Fed up with Sony DVD recorders

Computer Hardware
#1

Hello everyone, I hope this is the right forum for the answers I’m seeking. My situation is 2 fold.

  1. I have two Sony DVD recorders- Model # RDR-GX7 and they are five years old. They work ok when they feel like it ,but they have one super aggravating habit. When they don’t like the media I put in them the recorder will start a recording for a short time. Then, an error message pops up in the front of the recorder. It says: “C1300”, this equates to the disk is dirty. This has happened so many times I was tempted to take both of them and throw them in the nearest garbage pail.

It doesn’t matter what brand of media I use. I recently bought some Maxell blanks and neither deck will play them. I usually have the best results with verbatim media, but even they incur the same error message from time to time. Furthermore, when this happens the player locks up and will not let me get the media out of the player unless I unplug the AC cord from the uniform least 30 seconds. I am tired of playing games with these machines and as of this writing I have not been able to find out what is causing this.

I went out last weekend and purchased a DVD laser cleaner disc and use it on all five of my DVD machines. Unfortunately, the recorders still refuse to like the Maxell media. I can use those in my PC burner with no problem. Does anyone know why this error message keeps coming up with these Sony machines? I clean the media blanks extensively before putting them into the recorders so I know they are not dirty.

  1. I’m seeking a reasonably priced DVD recorder other than Sony. Preferably, I’d like to have one that records in HD and up to 1080p. However, I’m not wealthy and I’ll settle for one that makes nice copies that upscale to 1080i. As I’ve always had Sony recorders I have no clue as to what brands are reliable and don’t give error messages for no apparent good reason.

All feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

#2
  1. I just joined this forum today. I also have a Sony RDR-GX7. I was hoping to find an answer to the problem that you are having. I tried Maxell DVD+RW a few years ago. They do not work in the RDR-GX7. At first I had good luck with Memorex DVD+RW discs. After 3 years of rewrites, they became unreliable. I then tried a spindle of Sony DVD+RW. They work fine.

A few months ago, however, I tried another spindle of Sony DVD+RW and only about half of the discs would format. Last week I tried another spindle of Memorex DVD+RW. None of them would format–all generate the trusty C1300 dirty disk error message.

This recorder seems to be extremely sensitive to the way the discs are manufactured. You said that the Verbatim work fairly well. How recently have you purchased some DVD+RW Verbatim discs? I am beginning to wonder if manufacturers have changed something in the specifications of the DVD+RW discs and they will not format on the RDR-GX7 any more.

On another forum I found someone who claimed to have a firmware upgrade for this recorder. I asked him to send it to me, but I never received anything. Sony denies that there is a firmware upgrade.

  1. Two months ago I purchased a Panasonic DMR-EZ28. It does not record HD, but does upconvert to 1080p. It has a good picture and formats anything I put in the tray. I am using the five year old Memorex discs that I first started using in the RDR-GX7–the ones that became unreliable in the RDR-GX7. They work fine in the Panasonic. I have also formatted Maxell and Sony. I am happy with it. It has a few quirks–but nothing that cannot be worked around.
#3

[QUOTE=franksony;2244247]1. I just joined this forum today. I also have a Sony RDR-GX7. I was hoping to find an answer to the problem that you are having. I tried Maxell DVD+RW a few years ago. They do not work in the RDR-GX7. At first I had good luck with Memorex DVD+RW discs. After 3 years of rewrites, they became unreliable. I then tried a spindle of Sony DVD+RW. They work fine.

A few months ago, however, I tried another spindle of Sony DVD+RW and only about half of the discs would format. Last week I tried another spindle of Memorex DVD+RW. None of them would format–all generate the trusty C1300 dirty disk error message.

This recorder seems to be extremely sensitive to the way the discs are manufactured. You said that the Verbatim work fairly well. How recently have you purchased some DVD+RW Verbatim discs? I am beginning to wonder if manufacturers have changed something in the specifications of the DVD+RW discs and they will not format on the RDR-GX7 any more.

On another forum I found someone who claimed to have a firmware upgrade for this recorder. I asked him to send it to me, but I never received anything. Sony denies that there is a firmware upgrade.

  1. Two months ago I purchased a Panasonic DMR-EZ28. It does not record HD, but does upconvert to 1080p. It has a good picture and formats anything I put in the tray. I am using the five year old Memorex discs that I first started using in the RDR-GX7–the ones that became unreliable in the RDR-GX7. They work fine in the Panasonic. I have also formatted Maxell and Sony. I am happy with it. It has a few quirks–but nothing that cannot be worked around.[/QUOTE]

Hi, I thought the dirty disc message meant something else as I clean all my blanks quite well before putting them into the recorder. I usually use Verbatim (-R) blanks sold @ Sam’s club. Recently they changed the discs- the new ones say “Inkjet Printable DVD (-R) 16X”. The old ones didn’t have the inkjet on them. These are OK with the recorders most of the time.

I don’t usually watch the blanks when the door closes to observe the 'Disc is formatted" message, but the Maxell’s (-R) will load & I pause the recording initially. After perhaps 2-5 minutes I get the C-1300 message and that disc goes in the PC room. One year ago I bought a 50 pk. of the same Maxell discs & they gave no trouble.

I also have no trouble with (+RW) discs. I only have the problem with (-R) media. As to the Panasonic- where did you buy it and @ what price?

All things considered- These decks are only 450 res. and I get HD programming through Dish. I would be satisfied with 1080i res. for now if the price is not too high for the recorder you mention.

I also have a Sony model # BDP-BX1 Blu-ray DVD player and both the sound & picture are great in 1080p. It gives no trouble like all my other Sony products with the exception of the RDR-GX7’s.

One other question- how does the PQ compare with the RDR-GX7 & the DMR-EZ28? I figure it must be much better if it goes up to 1080 res.

Thanks for the input. It gives me a start on a new recorder.

#4

I bought the Panasonic at Bestbuy. Their price today is $235. The recorder does have a tuner which adds to the price. I did not need the tuner–and neither would you. But I wanted to purchase locally rather than by ordering.

I think the picture quality on the Sony and Panasonic are about the same. I also record from Dish, but I do not receive an HD signal and I do not have HD TV’s. But I get an excellent signal and the recordings have always been excellent.

I have had very little trouble with the DVD-R format. The most recent spindle was Sony 1-16X. I saw a note somewhere that these are causing a problem with the RDR-GX7. I did get the C1300 error on a couple of discs. So I decided to record everything first on DVD+RW and then do an image copy on the computer to DVD-R if I wanted to save a final copy on DVD-R.

#5

[QUOTE=franksony;2244606]I bought the Panasonic at Bestbuy. Their price today is $235. The recorder does have a tuner which adds to the price. I did not need the tuner–and neither would you. But I wanted to purchase locally rather than by ordering.

I think the picture quality on the Sony and Panasonic are about the same. I also record from Dish, but I do not receive an HD signal and I do not have HD TV’s. But I get an excellent signal and the recordings have always been excellent.

I have had very little trouble with the DVD-R format. The most recent spindle was Sony 1-16X. I saw a note somewhere that these are causing a problem with the RDR-GX7. I did get the C1300 error on a couple of discs. So I decided to record everything first on DVD+RW and then do an image copy on the computer to DVD-R if I wanted to save a final copy on DVD-R.[/QUOTE]

Today I ordered the Panasonic unit @ Amazon for $229 with free shipping and no tax. It’s temporarily on back order which is OK with me. I read about 25 feedback posts @ Amazon from people who bought the Panasonic unit. It was a landslide of positive posts. Only a couple of unhappy customers. Thanks for your advice and help.

BTW, I forgot to welcome you to this forum. When you’re ready to go H.D. if you have any questions contact me if you’d like. I am very happy with my Sony 60" HD set. I have a 722 DVR from Dish with the $10/mo. “Essentials” HD pkg. The DVR is a super workhorse and I can’t imagine not having one anymore. I lease all the equip. from Dish and have the DVR Advantage pkg. with HBO, Max, and the top 250 ch. pkg.

Enjoy the weekend, Walker:)