That's funny. Mine has done it as well off and on since I got it for Christmas, I think it was Dec. '04. This past month it has been stalling and jumping and stalling and skipping and really annoying. I got an $8 can of dust cleaner, a really nice spray can that I used once before on a cd changer/stereo that refused to read cd's. That worked like a charm on the stereo. I opened up the Apex and blew all the dust out. Really there wasn't much there at all. Put it back together, got about 3/4 of the way through a movie and it started up with the skipping and stalling again. Advancing it a few frames helped it get out of that fit. But then the next day it gave us BAD DISC no matter what dvd we used, no matter how many times I sprayed inside of it. Probably the eye or whatever it is that reads the dvd is toast. Not worth the battle and found a really nice Clear Play dvd at Target on clearance. I'll battle the Apex a little bit more just to see if it can be saved. You can give it a shot with the dust spray, but I wouldn't recommend taking it to a shop, unless you know someone who can do it for free.
Sarah K., January 2008