if i use a dvd-r disc and record about 1/2 of the disc and stop. and than start to record later i assume the machine just records where i stopped. Yes and no. You can continue to record until the disk is full, or you have finalized the disk. It does not record in long loop like the VHS recorders did. Instead you will have "chapters". You can name them and even choose the screen shot that you want to show up on the menu. You will use your remote to type in the show name - it does not automatically do this. If you choose to not type in a name, it will probably just show up as "Title 1" or something like that. Each show that you record will be a new chapter on the menu. You can choose the length of recording time on the DVD. 2 hours is high quality, 4 hours medium, 6 hours low. There should be a button on your remote that allows you to choose the length of record time. Once you choose this on a disk -and start recording, you can't change this. This may differ, depending on the type of recorder you have. This is how it works on mine. how does it know where to record from? do i tell it where to record from? how? You need to read over the book that came with the DVDR - it isn't too complicated, and is somewhat similar to VCR's. But, until you use it a few times - it can seem complicated. I found the best way to learn was to actually use it. but if i use a dvd-rw disc, and do the same thing, It will work in the same manner - but you can reuse the DVD-RW by reformatting (erasing) it in the recorder. You can only play the DVD-RW in the device that you originally recored it on. If you finalize a regular DVD (not a RW or ReWritable) - you can play it in any DVD player. Make sure you have the correct media also. Mine requires DVD+R, but not all are the same. Some use + some use - media. Consult your owners manual. Mine came with a couple blank disk also - those should be the correct type if you had some come with yours.

We are taking the plunge and looking at getting a Panasonic or Hitachi (haven't decided which) dvd camcorder. I've been studying the formats and have learned that we'll need a dvd-r so it will play on our Panasonic dvd player. (Unfortunately, my computer is dvd+rw so i can't edit on it.) I've also heard a little bit about DVD-RAM but still in the dark a lot on that one. So, having learned that much I still am confused about a couple of things and hope that some experienced person will help me out. 1. DVD-RAM: -when they say you can edit right on the camcorder, do they mean only if DVD-RAM disc or can you edit DVD-R's? -what kind of editing will the camera do? e.g.: does it do chapters? -my dvd player will play DVD-RAM discs as long as they are not in the cartridge. I have never seen a RAM disc-do they come out of the cartridge for dvd player use? -what are the advantages/disadvantages of DVD-RAM? -can you/do you finalize DVD-RAM? 2. do you need to format DVD-R/RAM discs before using them? 3. if I record in 16:9 format, (which is what I want), how will it view on 4:3 ration screens? 4. what is a good CCD number? TIA-I really appreciate any information you can give me.

Alisande We had our old 8mm home movies from the 50's & 60's converted to DVD and VHS last year. In total there was about 1000 feet and the cost was about $200 however it was a worthwhile investment that I'm sorry we waited so long for as some of the film had began to deteriorate. If you check in your yellow pages under audio-visual you will probably find a local company who can do this for you saving you the angst of mailing the valuable films. That's how we found the place to do ours. The place we had ours done also had a pricing structure that dropped with the more feet of film you had reprocessed so ask about that.

Your probably using the wrong type DVDs in the unit. There are different DVD-R/RW discs that cannot be used interchangeably. Using a disc made for faster recording on a DVD player that only can play slower discs can produce the symptoms and damage your DVD player. Consult your user manual for what types of DVD discs you can use. DVDs are not universally interchangeable.