After reading many comments and suggestions on CD repair I was convinced that devices like the SkipDr didnt offer much, and instead tried the widely suggested brasso and elbow grease methods.

Brasso gave moderate results and was ALOT of work.

So I broke down and purchased a SkipDR AutoMax, figuring worst case scenario it didnt do what it said and I would return it. The AutoMax is the motorized version of Digital Inovations Disc Repair Kit. It comes with a small spay bottle containing water w/ 0.5% Isopropanol (I dont know if they sell refills but make your own with 1 cup(~200ml) distilled water and 1/2 teaspoon (~2ml) 70% rubbing alcohol), a drying cloth, and a felt buffing square. It requires 6AA batteries or a 9V converter, I didnt have one around so I went with the batteries.

Simply spray a disk with the solution, pop it into the machine, and watch it spin around until the disc pops up. Time for some elbow grease - Didnt I buy the motorized one? - Dry with the provided rag and buff radially with the felt square.

Discs look noticably better after a run through the machine, though you can see they have been buffed.

Using this method I have been able to get accurate rips in EAC about 80-90% of the time where I was previously unable to (a small number can be re-buffed with good results). My success rates with brasso where closer to 25% at best.

IMHO, its an investment well worth it.

That's cool. My brother gave me one for Christmas, and I wasn't sure what to make of it as I hadn't heard of it and haven't tried it yet. I was kinda skeptical, thinking it was one of those well-intentioned gifts that turns out to be garbage. Thanks for the report.

The cloth in the skipdr is actually wool.. I've had better results from the brasso than the Skip Dr., so to each their own. The major goal is to sort of flatten out any large scratch, and then buff imperfections with the brasso. I use turtle wax to hide any imperfections in the CD's surface afterwards, and I've been getting 100% with that method (approx 30 CDs recovered, some pretty nasty, 1mm deep scratches)

Of course, it probably depends on your drive, too.

CRW-F1E Here.

I have 2 plextors, a 712a and a w5224 that I use as my ripping drives, by have also tried ripping in my JLMS and Lite-On drives

Expect a follow up review soon. Digital Innovations has kindly offered to send the rest of their CD repair product line for a comparison. Hopefully some of the other vendors in the CD repair market will also send their devices for a full field comparison.