Hi,
Hmm Ok now every one has posted their views,at behest of sounding crazy here's what I will suggest
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It might not be an actual lens failure or such,it could be a mere dusty lens thats creating the problem
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Since its a old model and since you bought it from a used dealer,Knowing the great respect and care that they have for these used products and take such good care of handling :lol: !! it might've exposed to excessive some dust or over the years has accumulated some !
Here's what I want you do,Please bear in mind that you need to extra careful in following the steps that Am about to tell
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First remove the top cover and then push the lens unit towards back where you can have neat access to it ! you may also remove the entire loader but if its too much for you then don't bother ! once the lens is moved towards back where you have proper access,take a clean cotton (ear cleaning buds will do too) soak in mild hot water (just wet not completely ) then with great care just wipe the glass portion of the lens untill you can see the sparkle ! Now spin some cds that were not reading to see the results
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This is just an exercise that can probably save you some bucks on replacing the new lens,if works well good right ? if it doesn't no harm
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Also if and only if you must change the lens,be very careful of the new one ! this as mentioned by other members is a Philips Lens and are very expensive and not that common (atleast the real original one's) most of them have spurious and will not last long ! be very very careful about this factor ! Make absolutely sure that its a original one before replacing !!
Anything else please do post here !
Regards.