Wanted to provide a copy from a VHS tape to a DVD for my cousin. Completed the dubbing and `finalised` the disc so that it could be played on another machine.(Disc was a DVD-RW,4x speed)..
My cousin tried it in two DVD players, but they wouldn`t play the disc. It will play back OK on mine.
Any constructive thoughts on why the DVD won`t play on the other machines and what, if anything, I may have done wrong - is it the disc format/speed that could be the problem?

How old is your cousin's DVD player? Mine (from 2003) is not compatable with home made DVD's at all and I had to get a newer model.

Use a DVD-R disk. Some players can be very picky about the disks they can play, especially when it comes to recordable media.

DVD-R is probably the most compatible format.

Yes, don't use a DVD+R or DVD+RW writable disc!

Info noted -thanks,guys

Checking on this thread, I DID use a DVD-RW disc; so is it worth trying the DVD+RW format?
What`s the difference anyway with the + and - formats - I know the RW means `rewritable` and the R means it`s not, but don`t know the significance of the plus and minus indicators.
Incidentally, the DVD players it was tried on were of fairly recent origin. Could it be the speed of the disc -it was a 4-speed disc; I have some of 5-speed; is that the maximum available?

I don't think changing from one format RW to the other will necessarily solve your issue. Try using a -R disk instead of either form of RW. As I posted above players can be a bit of a pain when it comes to what recordable media they will tolerate.

Thanks,Chris - I suppose anything`s worth a try. Would still like to know what the + and - mean....

The - and + are simply different DVD formats. Some writers and readers can accept both (-/+), but most can only support one or the other. This does mean that, as far as DVD is concerned, you have to plan your entire usage chain to ensure compatibility.

For longevity avoid RW disks. They're only really useful, in my experience, if you don't have a local area network and want to copy files from computer to computer.

On the contrary - most can support both. But some writers (Panasonic, you know who you are) only support one. Almost all readers manufactured in the last four or five years should be able to read both - and also RAM as well.

Righty-dokey, it looks as if it all comes down to `trial and error`. I`ll do some experimenting...

Panasonic dvd recorders have writtent to both + and - for a few years.
The last one I tested was in 2009 and that did although I can't recall if it was +RW aswell as +R.