Page 1 of Panasonic DVD RAM Cartridges

I`m looking at buying the Panny E55 DVD Recorder. Although I intend to record mainly onto DVD-R, I was thinking about buying some DVD RAM discs for general TV recordings. Could somebody please expalin the difference between those supplied within a cartridge and those without? Will I only be able to use one type or will the Panny accept both? Is it worth buying any DVD RAM discs or should I just stick to DVD-Rs? Your comments are welcomed.

Thanks

Chris

Hi Chris,

I have a Panasonic E50 and have had some problems with it (see thread `Panasonic E50 Problems`). Since switching to Panasonic branded DVD-R`s recording has been fine. However, used a Panasonic DVD-RAM disc to record two hour programme at the weekend. Watched it tonight and it was fine until the last 15 minutes when glitches++ made themselves known. In theory there are lots of advantages to recording to DVD-RAM (as long as they are played back on Panasonic DVD). This might have been a rogue disc - will try some more to find out for sure. Alternatively I might just have a duff machine...

Cheers,

Nick

I believe there are 3 types of DVD-RAM. The single sided one. The Double sided cartridge, & the Cartridge type that you can remove the DVD-RAM disc (so you can use it in a DVD-RAM machine that doesn`t have the cartridge facility. However the bottom line is all will work in the E50. The E50 has now been replaced by the E55 (again they will all work in it). I once had a disc that caused slight glitches & a wipe over seemed to sort it out. I`ve used several makes of DVD-RAM discs cheapies & Pannies own brand & all worked fine. I`ve never used any Panasonic DVD-R discs but always use discs with Ritek Dye & so far no problems.

I have an E50 and an E55.
I use Panasonic RAM discs only,no problems with them at all,ever.
I`ve recorded using direct-link and timer.
I`ve used all recording modes.

I use Panasonic and Maxell -R`s.
No problems with them at all either.

Only time I`ve ever had a problem was with cheap Skytec (who???) -R`s I bought in bulk from Toys R Us one day.They recorded ok,and played back ok.They would not finalise though,so they couldn`t be played on other machines.

I don`t really see why people seek out cheap -R`s all the time.
From memory,Panasonic`s own are under a pound a disc !
Hardly breaking the bank is it !

I had three double sided RAM supplied with my E55 in caddy`s when I bought it some months ago, and for what you save why bother buying without the caddy?. I believe the non caddy type have to be put in & taken out of the caddy if you want to record on another disk, too much hassle I reckon. For every day TV recording just watch & erase. On LP the quality it is more than acceptable for me and gives you 4 hours aside, infact two of my disks are still wrapped and unused, I live off the same one.

Hi Chris

I bought a Panny E55, about 3 months ago, very pleased with it.
I had the same problem as you about which discs to use so started off with panny`s own DVD-RAM discs (no cartridge) and they have worked fine if you are careful with the discs you should have no problems as thay say you can Format and reuse them 100.000 times, if you want more protection for your discs, for example if you have kids then get the ones in cartridges.

Hope this helps.
Mick :)

A big thanks to everyone who replied to this thread.

Chris