Panasonic Q remote+drive issues

Hey
I bought a panasonic Q the other day
It works ok except for the fact that it is massively picky about gamecube discs and the remote seems to be buggered
The remote works at first but thena fter about five minutes it jsut stops working entirely, I don't know if it's the console or the remote which is causing the problem but it renders the dvd player almost useless. It's almost as though it sucks the batteries dry or something, does anyone have any ideas what I could do?

Also any input about the drive would be useful, are they always picky? could i just need to clean the lens? Is the laser dying? in which case where could i get a new one?

 

my Q reads everything fine

 

Mine is only picky about cheap DVD-R/RW. I have never had any problems with original discs and good quality DVD-R/RW. For the remote I am using the same set of batteries for 5 years now and it still works fine.

The Q uses parts from a regular Panasonic DVD player. I don't remember which model, but maybe the laser or remote are compatible.

 

Well i only have some japanese originals and some PAL originals with a freeloader to test, I don't think it's even chipped for dvd-R games and the two video DVDs I've tried have worked perfectly, well I assume they have as the remote stops working before i can get anywhere lol

 

The insides can get quite dusty on these units, so it's possible there's dust on the IR receiver inside the console. The same dust may be affecting the laser as well.

You can often run a simple test on a suspect remote control by placing it against a detuned radio on AM/ MW. Just turn the volume right up and press a remote button to hear the pulses. Of course, if the remote is buggered you won't hear anything (try the test with any working remote beforehand).

 

I opened it up and took it to bits then rebuilt it and the remote seems to be working nicely now, I'm thinking one of the cables was a bit loose and when the system heated up a bit contact was broken or soemthing along those lines.
Even after a throrough clean, the lens is still really picky about gamecube discs, often needing to be ejected and put back in 2-3 times before it even sounds like it's spinning up.

 

Is it worth getting one of these things. I always wondered that.

 

I remember my Q- I didn't have any particular issues with it, but neither did I really do any testing on it as well.

It's quite possible that the laser needs a little more than a dust- if it gets humid where you are there could be extremely fine dust that has stuck onto the laser.
It's not a common issue by any means, but the same thing happened to my PSP while I stayed a while in Toronto during the summer in an extremely old house. Talk about a humid, dusty environment...

 

wish I had gotten the english remote overlay from lik sang

 

I cleaned the laser with a lighter fluid soaked cotton bud and hoenstly I'm thinking I might sell it, I've wanted one for so long and it's a bit disappointing really, like the gamecube pickyness only happens on relatively scratched discs so I guess it's not really a fault but I dunno I guess the saying "never meet your heroes" applies here.