Anyone had an optical unit go on their DVD player ?

[KaptinK]

I have a Sony S335 DVD player that was supplied with a multi-region mod by Techtronics about 18 months ago. It's been sitting under the TV in between an amp and a VCR and it's been used on average once a day for an hour. It suddenly wouldn't recognise any disc, and was sent to the local Sony dealerships repair dept. It turns out to be the optical unit, which will cost £101 to replace (incl.labour+vat).
This seems a bit wrong to me, so i am trying to find out how common this is - and perhaps if it has happened because it's run hot most of the time. Any feedback, suggestions would help, thanks.

[Cable Monkey]

Had the same happen on my 536, although the problem was not absolute. I think overheating caused it. The cost is about right as well (mine was fixed in September). The hot spot on this player (under the disc tray) was directly above the hot spot on my amp. The shelving I used got hot then retained the heat making the problem worse. I seriously considered getting a new player rather than fork out on a repair, but new models were due so I held fire until the new year, when my Sony will become my second player. It hasn't shaken my confidence in Sony too much because the NS900 is on my shortlist to replace the 536.

[Vegalman]

Had this happen to me after 4 months with my bush 2004. Was quite gradual though. Apparently the player had been reading the video and audio bits at different speeds, which led to really back lip sync.
Was under warranty, so i didn't have to pay to get it fixed, but i got the feeling from the engineer that it wasn't cheap to repair.