DVD-R Playback problems on an Apex 1200 DVD Player.

[Cyrax9]

Ok guys, a buddy of mine asked me to put some of his VHS stuff onto DVD for him using my Panasonic DMR-HS2 DVD Writer.

He has an Apex AD 1200 DVD Player which says it plays DVD-Rs. I double-checked this at the memorex wesite (Since I was using Memorex Discs) and they also confirmed that the Apex AD 1200 plays DVD-R's.

I burned the DVD-R's for my Budd on a Panasonic DMR-HS2 PVR and I Finalized them obviously so they could play on his Apex AD 1200 unit.

He went to play the Discs and said that they wouldn't read. The player would power up and "Try" to read the discs (e.g. soundng like it was reading) but it wouldn't display anything off of the DVD-Rs on the screen. Since I don't have my own Apex AD 1200 and I'm not comfortable tinkering with other people's equipment, I was wondering if there's any advice I can give him.

Do Memorex Discs often have problems in the Apex AD 1200 or am I just having bad luck?

Thanks in advance guys, I appreicate your help.

[Barnabas]

Although Memorex disks are not the greatest, as I own 4 DVD players myself, with 2 of them being Apex units, I can tell you that my Apex DVD players have the most trouble with problem DVD's.

You don't say what you burned the disks with, but I suspect that you might have burned them with a less than current version of Nero. If that's the case, upgrade your version of Nero, as earlier versions of Nero would produce DVD's that would not play on my Apex players, but would play fine on my Pioneer.

[Cyrax9]

Barnabas--

I burned the DVDs with the Panasonic DMR-HS2 DVD Writer, and then used the "Finalize" feature to make them playable on other machines. I tested them in my brother's Sony Playstation 2 and in another Sony DVD Player.

The Memorex Discs played fine inthose and in the HS2. I never even used Nero, just the DMR HS2 recorder, and the "Finalize" feature.

What I'm beggining to realize is Memorex is losing their quality standards on new discs.

I have a bunch of Optodisc Dvd_r's adn DVD-RAM's that I bought awhile back. The DVD-RAMS work fine, I've yet to try the DVD_Rs but I heard they were better than Memorex, if this sis true please let me know.

I have only used Memorex up until now however if these Discs are going to be "50 % Coaster 50 % working Disc" I might switch the type of blank media I use. I refuse to use Maxell because all I've gotten from them with CDs are coasters and I'm almost afraid to know what my DVDs would come out like.

I know Apex is supposed to be good and I was very surprised the Discs wouldn't play. My buddy told me that they spin up like they are reading butnothing is coming out n the screen or through the speakers.

My best guess is that the laser isn't "rotating" to read DVD-R Discs but if that's not the case I'd like to know.

[disturbed1]

Give the Optodisc a shot.

Many people have bad luck with Memorex DVD-R media. Since it plays on your 3 test machines, it should of played on the Apex.

A family member of mine has an Apex 1200, it plays Verbatim and Ritek flawless (among others), so it could be the media. Sorry, don't have much personal experience with Memorex.

Apex is also known to switch internals during production without switching the model number. Including decoders, bios, and drives. Perhaps your buddy has a bad unit.

If you do give your buddy an Optodisc, and it still fails, advise him/her to return the unit. You could also take the disc to your local Walmart for a test play.

The error code the Apex spits out maybe of some use. If it's a media problem it will probably say, no disc, insert disc, dirty disc etc..

If the unit just hangs with a hard lock with out starting playback, the lens will have very active movement with constant disc spinning, that's usually an authoring/burning error. Which should only happen with your HS2 if you don't finilize.

Does the HS2 have multisession? Where you record the footage, then make the menu afterwards? If so, try single session with just the footage and no menu.

BTW, this was a -R, not -RW right?

[Barnabas]

Cyrax9,

I strongly suggest you download and learn to use Nero. It has a Wizard feature, so is easy to use, and I know the latest versions burn a compliant DVD.

Some Apex DVD players can have the loader software updated which might help, but I would guess that your burning software is simply not burning a fully compliant DVD, and Apex DVD players will not play a DVD that's not fully complaint, at least my 2 will not here.

[i am x]

Ok guys, a buddy of mine asked me to put some of his VHS stuff onto DVD for him using my Panasonic DMR-HS2 DVD Writer.

He has an Apex AD 1200 DVD Player which says it plays DVD-Rs. I double-checked this at the memorex wesite (Since I was using Memorex Discs) and they also confirmed that the Apex AD 1200 plays DVD-R's.

I burned the DVD-R's for my Budd on a Panasonic DMR-HS2 PVR and I Finalized them obviously so they could play on his Apex AD 1200 unit.

He went to play the Discs and said that they wouldn't read. The player would power up and "Try" to read the discs (e.g. soundng like it was reading) but it wouldn't display anything off of the DVD-Rs on the screen. Since I don't have my own Apex AD 1200 and I'm not comfortable tinkering with other people's equipment, I was wondering if there's any advice I can give him.

Do Memorex Discs often have problems in the Apex AD 1200 or am I just having bad luck?

Thanks in advance guys, I appreicate your help.

Ok people, this message is from any of you that have an Apex AD-1200 stand alone and you're able to burn DVD-R and +R movies that play in them. Right now I have an Optorite +/- burner, and I simply can't get the thing to burn -R or +R movies that will work in my Apex, but the Apex WILL play +RW and -RW that I burn with the Optorite with no problems. Some people have told me that is is a compatibility issue with my Apex standalone, and others have told me that it is the burner. The issue is THIS. I want to be able to make DVD-R and +R movies that WILL play in my Apex stand alone. Right now, I'm thinking that I should try getting another burner and seeing if that will solve the problem. This is a big gamble, as it MIGHT be the standalone that's the problem and not the burner, even though I KNOW that the standalone is quite capable of playing -R and +R discs (and that is indicated quite clearly in the specs).
My question to you all is this. Are there ANY of you out there that have an Apex AD-1200 standalone, and are able to view your +R and -R burned movies on it, and if you CAN, please tell me what kind of burner you own, what DVD authoring software you use, and what kind of blank discs you use with that burner. I'm looking to pay the least amount of money possible, and still get a burner that will produce -R and +R discs that will play on my Apex. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED. One more thing. I use SVCD2DVDMPG to make my .mpg movie files DVD compliant, then I use TMPGEnc DVD Author to author the dvd compliant .mpgs. Like I said, when I do all that and burn them onto +RW or -RW discs, they play perfectly in my Apex standalone, but when I burn those same movies onto -R or +R, they do NOT play in my Apex standalone.
Please be as detailed as possible with your answers, as I will be compiling all the info I get from you all, and I will get the burner that the most amount of people have had success with regarding -R, +R and the Apex AD-1200. Remember:

1. Please do not reply to this message unless you have an Apex AD-1200, or you have SUCCESSFULLY burned -R and +R discs that have played in one.

2. What DVD authoring program do you use?

3. What program do you use to burn the authored movies onto your discs?

4. What brand of discs do you use?

[gameone]

(Go Figure ) did a dvd r with a nd-1000a burner, played great in my apex ad-1200. made another one with a nd-2510a, the apex ad-1200 said ( no Disc ). Funny thing is I use the same type/name brand out of the same pack disc. Here is the ( kicker ) I also have an Apex ad-703. Guess what? Both disc play in it. I tried both disc in 3 different type r name brand player, both disc work great. What ever the apex ad-1200 needs seems like the nd-1000a burner has. Apex ad-1200 is the problem. Hope this helps.

[BJ_M]

most apex 1200 i have seen (we have here also for testing also) seem to fail at something fairly quickly

the one have stopped playing svcd and reading menus on some disks