a pile of technological failure

[fiarra]

Guys, do I have gremlins? Is that the issue? Did I offend someone? Does my laptop hate me?

Here's the new issue. (And I'm not sure it's really *new* so much as.... unnoticed until now?)

I can't play DVDs on my laptop.

I can:
Burn music CDs
Burn data CDs/DVDs
Play legitimately purchased music CDs
Play burned music CDs
Access and play files from burned DVDs

However, when I put in a DVD that I paid real money for at a real store, my laptop decides that it doesn't want to play nice. I feel like there is a lesson in here somewhere.

Tonight I tried to watch Star Trek. When I put the DVD in, it spins and the computer is clearly trying to access something. But then it was.. stutter? It's like something is catching on the mechanism and it can't read. I feel like this happened ages ago when I tried to watch 500 Days of Summer, but I figured it was a DVD issue. :|

I tried updating the firmware. I even used Microsoft's diagnostic tool.

I'm a bit confused. The fact that I can do all these other things makes me think that the drive isn't dead. But I'm not sure what else I can do about it. Thoughts? Do you think if I drag it to Best Buy and show the dudes who work there, that they can give me a guess?

Also, to add insult to injury, my internet has been flickering on and off all night.