DVD movies are not copiable at the digital level but you could do it at the analog level. However the DVDRW format is not compatible with DVD players... Panasonic does make a DVD recorder that will copy TV, VHS tapes and the analog output of DVD players. It costs $4,000 and blank DVDs cost $35... We think it would be a lot less expensive and a heck of a lot less hassle to simply buy a back up of any DVD movie you have.

What you are experiencing is a common problem with recorded media. CDR has a reflectivity of about 70% of a 'pressed CD' (CDRW is even lower at about 50%). You can experiment with some of the higher grade media to see if you can find one that works. We suggest Ricoh Platinum which is probably your best chance. We sell that on our web site

The technology for recording DVDs is far more complex than for recording CDs and CD recorders will never be able to record DVDs. There are DVD recorders available but if you are trying to record DVD movies (from ones you buy in a store) then that is a different story and not legally possible at this time.

CD burners do not burn DVDs. They burn CDs which most DVD players can read. You can also burn a Video CD which the more modern DVD players will play.

 The difference between CD Duplication and CD Replication. Let's start with CD Replication. This involves making a die that molds all the 'pits' that represent 1's and 0's of a digital stream. The die is used to 'stamp out' a polycarbonate disk (i.e what looks like clear plastic). This disk contains all the information that is on either an audio CD or a data CD Rom. A silver reflective coating is then applied to the disk then a protective coating and finally a printed label which in this process is usually silk-screened onto the disk. That is how the audio disks you buy in a music store are made. They are read by CD players (as well as DVD players and CD Roms) by bouncing a laser beam off the pits (for 1's) no pits (for 0's). Thus a stream of data comes from the CD. This is translated by the circuitry of the device that is reading it and eventually ends up as music etc from speakers. In the case of a recorded CD the process is somewhat different. A blank polycarbonate disk has a cyanine or phthalocyanine dye sprayed on it. This is covered with a reflective coating (that is either silver or gold) then a protective coating. This blank "recordable" CD is then ready to be 'burned'. It is these blanks that are put into a CD Recorder which has a laser capable of burning the pits into the dye. Once done then these disks can be played in regular audio CD players etc. However recordable CDs only have about 70% of the reflectivity of stamped CDs. This is why they will not work in really old CD players and earlier DVD players. We have found that good quality CDR media will play in the majority of DVD players made in the last couple of years. The key is good quality. Now there are some that are called silver/silver CDR disks about and it is hard to tell the difference between those and stamped CDs. They use a special technique to make the disk look silver. However there is still a loss of reflectivity on this kind of disk.