Page 1 of PROBLEMS WITH DVD RECORDER - HELP !

I have recently bought a panasonic E-20 recorder, however I`m having various problems with it, my dealer doesn`t seem to know much about them so is no help.
Firstly, I have tried several DVD-R discs ranging in price from 45p to £1.20 and I find that if I try to play them in other DVD players they are `pausing ` and ` freezing`.this is very anoying, as my kids like to watch movies in their rooms. I have even been told not to put lables on the disc or even to write on them as this may be interfering with the lazer.
If it`s impossible to play these discs on `normal` players then what is the point ?
secondly, I have found problems with some discs refusing to `finalize` which means that although they will play fine in the rcorder, they won`t play in anything else. It is costing me a fortune in `trial and error` with these discs. Does anyone know which discs are most compatible ? as I now have quite a few coasters !
thirdley some discs I have tried ( mainly the cheaper ones ) have started recording and have then turned off the player after 30 seconds ( I have 20 of these rejects !)
I am begining to feel that I have wasted a lot of money and wish I had just gone for a DVD burner for my pc instead.

Can anyone please help, I am at my wits end,

I have the same recorder and it sounds if you have a faulty player,I have used the cheapest Bulkpaq @43p each with no problems at all ,try some FWS or Datasafe Gen 3 Discs @ 75p each from http://www.121cdr.co.uk I have used quite a few of them with .also take a look at this forum http://uk-forums.net where you can find loads of info in this machine and different types of media.

THANX FOR THE REPLY,
CAN I JUST CLARIFY ?
YOU HAVE HAD NO PROBLEM PLAYING THE BULKPAK BACK ON OTHER PLAYERS ?
BECAUSE IT`S THE BULKPAK DISCS THAT HAVE BEEN TURNING MY RECORDER OFF ! THEY STARTED OFF FINE, ABOUT THE FIRST HALF A DOZEN OR SO I USED,
I BOUGHT SOME `SUPERIOR` DISCS AT THE WEEKEND AND THESE WON`T `FINALIZE` ALTHOUGH THEY WILL RECORD FINE AND PLAY BACK IN THE RECORDER.
I HAVE ALSO TRIED TRAXDATA WITH THE SAME `PLAYBACK` PROBLEMS, DO YOU THINK I SHOULD CALL IN AN ENGINEER ?

Bulkpaq no problems with the ones i have recorded and played back on cyberhome 302 and 528 and the new 505 but as I have stated these are not the best discs on the market if youy are getting probs with all types of discs get the machine replaced

I have been having the same problem.I was using Infiniti discs for a time and they worked perfectly then all of a sudden they stopped working.I contacted the manufacturers who replaced the discs and ask me to send back the ones that did not work
This I did,the replacements the sent me did not work, the ones I returned to them they reckoned worked perfectly on thier equipment.
Since then i bought samples from SVP.Three did not work but two did.
These were Choice and FWS.
However, when I went ahead and bought a couple of packs of FWS they would not work.Also like yourself I`ve been unable to finalize an otherwise
perfectly good disc that plays back on the e20.
I am convinced its something to do with the Firmware and if so its way over my head, a view by the way that is shared by the rep at Infiniti..

I have a Philips dvdr 980 and a Pioneer DVRA04, i record onto dvd+rw and then transfer it to cheaper dvdr on my pc i started using Bulkpaq discs and for every good disc i had i would have two bad ones so i ditched them in favour of datasafe gen 3, 2 speed discs and theese seem a lot better but i still have the odd duff disc i have now bought some white top gen 4 two speed discs to try out at£9.50 for 10.

I also have sevral players in my house and this is where things can go wrong, where as my recorder can read all discs another player in my house may prefer bulkpaq and another Datasafe. I have not yet found one universal disc that will be accepted by all players in my house.

What we really need is for the price of the quality media such as verbatim to come down in price it is happening but very slowly.

I am at a loss as to what to do, I have rented my recorder, ( a decision I made both because of price and the fact that i wouldn`t be stuck with it if it was no good ) you say you also have a philips recorder, are they any better ? do you have more or less rejects with it than the panasonic ?
I am begining to wonder if I should just get rid of it all together as it sounds as though it just won`t do what the manufacturer says it does. I must admit this is a big disapointment, as I`m a techno junkie !, and to find that this equiptment is a let down is an undersdstatement. I have even considered swopping to the Philips.
my dealer has had my recorder back to try and find out what the problem is, although I know they don`t have a clue ! I am know left with a box full of rejects and probably a box full that will become rejects in the near future. Why can`t they just `do what it says on the tin ` ?
thanx 4 the help,

As far as I`m awere only the Philips DVD +RW is backward compatible with exsiting DVD players. I am not sure about other makes work. I personaly wouldn`t buy a Panasonic but much sooner go for the Philips.

Hope all goes well.

Regards, John.

This item was edited on Sunday, 1st September 2002, 21:33