Problem finalizing with E50

[Capmaster]

I've been capping for years but I'm new to the standalone recorders. I have a Panasonic DMR-E50. I have a problem maybe someone else has seen and dealt with. The last few days I've captured movies off DSS and they burned OK to DVD-R. But when I try to finalize I get an error saying the operation failed. Last night I cleaned the lens with a Scotch lens cleaner with the little brushes. After that it finalized the disc, but today it's doing the same thing giving errors. I've got the following theories:

1) I got a bad batch of media. I'm using Princo white-top DVD-R. The Panny has worked fine with these for dozens of movies so far.

2) Somehow it's macrovision-related. Don't know how or why it's just showing up now.

3) The unit is defective.

Any ideas???

[houtx67]

Is it letting you enter titles (both disc and chapters) with no problem? Does the unfinalized disc play ok (including the very end)? Is the disc full? If yes to all of these, I might be inclined to think it's not the media.

Have you tried any other brand of media recently? Finally, do you know anyone else with a Panasonic that could try to finalize the disc (to see if they get the same results)? It shouldn't matter if they have a different model. I have finalized discs from my E-30 on my E-100 (with the thumbnail menu) with no problem.

[asichter]

I would try a batch of good quality media first and see how you go with that. The E50 is very fussy when it comes to cheap media, even more so than the earlier panny models (from my experience). I had some issues with some cheap Shintaro discs, then I switched to a better brand and had no problems. I would lay bets you got a bad batch of Princo discs. You do end up with mixed results from the Princo discs on the Panny recorders.
Try some good quality discs.

Andy S.

[Capmaster]

It doesn't let me add titles either. It does play all the way with a good picture. The disk isn't quite full though. What baffles me is the one last night that errored and after I cleaned the lens it was OK. Ihaven't switched brands lately. I just bought 200 more of the Princo and have been burning successfully on my PC burner. I'm going to try switching the cake boxes and use the ones I've been using on the PC. I have gotten runs of bad blanks with the Princos but at 56 cents each I've been tolerant

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm leaning towards it being the media because it started it all of a sudden. I've had problems before with my Nero burns all of a sudden and it always ends up being the media. I've got a knowledgeable buddy who has the E30 and I'm waiting to hear from him.

[Capmaster]

Update:
Got a few more yesterday and all is well. Finalized one this morning OK. I think it was a few pieces of bad media. Thanks for the tips Asichter and Houtx67.

[spectroelectro]

Princo media is infamous as the worst of the worst. You can get much better Ritek 1x mail order for about 85 cents a pop in qty 100.

[Capmaster]

Princo media is infamous as the worst of the worst. You can get much better Ritek 1x mail order for about 85 cents a pop in qty 100.

The Panny does seem a bit pickier than the PC burner which lives on Princo blanks. Thanks.

[Bob W]

Princo media is infamous as the worst of the worst. You can get much better Ritek 1x mail order for about 85 cents a pop in qty 100.

I have burned over 250 of the princo inkjet printable 4X DVD-R on my Pioneer 105 burner without a single bad disc. I never tried them in my E50 since it would be overkill to use 4X media. For the E50 I use the CompUSA brand 1X DVD-R media and never had a failure.

[Capmaster]

Princo media is infamous as the worst of the worst. You can get much better Ritek 1x mail order for about 85 cents a pop in qty 100.

I have burned over 250 of the princo inkjet printable 4X DVD-R on my Pioneer 105 burner without a single bad disc. I never tried them in my E50 since it would be overkill to use 4X media. For the E50 I use the CompUSA brand 1X DVD-R media and never had a failure.

I've had no trouble with the Princo white-tops on my Panny burner, but I've heard from several people that the E50 can be picky but I've already capped 80 or 90 movies on it using Princo blanks with no trouble. Of course I have had batches of Princo blanks that have several discs that even my PC burner won't accept. But for the most part they have been fairly good. Maybe I need to use a different brand of blank in the Panny. I'll wait and see if the problem comes back and then decide. Thanks again