DVD+RW questions....

[quadman]

Hello everyone....

While I've graduated into the land of broadband and wireless networks, I'm barely above VHS when it comes to recording movies. :shiftyeyes: We are on our second Panny DVD recorder. The first one died just out of warranty. I bought a three year extended warranty on this one and it's been working beautifully untill just recently. We use it just like the old VCR's of days gone by. It only records a single show or movie at a time like a VCR, but really, it's been fine so far.

Recently however, I would set it to record, the "red record light" would come on and the timer would start counting.... just like always. Yet, when we tried to view the recording, it says "nothing has been recorded." At first, I thought maybe I had done something wrong and shrugged it off. But it's been happening more and more without any real pattern that I could discern. The ONLY thing I could point to is a brand new disc (SONY DVD+RW), seems to record fine while a previously recorded/erased disc does not seem to record anything.

Now granted, like the proverbial generic VHS tape that we all kept to record on over and over again is how I approached recording TV shows and movies we only cared to see a single time with the DVD recorder. I guess I'm wondering if anyone knows if these DVD+RW's "wear out" or just quit working over time or if I truly do have a problem with my machine?

[Sysden]

Quad:
Digital DVD recordings do not record quite as linearly as analogue VHS recodings do. The recording process is more akin to a file on your computer hard drive. There is information that is loaded when the disk is first started up regarding chapters and other meta data. You need to erase an entire program from the disk (should be available through your menu system on the recorder). Once that program is erased from the disk, the file space that program took up previously will be available for a new recording. The machine will not simply record over your old recordings like a VHS recorder will. Good luck.:idea:

[quadman]

Quad:
Digital DVD recordings do not record quite as linearly as analogue VHS recodings do. The recording process is more akin to a file on your computer hard drive. There is information that is loaded when the disk is first started up regarding chapters and other meta data. You need to erase an entire program from the disk (should be available through your menu system on the recorder). Once that program is erased from the disk, the file space that program took up previously will be available for a new recording. The machine will not simply record over your old recordings like a VHS recorder will. Good luck.:idea:

Yes.... I understand this. Before you can re-record anything, you must delete what is recorded. What I'm saying that I've found, atleast through my preliminary investigating, is that discs that have been recorded/erased several times, no longer seem to record.... where a brand new one will immediately after removing the "used" disc. So either I have an EXTREMELY quirky machine, something is randomly wrong with the recording function, or the discs "wear out" and no longer accept recording.

I'm trying to eliminate one of the possibilities here so I know where to concentrate next.

[Ray3]

John,

Once you get past this exercise and decide you need to buy some DVD blanks (they are cheap enough now so that you really don't need RW discs), I'd recommend that you go to Rima.com and get some Taiyo Yuden.

Been using them (both Rima and TY) for years and they are both excellent quality.

[quadman]

I appreciate that Ray.... but I'm not at the point where I really want a one time use DVD. At least I don't "THINK" I am. :no clue:

[Mep]

Disks are made so cheaply now it would be hard to believe a disk could last longer than a few times.

[spl_nut]

Sorry to hi-jack your thread John, but how do DVD recorders handle hi-def content? Is it simply downscaled?

[quadman]

Sorry to hi-jack your thread John, but how do DVD recorders handle hi-def content? Is it simply downscaled?

C'mon.... you're asking the quadman that question?!? :no clue:

All I know is right now, I have it hooked up via component cables to my 40" Samsung LCD and it looks great. The unit I have also has HDMI 1.3, but I've yet to hook it up with an HDMI cable. I've basically been waiting because we haven't decided yet whyether we are going to go with a premium outdoor OTA antenna or go with a DISH or DIRECT package. They both seem to be fighting each other for our business and I've been waiting to make any final changes until we decide. Gads, even the hated, no loathed Comcast has butted into the mix. I SWORE they would never get another penny of my money, but what they are offering us right now is awfully hard to resist.

But, downconverting, upsampling, streaming, upscaled, downscaled, I-pod, nano, gigawhatsits are all just clutter on the brain. :dizzy:

:ufo:

[spl_nut]

C'mon.... you're asking the quadman that question?!? :no clue:

To be honest John, I wasn't necessarily asking you :D Just thought others might chime in :)

I, like you, will never give Comcast a cent.

We had Directv for years, but once we went hi-def we realized the picture quality was seriously sub par. I spoke with tech support multiple times, each round confirming our signal quality was very good. I suggested they were compressing the feed to push more content down the pipe. Even at level 82 Alpha Alpha support the response was: 'The feed isn't compressed, it's DIGITAL!'. Oh vey.

We're strictly OTA for now, and only Bluray looks better :)

[quadman]

To be honest John, I wasn't necessarily asking you :D Just thought others might chime in :)

I, like you, will never give Comcast a cent.

We had Directv for years, but once we went hi-def we realized the picture quality was seriously sub par. I spoke with tech support multiple times, each round confirming our signal quality was very good. I suggested they were compressing the feed to push more content down the pipe. Even at level 82 Alpha Alpha support the response was: 'The feed isn't compressed, it's DIGITAL!'. Oh vey.

We're strictly OTA for now, and only Bluray looks better :)

LOL.... no worries my friend. We've been OTA for some time and the PQ has been awsome. But, with the switch to digital, some of the farther stations that are now pulled in aren't very good. PBS has taken a nose dive since the switch to digital as well. Hence our foray/search into a high quality OTA antenna or very basic satellite (and yes, even cable) packages. We don't watch enough TV to justify some of the more full blown packages. We'd be paying for stuff that we'd never use.

[spl_nut]

LOL.... no worries my friend. We've been OTA for some time and the PQ has been awsome. But, with the switch to digital, some of the farther stations that are now pulled in aren't very good. PBS has taken a nose dive since the switch to digital as well. Hence our foray/search into a high quality OTA antenna or very basic satellite (and yes, even cable) packages. We don't watch enough TV to justify some of the more full blown packages. We'd be paying for stuff that we'd never use.

Our situation is very similar. A small part in dumping Directv was due to paying for something that was simply unused - 100 channels that nobody watched (trust me the kids would if we let them. But experience dictates that the family is much more harmonious when hours of video games and tv are not in the mix.)!

Part of your post hit a point I haven't been able to solve: Since the 'switch' I've lost OTA digital signals that I previously had no trouble tuning. :no clue:

I've talked to 'the switch' local help lines, searched the web, unplugged the tv and rescanned a dozen times. What was there is no longer :no clue:

I've asked the question many times: What changed? For the past three years we've tuned the digital channels.

From what I've read, some stations, at the point of transition, moved from VHF to UHF, and those signals are harder to tune without a larger antenna (might be mixing things up). Yet, hitting those stations websites that we cannot receive still show VHF channels :no clue:

Guess we're back to the big rooftop setup my dad had in the 70's :)

[maxcooper]

John,

Discs vary in quality a lot. And some discs work better with some players than others. For your discs that go bad, just toss them and move on to another. Buy in small quantities until you find a brand that works well for you.

Also, even if you decide to buy a commercial OTA HD antenna at some point, you could build a DIY antenna for dirt cheap (quite possibly free) that may work for you in the short or long term:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=diy+hd+antenna

-Max

[persisting1]

Here's what I did. Might make your life easier and you'll save money.

Now that you have broadband, use it to its fullest.

Ditch your satellite or cable provider and use your computer for everything. Get Netflix and use the Watch it now feature as mutch as possible between movies being delivered. Also, use open sourced probgrams like DVD Shrink 3.2 to burn all the movies you enjoyed onto a DVD. You can also use Hulu or torrents when Netflix doesn't work. Between these things, you'll never miss your provider.

Get an HD attenna for you local stations. You can watch the big game on Sundays.

If this still isn't enough, buy a Slingbox PRO-HD. Buy a friend some beer. Take it to his house and tell him you're going to hook up the Slingbox to his satellite/cable box. Now you have all the channels he has and you have access to his DVR.

DVD Shrink
http://www.dvdshrink.org/

Slingbox
http://www.slingmedia.com/go/products

Okay nevermind. I guess this wouldn't make things easier for you.

[quadman]

John,

Discs vary in quality a lot. And some discs work better with some players than others. For your discs that go bad, just toss them and move on to another. Buy in small quantities until you find a brand that works well for you.

-Max

And I guess this goes to my original question.... "do DVD+RW's go "bad?" I'm "assuming" by your response that they do. Which then begs the question.... how can I tell that they are going bad so that I don't all of a sudden maybe miss something being recorded that we REALLY wanted to see.... which has happened quite a few times lately.

[Mep]

Yes, the disk are being made even more cheaply all the time. The quality is going down. So they do go bad.

Don't expect RW to last a long time in a DVR. You may just want to get a big stack of DVDR (the not rewritable type) and use and toss them.

If you get cable or satalite then get the DVR through that service. Those boxes use typical computer hard drives and can be reused often. The down side is those hard drives aren't as big as they can be. Also if the drive goes bad, have them change out for a new one.