Has anyone burned a DVD that works on an '03 Explorer factory DVD entertainment system? I've been burning DVD+RWs that work fine on my home player, but won't work in the SUV. The manual mentions that the DVD player will play standard CDs, but not CD-RW, but doesn't mention DVD+/-RW. My burner handles all formats, but before I go out and buy one of each type, I'd like to hear from someone who has had success and what format they used.

 

Ford players play only store bought. I have tried DVD+R,DVD+RW,DVD-R,DVD-RW, you name I've tried. Buy it or no play.

 

Thanks for the reply, not what I wanted to see, but you saved me some time and money. I wish I could by the stuff I'm trying to play, but I record kids TV shows so they can watch them at more convenient times and while on road trips. No one has a problem with me recording them on a VCR and playing them back at my leisure, so I don't know why doing the same with a DVD is such a big deal.

 

Cent,
I'd be curious if any of my burned DVDs would play in your Explorer. I have yet to run into a player that didn't handle these, and that includes an older DVD player I have that was around before burning was popular.

If you want to investigate this further, drop me a message. You could send me one of your DVDs, and I'll make a copy of the copy (may look a bit degraded, but hey, it's for a test) and I'll shoot it back to you.

Let me know.

 

I use dvd-r's and they work fine. I don't have a factory deck but yours should still handle it. Try using ONLY a dvd-r, NOT -rw. Alot of readers won't read the -rw but will the -r. The +r/rw format is not a widely recognized format and will not play in alot of players. The -r/rw's are becoming the industry standard.

 

I have used dvd+r's and worked great. This is with the factory DVD player in an 04 X. I would agree with silverbullet; only use dvd+r or dvd-r, not the rw.

 

I get an error no matter what type I put in. Mabe some play the disk better than others. Beats me.

 

There are issues with copying DVD's. Many, if not all, factory dvd's include copy protection software that makes them unplayable on normal dvd players. I don't know much about this, and don't burn or copy dvd's, but just relaying what I've heard from others. Do your burned dvd's play on a home dvd player (not the one in your computer)? If they do, than it is probably the player in the vehicle that isn't compatible. If not, than it is probably a copying issue. There are probably many out there that know a ton more about this than I do, but I just thought I'd throw out my 2 cents worth. :-)

 

It is not likely the disk that is the problem. It is probably the software you are using. DVD's obviously contain both a sound and a video track (along with a few other things as well) These are two separate tracks and each DVD disk contains a "key" (to keep things simple here) that puts these two tracks back together. Each program writes this "key" differently and all players won't necessarily read every "key" Try using a different burning program and see if that helps. The route of the problem is that film and sound play at different rates so your player has to play them differently. (In reality it adds extra frames of video to make up the difference)

 

I use dvd shrink and nero to burn all my dvd's. Uhh, for legal sake, let's say I'm only using it to burn, uhh, home movies or something.

All my burned dvd's (dvd-r format) play on all my players at home (5 disk changer and 2 separate single dvd players), my notebook, computer, and my head unit in my truck (avic-n1). I've never tried any of them on a factory unit which is the problem at hand. Maybe the dealership would let me take one of their players for a test drive.

 

just as an FYI for all the burners out there. It is perfectly legal to burn copies of any movies you have purchased for the sake of "back up" So if that's what you're doing, as I'm sure that's what everyone is doing it is perfectly legal.

 

Make sure the DVD is closed at the end of the session. Also you can strip the copy protection Encoding easy, Just do a search for CSS.

Also as it has been said, Use DVD-R's.

 

Thanks for all the great information. Before I heard back from anyone, I tried DVD-R format, and had the same problem as DVD+RW. I thought it was a lost cause, but after getting deadfish88s response, I tried a +R and got a DVD to run in my Expy. I then made a "backup" of a commercial DVD using +R and that one worked too!

I've got to agree with boarder, in that whether or not the copies will be playable depends on the SW as much as the HW. Since some have luck with -R, others with +R, and some no luck at all, it seems that how the DVD is burned is a critical factor in the process.

I will be very happy if I can continue to burn copies of my DVDs that will run in the Expy so I don't have to lug my DVD library from house to car whenever I need to make a long trip with the kids onboard.