Quirky DVD-R problems. Any possible help?

[Thunder In Paradise]

Ok, just joined the ranks of those owning a DVD burner. I chose to get the Pioneer DVR-105 as my weapon of choice. I've been "backing up" movies for about 3 weeks now, and everything's been going great. I recently traded in my old home theater for a brand new Panasonic SA-HT650 system, because my old one didn't have DVD-R support. This new thing totally kicks! It almost plays anything out there.
Anyways, when I first started burning movies, I selected a 50x spindle of BMI 4x DVD-R's from TigerDirect.com as my media. Every single movie burned, and in about 12-15 min. So I used them all up, and decided to find a replacement. I checked at Best Buy, and settled on a 50x spindle of Verbatim 1x DVD-R's. I thought, "well, it's only 1x, but it's a 50x", because I usually buy a 50x of DVD-R's and a 50x pack of Memorex thin cases for them, so it balances out. Anyways, I've gone through about 15 of Verbatim's, and everything is burning fine, only obviously longer then the BMI 4x's. Now, things get fun. Like I said, I got that Panasonic Home Theater, however, I had already burned through my whole first spindle of BMI discs before I had gotten it. Well, when I tried playing one of my BMI-ripped movies on the Panasonic, it wouldn't read the disc. So I tried one of the Verbatim's, and you guessed it, it worked like fine. Oh, FYI, I'm using DVD X Copy as my program of choice. Ok, so now I'm confused, is it the maker of the disc? (Verbatim vs. BMI) or the writing speed? (1x vs. 4x). Because both brands of discs play fine on my computer. So, just a re-cap, so far 15/50 Verbatim discs play on both computer and home theater, 27/50 BMI play on both. Does anybody have any idea what the problem could be? I was thinking that maybe the BMI's had some faulty discs, but then it wouldn't play in anything right? I really don't want to face re-burning 30 movies, but if that's my only option. Last thing, why can't you make a copy of a copy with DVD X COPY? Is there a way around this so I don't have to go back and reburn everything from the originals? Thanks a bunch!

[ebenton]

First of all, I wouldn't be admitting that I rent movies from Blockbuster to copy them. That's illegal. Obviously, you also have been a naughty boy and lied when DVDXCopy asked you if "..this is a rental or borrowed disk...". Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to use the program. This forum is not supposed to help people pirate DVDs. So keep that stuff to yourself.
You can make copies of DVDXCopy copies by using any (other) DVD ripper to get the files to your hard drive, then burn them using any (other) burning program. Look in the tools section of this website for some appropriate software to use.

[ebenton]

Oh yeah, this post points out an issue that everybody who burns their own DVDs should think about. If you are about to buy a new DVD player for your Home Theater System or TV, you should first check out the DVD Players section of this website to get an idea if your "proposed" new player will play your existing DVD copies. Even if it says that it will play DVD+R and all of your existing backups are DVD+R, you still never know about the media.
Even if you are going to buy online, a good plan would be to find a local store that sells the player you are thinking about, and then go there with some of your backups and see if they will play in this player.

[poopyhead]

more info on your dvd player here: https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

tells you which formats/media it supports and have lots of user opinions

more info on media in general: https://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia

------

i'm guessing your DVD player is just picky about the media.

------

in an effort to be more "legal" DVDXCOPY has instituted some anti-piracy stuff on their proggies, one of which is to prevent you from making a copy of a copy. i believe there is a .txt file in the copied DVD-R, which is recognized by DVDXCOPY as a copy, so DVDXCOPY won't allow you to make a copy.

there's actually a much simplar way to do this.... just copy over the VIDEO_TS folder from the "original DVD-R onto your hdd. then, you can use nero (or any other burning proggie) to burn it onto another DVD-R....there's no "ripping" or anything else involved.

-------

btw, big no-no on mentioning you rent-N-copy

[ebenton]

there's actually a much simplar way to do this.... just copy over the VIDEO_TS folder from the "original DVD-R onto your hdd. then, you can use nero (or any other burning proggie) to burn it onto another DVD-R....there's no "ripping" or anything else involved.

You're right. I used the word "ripper" in a much too generic way.

[Thunder In Paradise]

Thanks poopy, but there is no entry for either the Panasonic Home Theater in question, or the BMI DVD media that I use. That's why I posted here, I was hoping I could get a different response. Also, when you said that my DVD player might be just picky, did you mean my stand-alone player or the one on my computer? If you meant the Panasonic stand-alone, how can it be picky if I use the same media, written at the same speed? If one BMI 4x disc works, (aside from being a crappy disc), shouldn't all of the BMI discs work? And speaking about combatibility of players - media, I did check, and I ended up going back to Walmart twice in the same night, because the first switch (to a new Phillips), it said "DVD+RW", and I asked the person there (big mistake, since I was stupid that night), and he said "Oh yeah, it's all the same thing". But I knew better, it wouldn't be that specific if it covered everything. Then I tested it, didn't work, took it back, picked up the Panasonic, now about 60% of my movies will play on it.

[Gurm]

DVD X Copy, in addition to being a disgusting slug of a program, tries to "police" you in order to keep you from making 2nd generation copies.

However, once it has ripped a movie in the first place, the disc it creates has no copy protection per se, it just recognizes its own copies and refuses to copy them again.

Any other DVD copying program will copy them, or as was already pointed out, you can just drag'n'drop.

- Gurm

[poopyhead]

DVD X Copy, in addition to being a disgusting slug of a program, tries to "police" you in order to keep you from making 2nd generation copies.

DVDXCOPY is just trying to protect themselves..however lame the attempt is. the MPAA is currently sueing them. DVDXCOPY has implemented anti-copy copy measure as one of the ways to prove that their program is doing something to prevent piracy....and to promote legal and fair-use practices.

------------

@Thunder In Paradise,

try testing your DVD-R on your computer and friend's computer and standalone DVD player. if your DVD-R works on everything else but your standalone player, then your player is just picky.

[Thunder In Paradise]

Well poopy, let me break it down for ya. At this point, I have another 50x spindle of BMI 4x DVD-R's on their way to me right now. The reason I posted this question, was because I didn't know what the problem was, and I wasn't sure if I should just send this spindle back, and get the Verbatim's because they're more realiable, or just to press on, and hope for some luck. Again, I recounted, and with the BMI's, 26 out of the 50 discs, won't play on my stand-alone player. So for $60 + some shipping, I'm thinking I'm getting like 1/2 the number of discs that I'm paying for. Whereas if I get the Verbatim's, they're a little more ($99 a 50x spindle), but I still have to have a fluke with them. See what I'm talking about?

[poopyhead]

http://www.allmediaoutlet.com/pricewatchspecial.html

i use these...

1X Princos $74 / 100 + free shipping


yes, they are cheap and only burn at 1X...however, every single one i burned works on my pioneer dv333. however, some do exhibit the "outer edge" problem whereby the last ~80 MB (anything above 4400 MB) is hard to read by the dvd player. on the PC, the outer edge plays perfectly. however, some dvd players may have trouble playing that last 80 MB (i.e. blocks, skips, audio problems...and finally freezing). i have tested the outer edge problem extensively on my pioneer, and the problem seems to be a rare occurance. even some DVDs i do burn to the edge don't really seem to have this problem.

however, it may depend on your dvd player...some have stronger lasers that may be able to deal with these kind of problems...i know that other ppl have said their dvd players completely freeze when playing the outer edges of some 1X princos....at least for me, my pioneer has played the outer edge perfectly in most instances.

... but that's what you get for $0.74 / DVD-R. it's certainly a lot cheaper than what you're paying now...especially if they don't work in your dvd player.

[jarvis1781]

yep

[Luddite]

there are many different dvdr dies
there are many different dvd player lasers
with the cheaper dvdr they are more fussy about which laser they will play in
so.....
if ya want cheap discs make sure they match the player
verbs are reknowned for excellant compatability

btw...4x....best dvdr gotta be datawrite

[Thunder In Paradise]

Well guys, the plot thickens. I took what everybody had said, and tried something. I tried making a copy of a copy, using a different target media. The original being a BMI 4x disc, and the new copy being a Verbatim 1x disc. And come to find out.......are you ready?.........it still won't play!!!!!!
So, the question now becomes, did the fluke that caused the original copy not to play, get copied over to the 2nd copy, or is the movie itself flawed, and is able to get copied, but not played in a stand-alone player? I'm not sure, but I'm kinda leaning towards the former explanation. Later

P.S. Well, after contacting the company, they basically confirmed for me that they really have no quality control, so it was pretty much the disc's being stupid.