rjh_54

I posted this in the Home Theater forum on IMDb a few months ago and (as I suspected) no one responded, so I figured I'd have better luck on here.

I have a Magnavox DVD recorder that's 3 years old, model MWR 20V6. Factory-produced DVDs and DVD+/-R and RWs of stuff I recorded off the TV play fine. When I go to record things on a blank DVD (R or RW), it will record, and when I hit STOP, it's supposed to write the stuff to the disc. When I do this, it says "Writing to Disc" and has the loading bar. About halfway through it says "ERROR: This disc can not be recorded on". I did some research, and it appears that I'll need a DVD lens cleaner to be able to record stuff anymore. I went to Target and Wal Mart looking for lens cleaners, Target had a Memorex one for $9.99, and Wal Mart had a Philips one for $7.96. Both said CD/DVD lens cleaner, and the Philips lens cleaner came with TWO discs for cleaning. The question is, do I need a specific type of lens cleaner for a DVD recorder? If not, which of the two lens cleaners should I buy?

JohnnyDaBull

I don't really know for sure but I would buy the memorex one.

danwiz

You might be using really low quality media maybe? When low quality media is used the result is often coasters. I've been experimenting with lower cost media lately because I've been having some minor problems finding Taiyo-Yuden and I am very frustrated - out of a 10 pack of DVD-R media I burned 8 coasters and 2 good discs. Don't ask me what media I used because I don't even remember, but I will absolutely pay the extra for the best in the future!

And before some of you start saying that DVD-R is a worthless format - it is the common type used here in Japan.

rjh_54

I don't think it's low-quality media. The discs I've been using have been manufactured by pretty well known companies. The only types of discs I've used TDK, Magnavox, Memorex, HP, Sony and Verbatim, and none of them have given me issues, except TDK. At first I figured it was because the TDK discs I bought were DVD+R as opposed to the DVD-R or DVD-RW discs that I normally use, but that wasn't the case, since I had tried going back and recording on DVD-R or DVD-RW discs that I had leftover.

cisco1959

I buy my Taiyo's here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=Taiyo-Yuden+

bsmith

So did I get this straight, you can record on Magnavox, Memorex, HP, Sony and Verbatim; but TDK's give you an issue. If that is the case, I don't think a lens cleaner is the answer. I would just avoid TDK's. Not all writers/readers are the same. For example, I find Sony DVD-R media to work the best for me. I received some pre-recorded TDK DVD-R's and one drive on my computer cane read them and the other won't. I'm not saying TDK's are necessarily a problem, but just that they may not be the best match for your equipment.

rjh_54

No, sorry for not clarifying that, right now I can't record on anything. Here's what happened:

I had originally bought TDK DVD+Rs because my Magnavox DVD-Rs were running low, and I was in a hurry so I mistakenly bought the DVD+Rs from TDK. I tried recording on the TDK discs and it wouldn't work so I just figured it wasn't very well compatible with my DVD recorder, and I took the disc out and tried recording on one of the Magnavox DVDs, which also wouldn't work. I questioned it but then I took out one of the RWs that had some room left on it and tried recording on that. Again, no luck.

EvlAsh

Any CD/DVD lens cleaning system should work. They are all basically a wet/dry system that use isopropyl alcohol as the main active ingredient in their lens cleaning solution. I would suggest you first try cleaning your dvd recorder with out using the liquid solution; if that doesn't work, then go ahead and use the liquid. One last thing, the advantage of a DVD dedicated cleaning system is that it usually includes on-screen instructions.

rjh_54

Good to know. I think one of the two was a CD/DVD lens cleaner, but the other one (I believe it was the Memorex one) was strictly for DVD players, and that's one of the reasons I held off since I wasn't sure which one would work better. I think I'll go for the Memorex one since it's strictly for DVD players.