Has anyone used Lite-on EZ-Dub

[Ronny G]

Hi, I recently transferred some old videotapes to DVD using my Panasonic DVD recorder (DMR-E55). I made nice menus using the recorder's menu feature. The finalized DVDs play in my Toshiba DVD player and in my Computers DVD-ROM drive.
I want to make some copies of my DVDs for friends, so I just purchased my first DVD writer. I got it a Walmart. It's called, Lite-on EZ-Dub. The model number is LH-20A1PU. It was manufactured in September 2007. I don't know a lot about computers, so this writer seemed easy to use.

I have a Compaq Presario SR1800NX Desktop PC with 512 MB and USB 2.0.

I followed the instructions, installed the software, etc.

My problem is that the newly copied DVDs seem to be defective. My Panasonic player can't read the disc at all and says not supported. When I put the DVD in my Toshiba player, the menu doesn't come up at all, so you can't select which title you want to watch. I tried pressing menu and top menu on the remote, but nothing. I have to press play twice on the remote for the disc to play but it goes automatically to the first title. Also, It will only fast-forward at 2X speed. If I press 8x fast-forward, it freezes. Other than that, the picture and sound is good, but no menus and no fast-forward.
The discs play fine in my Computer's DVD-ROM drive, and the top menus show up like they should. I tried copying to different brands of discs. The manual recommends Maxell, so I used that one, the other was JVC.

I just thought I'd write to see if any one has any suggestions, because I might need to do something different, and I don't want to waste any more discs.

[redwudz]

If you are just copying the discs, try using ImgBurn instead. Start ImgBurn and select 'Read' mode and a destination for your ISO file. When finished, try playing the ISO with a software player that recognizes the ISO/DVD structure, like VLC Media Player. If it looks OK, then in ImgBurn, select 'Write' mode and burn to DVD. ImgBurn generates a burn log, so any errors with the process should show up. Watch the progress of the read and the burn. Your computer buffer should stay at 100% during the burn and the device buffer should stay up above 75%.

These programs are freeware and both are well worth having.

And not all brands of DVDs are 'created equal', so you may have to experiment a bit to find the one that your burners and you players like the best. I would also try some Verbatim brand DVD media. It's fairly easy to find and one of the best available.

And welcome to our forums.

[Ronny G]

Thanks for the suggestions, and welcoming me to the fold.

The reason why I bought the EZ-DUB is because my computer doesn't have a DVD-RW installed, and it sounded easy to use because I am very computer illiterate. For example, you mentioned ISO in your posts. I don't even know what ISO stands for, so that's how stupid I am when it comes to computers. If I download this ImgBurn, how does it work with EZY-DUB?

[mats.hogberg]

The EZ Dub looks just like your ordinary USB connected DVD writer, with some added buttons and software to me. So with respect to the more main stream disk copying/writing software (like ImgBurn), it should work.

/Mats

[AlanHK]

My problem is that the newly copied DVDs seem to be defective. My Panasonic player can't read the disc at all and says not supported. When I put the DVD in my Toshiba player, the menu doesn't come up at all, so you can't select which title you want to watch. I tried pressing menu and top menu on the remote, but nothing. I have to press play twice on the remote for the disc to play but it goes automatically to the first title. Also, It will only fast-forward at 2X speed. If I press 8x fast-forward, it freezes. Other than that, the picture and sound is good, but no menus and no fast-forward.

Possibly the discs have the wrong format. It sounds like they are formatted as data discs (ISO 9660) rather than the UDF format required for a DVD.

I realise this may not mean much to you, but as I don;t know the software you're using I can't say specifically how to change this.

Read the manual and look up "format", "file system" and similar terms and you might get some ideas.

[mats.hogberg]

The EZ Dub is a one click hardware/software solution, so if you insert a Video DVD, press the Dub button, the copy should also come out as a Video DVD. That's the whole point of this device you don't have to know about "format" or "file system" and other arcane geek. It's supposed to clone whatever shiny disk you put into it.

/Mats

[AlanHK]

The EZ Dub is a one click hardware/software solution, so if you insert a Video DVD, press the Dub button, the copy should also come out as a Video DVD.

Yeah, but it's not, so something is wrong. And the sympoms seem to point to a format problem. Or the usual suspect, bad media. Sometimes discs with reading problems come up as data discs with visible VIDEO_TS folders.

[mats.hogberg]

I'd go for the "usual suspect". Or that EZ Dub isn't all that EZ (even if tests seem rather favourable)

/Mats

[redwudz]

Ronny G, a ISO file in this case is a wrapper or container that holds your VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS files. They are part of the DVD structure. You can read about the DVD structure in 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page. ImgBurn is making a temporary copy of your DVD and putting it into the ISO container, then using that to burn an exact copy. You can use that same ISO file to burn several more copies if you want, or delete it and use the same procedures on the next disc.

The object of all this is to use a alternative to your EZ software to see if it's the problem. ImgBurn is also a very well written, versatile program, which is probably better than EZ for your purposes. If neither program works, then the problem is something or somewhere else.

[Ronny G]

First, I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond to my question.

I haven't downloaded ImgBurn, yet because I remembered that my EZY-Dub came bundled with Nero software. I had installed Nero when I hooked up my EZY-Dub, but I didn't know what it was for.

After reading your suggestions, I figured this Nero program might function the same as ImgBurn, so I thought I'd try Nero out before I downloaded the ImgBurn.

I copied a DVD using Nero and the results showed me my top menu was included. After I copied the DVD, I burned it (the files?) on the EZY-Dub.

The newly copied DVD came out perfect. I tried it on my Panasonic and Toshiba players, and they both played it. It started with the top menu like it should. They also fast-forward more than 8x. They could fast-forward at 100x actually. I'm so happy it works!

Unfortunately, my Nero program is only a 30-day trial. At the end of the 30 days, I might buy it unless its really expensive.

I'm right to assume that ImgBurn functions the same as Nero?

Thanks again for your help.

[redwudz]

For just the burning part, ImgBurn functions better, IMO. But if you want the other Nero features, then you might look into it. I have an older version of Nero, but have never used those 'features'. I use ImgBurn for most all burning, DVD and CD. Nero is a bit expensive for the package, Especially if you just want the burning part, about $80US. But you might find OEM versions for less. Both Nero and ImgBurn can coexist on the same system, so no problem there. Some other burning programs may not.

[hech54]

Nothing beats ImgBurn for a simple exact copy of a home-made DVD.