recording to DVD-R

[onanongoing]

HI, I’m new to the board and to the DVD recording thing. Please forgive me if I ask stupid questions. I consider myself electronically knowledgeable.(I have set up and wired my entire house, in ways my local cable provider top notch technicians can’t understand) However this Panasonic DVD recorder E80H has be confused. Normal concept is not working here, it’s making me crazy!
I have mention of useing high quality DVD-R’s what do you recommend? The manual for the recorder recommends Panasonic.
I have tried a few others and I can not get them to “read” I get errors like “ un recordable disc” or can not read disc”, Insert blank disk” ( when a dish is in there) is this because I am not using Panasonic’s brand? I can record on DVD RAM ok. But I really want to use DVD-R so I can share my creations.
I have been working on this for weeks, I just cant get it to do what I need it to do, I’m frustrated. I have a huge collection of TV spots, videos and interviews of my favorite band on VHS. The reason I got the recorder is so I can transfer all of it DVD, I really thought this would be easy. What am I doing wrong? Does anyone have any tips or tricks for me?

[Frobozz]

Sorry if this is asking the obvious, but is there a chance those are DVD+R rather than DVD-R discs you're trying to use?

[samijubal]

The only DVD-R discs I ever tried that didn't work in the Panasonic was Kypermedia, cheap trash.

[louthewiz]

I also have an E-80H and I usually buy either sony DVD-Rs or taiyo yudens and I never had problems,also one more thing is that the dvd lens is dirty and needs to be cleaned and that's whay you get a disc read error.

[onanongoing]

Thanks to everyone for the advise. Not really knowing the difference of DVD-R and DVD+R , I actually tried both. I will try the brands you have suggested. I’ll also check the lens, that’s a good idea. However I hope it’s not dirty, it’s brand new, but I guess it could be faulty or something.

Thanks again for your help

[xiaNaix]

I have mention of useing high quality DVD-R’s what do you recommend?

Try to find a pack of Fuji DVD-R that says "Made in Japan' on them. They will usually be Taiyo Yuden media, which is one of the best. Beware of the "Made in Taiwan" packs, which are usually of lesser quality (Ritek or Prodisc). Best Buy has a Fuji 50 spindle on sale this week for $20. I'll be hitting the local stores searching for Japanese packs myself. They must think I'm crazy spinning all those packs around.

[onanongoing]

[Best Buy has a Fuji 50 spindle on sale this week for $20. quote]


Hey, Thanks for the tip!, I am out to check my local Best Buy. [/quote]

[Prot]

My brother's Panasonic E50 will not write on 8x DVD-R media, and I mean the good stuff, Maxell and TDK. I did try some 2x Maxell jewel boxes, and this it had no problems with.
Has anyone else found other media that works on this recorder?