Possible bad drive?

[varflow]

I have a Memorex 16x double layer DVD burner. I've had it aprox 2 1/2 years and I have estimated I've burned somewhere around 650 DVD's or so. Lately it has been giving me lots of problems likle not being able to read certain sections of the disks and getting lots of check condition (of the DVD) messages even with brand new non scratched disks -and these disks play fine in my dvd player. Sometines just opening and closing the drive door of the burner will fix the issue, other times it won't. Could the drive be needing to be replaced? What is the lifespan of them?

[volfann]

Have you checked for any newer firmware since buying the drive? 21/2 years is fairly old in the lifespan of a burner,but new firmware and maybe blowing out the dustbunnies might extend it's life a bit.