? Even I can't do those. And I am pretty awesome, but I am just afraid to touch the games if they are working just because it is such a delicate thing.

Anyway, Walrusmonger, I would think you might have done PS1 games before. How do i get it so it doesn't leave little "scratch-marks" as it were when i finish cleaning the disc? (we use the one-step CD-Repairman unit thing at Drexel923's store where I do the buffing).

(continue on, don't mean to threadjack)

Dave


Those are hard to do. I used to buff PS discs on a professional machine back when I worked in my music store. Theres something about the plastic composition that makes them VERY VERY delicate to buffing. If its not light and done quickly, you'll just end up marking the disk, no matter how good you are, or your machine is. The machine I used was done by hand (thing a pair of grinding and buffing wheels) so I could see pretty quickly if it was going to work or not and 4/5 it didn't work, or it left light reminant scratches. Not to mention that the buffer could easily eat away alot of the underside of the CD.

Back to the topic question. If you've got a Professional machine, and its a good one, you most likely won't notice scratches. If you look REALLY REALLY close you might see the light circular scratches left that the machine puts on before they get 'buffed' down. Lazy cleanup will leave you with compound/compound residueon the outer edge and on the inner portion of the spindle, thats wipeable so its not an issue. GameStop's that have cleaners (which are getting rare) round out the edge on the discs, so that when you look at them, the outer edge is rounded smooth and doesn't have the sharpness of a normal disc.

The question of buying a professional machine's cost? Thousands. The really nice automated ones (that just require you loading up a spindle of scratched discs, the machine does the rest) will cost in the range of 10k+. Lesser machines won't cost as much (a few grand), but require manual changing per disc ect. You can find services online that do fixes, but it looks like costs start at a good 2 bucks a pop a disc, and only go down with high quantities and/or acculmated totals.