DVD recordings on DVD-RAM won't play on laptop

PennyPurple

Good Evening,

I hope someone can help, as this is driving me nuts!:eek:

I have a Panasonic DMR-E55EB/EBL DVD Vido Recorder and a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop. I am using Panasonic DVD-RAM discs and have tried the LP (long play 4 hour) and EP (extended play) 6 hour recording modes.

Neither of these recordings will play on my laptop.

I thought about "finalising" the discs but the option doesn't appear on the menu - I guess because they're re-writeable?

My laptop says on the CD/DVD drawer "DVD+ReWriteable" and "DVD R/RW".

I use "Power DVD" software to play DVDs on my laptop.

Any suggestions very gratefully received.

Thanks for reading and hope you've had a good week-end - Finally we got some sunshine!

Regards,
Penny

Altarf

DVD-RAM discs will only play in a compatible DVD player, and most are not. It doesn't matter what sort of software you are using or the length of the recording (LP, EP, etc) either the DVD-RAM will play in your DVD drive or not.

Your only options are either to change the DVD drive in your laptop to one that is compatible with RAM discs or use DVD RW discs instead.

Woby_Tide

Windows and DVD-RAM aren't the easiest to get along so as the previous poster says

a) if teh drive won't read teh disc at all then it's the drive that needs replacing
b) if the disc is readable but won't play then it's sometimes just a matter of copying the files of the DVD-RAM onto the hardrive then renaming the .vro files to .mpg

PennyPurple

Thanks so much for your both your replies. I will check if the disc is readable (in Windows Explorer) and if not will buy some DVD+RW discs at the week-end and see if that works. I appreciate you both taking the time to reply - very kind of you.

Donnie

It's nothing to do with whether the disc is readable with Windows. It's the DVD drive in your laptop. It doesn't play DVD-RAM. It's like trying to play a DVD in a CD drive. It won't work.
Before you purchase DVD+RW, check that your laptop drive plays them.
You can post the drive details here if you'd like us to check for you.