A while back we discussed what would be most durable and future-proof CD-i player, and why. One aspect was the difference between the laser unit. There are only a very few people who have indepth knowledge of the CD-i system and we like to hear more views on how the CD-i hardware works. CD-i member Muh Mullet has quite a track record in repairing CD-i players and today he talks about the CDM9 and CDM12 laser units: CD-i players have either a CDM9 laser unit (CD-i 205, 910, 60x and early versions of the CD-i 210 and CD-i 220) or a newer CDM12.x laser unit (newer versions of 210, 220, as well as 4xx, 5xx, 615, 660, 670...). Muh Mullet: ¨I've only replaced 1 CDM.12.X that was really dead, but i now have 3 dead CDM.9 units in my collection. One thing to mention is that I've overhauled probably 5 or 6 times more CD-i players with CDM.12.X units than CDM.9 because I mostly work on 450 models that all have CDM.12.X lasers, and despite the majority of my patients having CDM.12.X lasers, only one was really dead. So in my personal experience, the CDM.9 doesn't win when it comes to longevity. Also, CDM.9 units are more prone to struggle with CD-R "back-up" discs in comparison with CDM.12.X, and CDM.9 isn't nearly as reliable when it comes to VCD playback, and seems more prone to skipping."
Who else has experience when it comes to differences between the CDM9 and CDM12.x laser units in CD-i players?
[Thanks, Muh Mullet]