Is it the player or the disc?

[LittleQueenie]

I know this should probably be somewhere else but anyway ...

I had some glitchy discs, thought it was my burner. Was playing them in my cheap GPX DVD player. So just to be sure it was the burner, I played them in my Philips DVD player and boom they worked fine, played glitch free!

So is it a disc/burner problem or GPX's players problem? If it plays glitch free on the Philips then it can't be the disc itself can it?

[Bodyslide]

I would say the GPX player, But it could be the media as well....What kind of media is it?

[LittleQueenie]

Verbatim DVD-R x16.

But heres the weird thing, the orig disc I copied from plays fine in the GPX. The copy I made plays glitchy in the GPX. But in the Philips it plays fine! How is that possible?

Also the disc I thought was(is?)glitchy plays glitch free in the computer. I'm am so confused. Is it the disc/burner problem? I see no signs when burning that would cause me to think it was a burner problem

[tinker]

Do not be confused, this is quite normal. Original(commercial)disk is pressed so pockets are very distinct and (almost) any player will play them. Writable disks are burned onto a heat sensitive layer and pockets are no so sharp. If the players reading head is not sensitive enough (cheep players) it will not generate strong enough signal for rest of the circuit to process.

[LittleQueenie]

Is it normal to only be in spots? I mean when I play them on the GPX its glitchy in the same spots.

[classfour]

Had an Apex that did the same thing. GPX is about the same quality. It finally reached the point where it did the same with pressed discs.....replaced with Pioneer.

The reflectivity of -R or +R media is nowhere near that of pressed media = read problems (tinker is correct).

Start shopping, you might find a decent player before that GPX gives up the ghost.

Most low-end players last a year or so under normal use - the old Apex lasted over two, unusual for a chinese player.

When I shop DVD players now, I use the same criteria as for DVD recorders "made in Japan".

[LittleQueenie]

Well I dug out my old Durabrand player to see if it would play it with the glitches and nope . It was glitch-free. So the score:

GPX: Glitches
Philips: No glitches
Durabrand: No glitches
Computer: No glitches

So by sheer deduction I suppose its the GPX's problem. But still its bugging me ...
Does anyone know if there is a way I can definitively know its not my burners fault? Some sort of test or something?

[JimboS]

A really good test would be to play the disk in 4 differant players..
If 3 of 4 players play the disk fine then.....DUH!!!!!!!!!!

[jman98]

So is it a disc/burner problem or GPX's players problem? If it plays glitch free on the Philips then it can't be the disc itself can it?

By your own words, you admit that the GPX is a "cheapo player", yet you somehow seem unwilling to accept the fact that the player could be at fault. Think about this logically.

Disc on cheap GPX player - doesn't play correctly
Disc on Philips player - plays correctly

Is it REALLY logical to conclude that the burner is at fault here? Anything COULD happen, but the odds are that if it really was the burner then the Philips player would barf when playing the disc too. I'd say there is about a 5% chance it's the burner and a 95% chance it's the GPX player at fault. JimboS's advice is sound and you could always do that should you continue to refuse to believe that the GPX could be at fault here.