DVD Recording/Playing Question

[DP68]

Not sure where else to ask, so here it goes.

We are new today to DVD recording and playing. We bought a new DVD recorder for the bedroom, and a DVD player for the living room. Two different brands at different prices, obviously. Well, the recorder records and plays fine, but when we put the disc we recorded on, which plays fine on the unit we recorded with...in here, it doesnt recognize the disc. Why is that? They are both DVD -RW, if that matters. Please help and thanks.

[GeorgeW]

You might have to "Finalize" the disc in your recorder unit before being able to play it in other dvd players. Check your DVD Recorder manual to see how/when to use the "Finalize" function.

Regards,
George

[redwudz]

Unfortunately, not all DVD disc's and recorders or players are created equal. You may need to try some different brands of disc's to see what works best with both machines. DVD RWs may be even more difficult to find the right combination. Some players just don't work with RW disc's.

You can check for your DVR and your player on the lists to the left and see some suggestions for media. Also try some non-RW DVD disc's. That may be one solution. I am also assuming you properly closed and finalized the disc or not much of anything will play it.

And welcome to our forums.

[DP68]

ohh ok, finalize the disc. Im doing that now (5% done after 15 minutes???) Follow up question; assuming this works, will this particular disc be recordable then playable on this different unit hence forth? Thanks again.

[redwudz]

I have limited experience with RW DVDs, but you should be able to erase it and reuse it many times, several thousand in the best case. Finalizing just sets up the proper format for reading with other players. After it is finalized, you can't add any more to it until you erase it again. But that's the only downside, AFAIK.

[DP68]

Ok got it. Bottom line is, we SHOULD have been told by our salesperson that it will be a pain in the ass to record with one unit, then play on the other. We will take this player back and buy the identical recorder, and not have to finalize, etc. Thanks for the info.

[ZippyP.]

Regarding finalizing:
If you use +RW (if your machine will write to it) then you don't need to finalize. Finalizing can take a very long time if you haven't recorded much on the disk, normally finalizing takes only a few minutes.

[DP68]

Follow up question: And thanks again for bearing with me.

I will ask this question when I get to the store I bought these units from tonight, but since they didnt have the sense to tell me it would a pain to do what Im trying to do...I thought I'd ask here again.

Ok...I was able to record with my new recorder. I was then able to play on that same unit without any trouble. Finalizing, etc. However, to play the disc on my new player in the other room, I had to finalize the disc first, which took forever. Which I gather is because it is a differnent unit/manufacturer...which leads me to my question:

When you say "have to finalize the disc to play on a different unit" Does that mean ANY different unit? As in, if I buy the same EXACT device, can I carry my newly recorded down the hallway and pop it in and play it? Follow? Or is it strickly by manufacturer?

Well thanks again.

[ZippyP.]

As in, if I buy the same EXACT device, can I carry my newly recorded down the hallway and pop it in and play it?

If you use the exact same unit you won't have to finalize, even different models by the same manufacturer will sometimes recognize each others disks.