Panasonic DVD-A7: Plays VCD but does not read CD-R???!!!!

[dericslab]

I have a Panasonic DVD-A7.

The player supports VCD, but not CD-R!
Where the hell do I then copy my VCD's on to?

I have no interest in buying a DVD writer, and I am convinced that there must be some way of getting the disc to read on the player.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

Thanx

D

[tearex]

Try some audio CD-Rs. If they don't play try audio CD-RWs. If they also don't work you're out of luck as this is usually a hardware issue. Only replacing the whole drive mechanism could maybe solve it.

Bottom line: Next time try before you buy.

[dericslab]

Thanx...

although the last line hurt.

That machine cost me ZAR11 000-00! (About $1100-00)



I will try it though.

D

[tearex]

Thanx...

although the last line hurt.

Sorry, I wasn't being too nice. Depending on how old it is maybe you can talk to the store? Still there are drives that can read CD-R but not -RW and also ones that work the other way around and can use only -RW, so maybe some triage, ideally with 650MB name brand disks, will solve this. If it doesn't, maybe South Africa has a source for Asian pressed VCDs? Try to ask some Chinese or Malayan store owners, maybe they know somebody who knows somebody who... you get the idea. No idea if they're popular in India too, you might try that direction as well.

[dericslab]

Thanx again for the prompt reply...

These are all good suggestions... but I do think I noticed in a manuel that it MIGHT read CD-RW. I will try copy the movies to one, and see if it works!

Hope I come right.

Frustrating, is'nt it?

D

[tearex]

Frustrating, is'nt it?

It sure as hell is. But as they say... Digital Technology can solve all the problems which without it we wouldn't have in the first place.

Oh and one more thing, erase and burn the disks at 4x speed or slower. That can help with marginal drives.

[dericslab]

"erase and burn the disks at 4x speed or slower"

That tip I "picked up" on a while ago.

I am still at work, and I am just tryin to now find a CD-RW to burn onto!

What rotten luck!

I will be sure to let you know if it works!

D

[dericslab]

IT WORKS!

I copied the VCD onto an Audio CD-RW, as well as a "normal" CD-RW, and the DVD-A7 reads both!

Now I only have to work on the quality.

Ticker has DVD-like quality, but the others (Star, Chosen, the Follow, Ambush) need some work.

I might need to download better quality files.

I heard that the North American site offers different quality files on the Server there.

Let me know if you get this reply though, please.

Thanx again,

D