I just finished dubbing a movie to a DVD-R TY 8x and like the other 7 out of the first 10 it is NFG. I recopied it on a MAXELL -R and it is perfect.
The bad copies I have had with Sony and Maxell are nothing compared to the TY. Probably in the normal range.
With all the complaints about bad media I want to try everything before sending my EH-75 in to Panasonic.
I just read on Wikipedia that because of some reason I don't understand that +R is less error prone. I am thinking of going out tomorrow and buying a bunch of +R and giving it a try.
I would like to get some opinions on that.
And also is +/-RW better quality than +/-R. Is there less chance of a NG copy? Can they be finalized to play on any machine?
It sounds like RAM would be the best (forgetting cost) but since it can't be finallized does that mean it can't be played on regular DVD players?
What is my best choice for good copies?
Thanks for any advise.

Here is an older, but still relevant, article on why +R is better than -R. (http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/113)

Most interesting is the section on Pre-pits (-R) versus ADIP (+R) for tracking and error correction.

(Ignore the part later about "Defect Management" with Mt Rainier and MRW discs...that was a hardware option that was never implemented by anyone).

When did you purchase the TY 8x -R's? There have been some nasty reports about 8x TY reliability for those sold in the June - July and beyond time frame. I read some bad reports which popped up on the Supermedia store customer ratings for TY 8X -R premiums. And picked up on this on other sites as well.

wabjxo-- Thank you for the link. I have to wait til it gets a little quieter before I can read that.

nextoo-- I bought the TY's from Rima in July.
I posted my problems here when I tried to use them but because of the problems I thought were bad with other brands I guess it sounded like my 75 had a problem. Still might but with the bad TY's hopefully not.
I emailed Rima about it and they said it was the first they had heard.
Finally had put out the "big" money for the good stuff and what do I get.:)
I should remember my timing sucks, just like when I bought into the Stock Market before it took a BIG dump.:(

I talked to Panasonic and they are sending a firmware update. Probably something I don't need.

So anyway does trying some +R's (which ones ?) in a Panasonic sound like a good move?

Thanks again.

i dont know how old or how much use your panny has had, but the drive units in any of these machines do wear out. it can make it seem that the discs are at fault, thats what happened to me w/ tosh dr2. i bought it 11-04 and after using it a LOT(1400-1500 -r discs) for the 1st 18 mos., discs started taking a long time to load, then wouldnt load at all, finalizing would sometimes 'jam' in the middle of the process, finished discs wouldnt always play thru, etc. some manufacturers discs worked better than others. i swore the discs were at fault. after about 2 mos of this i called toshiba, sent machine to lowell, ma., w/ mo for $140 (it was out of warrenty), got it back a week later, its been xcellent since. they had replaced the 'drive unit'. ive never used anything but -rs w/ xcellent results. ive also had a panny es15 since 5-06 and its an excellent machine. not one problem.

Good media is good media, and bad media is bad media. Different burners react differently, so it's a moving target. Once you find a brand and type of disc that works well with your recorder(s), you should buy a bunch and stick with it for as long as you can.

On a day to day usage basis, the quality of the disc itself is far, far more important than if it's DVD+R or DVD-R. There definitely seems to be some issue with Taiyo Yuden media of late, unfortunately. Try to find some Verbatim media -- either -R or +R, and see how that works.

RW media tends to flake out-- I don't know why anyone would suggest it's more reliable than -/+ R. It's good for reuse but absolutely not for archiving data.

DVD-RAM is excellent for longer term storage, but you're correct that its compatibility

I have only had the EH75 since February. And I have made maybe 130 copies, good and bad. I have some more time with warranty, so I do have time to try and work out the media problem if that is it.
As for those TDK's it is good they are in 25 packs. It's not like that spindle of 100 TY's that I have opened and can't return. If I don't like these at least I would only be out $5 for one opened pack.

On another note Panasonic sent me a firmware update for the EH75.
It is UX-346.
Anyone know anything about it?

Thank You for the replies.
Everything (and anything) helps to learn more.

I'd try it. (note: I don't have an EH75 so I have no idea what it does) Oftentimes firmware updates improve disc writing quality, so it may solve your problem. If it doesn't help you're more than likely not going to be in worse shape (although I will mention occasionally firmware updates go bad [power glitch, etc] and may mess up your unit so be sure to try to copy anything critically important just to be safe-- but 99% of the time all goes fine)

Good media is good media, and bad media is bad media. Different burners react differently, so it's a moving target. Once you find a brand and type of disc that works well with your recorder(s), you should buy a bunch and stick with it for as long as you can.

This is great advice. I have a Pioneer burner that does well with -R, and a Lite On External burner that loves +R discs. For archiving important stuff, I rely on Verbatim +R discs recorded at no more than 4X. My average score with DVD InfoPro is 99%. For some reason I never could get as high a rate with -R discs. And when studying the graphs, one will see that +R discs have many less Pi/Pif errors as compared to -R.

And I do test often, because I once had to replace more than 300 discs that went bad after two years (Most were Be-All and Ritek (Pink Dye) -Rs).

I also should mention that I have a couple of hundred DVD-RAM discs that are now going on eight years old, without one failure. I use these for the really important stuff.

...I also should mention that I have a couple of hundred DVD-RAM discs that are now going on eight years old, without one failure. I use these for the really important stuff.
A couple of HUNDRED -RAM disks! A man after my own heart.

A couple of HUNDRED -RAM disks! A man after my own heart.

Yes, all of my Home Video gets stored onto RAM. You know the score, as you've been contributing to this forum for quite a while now. ;)

I know the score, but even on this forum, most people who use -RAM disks really only have one or two dozen. It is very rare for someone to have over a hundred. I have over 200 -RAM disks myself. That's pretty unusual, even for a group like this.

I just finished dubbing a movie to a DVD-R TY 8x and like the other 7 out of the first 10 it is NFG. I recopied it on a MAXELL -R and it is perfect.
The bad copies I have had with Sony and Maxell are nothing compared to the TY. Probably in the normal range.
With all the complaints about bad media I want to try everything before sending my EH-75 in to Panasonic.
I just read on Wikipedia that because of some reason I don't understand that +R is less error prone. I am thinking of going out tomorrow and buying a bunch of +R and giving it a try.
I would like to get some opinions on that.
And also is +/-RW better quality than +/-R. Is there less chance of a NG copy? Can they be finalized to play on any machine?
It sounds like RAM would be the best (forgetting cost) but since it can't be finallized does that mean it can't be played on regular DVD players?
What is my best choice for good copies?
Thanks for any advise.

I've used both DVD-R and +R. I have the most problems with the -R. For example, many of my -R discs would play fine on my PC or Sony stand alone but on cheap Chinese made players, they would sort of hiccup. What I mean is that at certain intervals, the images would momentarily freeze and then quickly move with a blur to catch up with the time. This would happen at regular intervals. I first thought I had a defective machine so I returned it and got another. Same thing... both my Panasonic and Sylvania (Funai).

I haven't had this problem using DVD+R. One funny note though, when I use DVD-R with my Panasonic, it time stamps the video files on the date of the recordings. When I use DVD+R, it time stamps the video files all at a certain date from years ago. I see the file time stamps when I view them to my PC.

Out of the 80 - 100 RAMs I have, the only problem I have had that was not caused by software (Panasonic DVD Movie Album) was one of my old 5.2 GB double-sided cartridges getting a sticky door.

Still reads and writes data just fine, though.

I've used both DVD-R and +R. I have the most problems with the -R. For example, many of my -R discs would play fine on my PC or Sony stand alone but on cheap Chinese made players, they would sort of hiccup. What I mean is that at certain intervals, the images would momentarily freeze and then quickly move with a blur to catch up with the time. This would happen at regular intervals. I first thought I had a defective machine so I returned it and got another. Same thing... both my Panasonic and Sylvania (Funai).

I haven't had this problem using DVD+R. One funny note though, when I use DVD-R with my Panasonic, it time stamps the video files on the date of the recordings. When I use DVD+R, it time stamps the video files all at a certain date from years ago. I see the file time stamps when I view them to my PC.

-r discs i record on my tosh dr2s will occasionally 'hiccup', freeze, 'block up', etc only when i try to play them on either my tosh 5970 or the newer '5000'. thats why i got a panny s77 2 yrs ago. it plays those same discs and everything/anything else flawlessly.