Dell 700m owners and playing DVDs

[coolzero16]

Well I work at Best Buy and I admit, i bought a dell =p But I'm having some severe frustrations getting it to play burned dvds of any kind (not just movie backups)

First of all, anyone with a dell 700m able to play burned DVDs? If so what burner are you using, what media, and what software.

I've been using shrink DVD which uses NERO to back up movies....but also Ive been using just NERO v6 to burn data such as music or documents...I always finalize the disc so as not to deal with multi session issues and then whenever I pop it into the drive it freezes windows completely..It never gets to loading the PowerDVD software.

Ive tried two different kinds of Memorex, Verbatim, and Dynex....anyone know any rock solid media companies I could try before saying to hell with it and asking dell for a return? I hate to do that this laptop was a great price but its only a great deal if I can get it to do what I want it to do =p


Oh also I have the cdrw/DVD combo drive not the dual layer dvdrw...which is actually made by phillips/benq model# cdd5263

 

[CheesePoofs]

Thats what you get for buying a dell

Have you tried uninstalling PowerDVD? Or trying the burned disks on another computer?

 

[coolzero16]

yah i know i really ate it when i bought this system, it was just such a good price...1000 bucks for this 700m but that price includes a 350 dollar service plan that covers the laptop for 3 years and includes me dropping it or spilling stuff on it..

I havent tried uninstalling powerDVD i will try that now, but again it doesnt even get to the part where it should load power DVD when I load the disc in nothing happens, but then when I click my computer->cdrw/dvdrom drive it freezes windows until i take the disc out.

 

[CheesePoofs]

can the drive read normal CD's? How about CD's burnt on a different computer?

 

[coolzero16]

it can read normal CDs as well as CDs burnt on other computers. it can read manufacturered DVDs too like movies I bought

the only thing it cant read is burned DVDs of any kind...data music OR movie backups. completely freezes.

do you think the DVD burner has an effect on the final product of a burned DVD? I'm using some cheap optorite dvd burner I would consider getting a nice one if it would help.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Oh, I thought you were talking about CD's which is why I asked about them

The DVD burner definately has an effect on the final product of a burned DVD. Just look at anandtech's most recent dvd burner roundup. They had a few burners that simply could not make readable DVD's. They would say they had successfully completed the DVD, but even those drives couldnt' even read their own DVD.

 

[coolzero16]

One thing I'd like to point out though that I forgot to mention: my home DVD player upstairs connected to my home theatre plays ANY of these DVDs made by this burner. I just bought a liteon dvdrw from someone on the FS/FT forums..if that turns out to make crappy DVDs too I will look into investing a decent amount of money into a dvd burner that is known for getting good results.


Also though considering these burned dvds do play in my stand alone dvd player upstairs, is it also possible that this drive just sucks donkey nuts and will never be able to play burned DVDs?

 

[furballi]

Try DVD-R or DVD+R but set the DVD to DVD-ROM booktype. Final option is to return that POS.

 

[coolzero16]

what do you mean set the DVD to DVD-ROM booktype?

 

[bacillus]

What is the make and model of your optical drive?

 

[furballi]

Some DVD burners will allow DVD+R media to be coded as DVD ROM for better compatibility. This is accomplished during the burn.

 

[Funyuns101]

i have no problems reading any kind of media on my 700m
try getting a new one from dell?
i had the sony dvd/cdrw and my friend has a 700m w/the sony dvdrw and both work fine

 

[coolzero16]

mine is a phillips dvd/cdrw. i have a new dvdrw on the way from dell. they said it was 2 day shipping so it should arrive today. if this doesnt work I'm going to call the cusomter service department and tell them I want the dvdrw (for the price of upgrading it for 100 bucks which I had the option to do so when I was configuring it) or I want an RMA to return the laptop.

just for good measure though, what media are you using (brand, dvd + or -) and what software do you use to burn it along with your dvd burner. i know you mentioned you have the dvd/cdrw but if it can play burned dvds im assuming you are getting burned dvds somewhere else =)

other than that thanks for the tips guys we'll see what happens when the new dvd/cdrw gets here

 

[Funyuns101]

i've used dvd's from: memorex, ridata, sonicx, staples, and a bunch of other ones

 

[coolzero16]

damn yah Ive tried memorex ritek tdk sony verbatim and dynex


I just popped in the dvdrom/cdrw its still having the same issues, I called dell again and basically told them I wanted the dvdrw upgrade (I would pay the price difference) since their dvdrw is made by sony or I wanted to return the laptop....he told me they were gonna have advanced tech support call me and they had the authority to send a different dvd drive. I even jumped their through hoops of wiping out the PC (I didnt mind ive only had it a week anyways) to manufacturer settings just in case I had viruses/spyware causing the issue but that didnt help. Im going to best buy to burn a dvd on one of the display machines. If it works I will chalk it up as a bad dvdrw in my desktop and wait for the new one I bought off the FS/FT forums. After all that if I still can't get it to work, I'll return the laptop -_-

 

[Damathon]

Same problem with my 700m (is it a problem?)...I have the stock CD-R/DVD-ROM and it doesn't recognize any of my DVD-R's; is the only option really to upgrade to a DVD-R drive (which I find completely useless in a laptop)?

Kinda reminds me of the X-BOX DVD drives...

 

[Oyeve]

Must be Hell to have a Dell.