N1, DVD-/+R stutter, glitches, laser potentiometer?

[graydoubt]

Hello!

 

I have an AVIC-N1 and I'm currently victim of the blank (white) screen issue due to a failed flex cable. Fortunately I found out about the Pioneer announcement, so I'm looking to have that fixed.

 

More importantly: When I bought my N1 (used) it had trouble playing my DVD-R and DVD+R movies, and just a little later it had problems with original DVDs. I actually took it in to Pioneer (drove to their Columbus location) and they fixed it in 15 minutes. They told me it was the pick-up.

 

So I was happy for a while, but soon enough, it started getting worse again. Quite gradually. The El Cheapo DVD-Rs would fail, then the better quality ones, and now even the originals are having issues.

 

Now I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Is the lens getting dirty? Or does the laser need to get adjusted? I googled and search all over, but looking for anything related to avic n1 laser potentiometer doesn't return anything.

 

I (read: the kids) would just like to be able to enjoy some movies again, without glitches and read errors.

 

Any insight would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks!