what is the difference between CDR and CDRW? i just made a VCD on CDR. it can be played by the PC VCD Player software. However when I put it in my SONY DVD-S360 player, I saw "No disk" message. I checked www.vcdplayer.com, my DVD player can't play CDR but CDRW. I wonder if anyone can tell me what this difference between the two after they become VCD. Which one is more popular or widely acceptedly? thanks!

-- Chris Wang (cwang_98@yahoo.com), April 04, 2001

Answers

It doesn't matter that it's a VCD or audio CD you created; your player can't read CD-R/RW, period. The difference you talk about is at first they were blank, then now they are VCD; either way they remain CD-R/RW which your player can't read. You record only once on a CD-R; you can erase and reuse a CD-RW; none is better than the other; each has its own use. A CD-RW blank costs about 5x its CD-R counterpart. At this point I have to tell you stop figuring out how you can force that Sony to read CD-R/RW; it WON'T. Ditch it, bulldoze it, or auction it off on ebay; replace it with a model that CAN. An inexpensive, super-duper model THAT IS designed to read CD-R/RW is Aiwa XV370...

-- Mehmet Tekdemir (turk690@yahoo.com), April 05, 2001.

If you want a detailed text about your problme, goto www.pcphotovideo.com and click on the "DVD Player Issues" button. It will explain everything.

-- Rich (rich@pcphotovideo.com), April 05, 2001.

CD-RW and CD-R discs have different reflectivity. Look at the side of the discs that holds data and you will see what I mean. CD-RW discs look silver, like commercially produced discs. DVD lasers are not designed to read CD-R discs, so DVD players that can read them have a second laser specifically for that job. CD-RW discs come close to the reflectivity of commerical silver discs, so many players that can't read CD-R can read CD-RW. Despite what another poster said, the odds are very good that your Sony can play your VCD if you burn it to CD-RW. I have a friend who has a Sony DVD player (I don't know the model) and I gave him a VCD on CD-RW media and he said it played fine. The suggestion to go to Rich's web site of www.pcphotovideo.com for an explanation of this is a good one.

-- Jason Shumate (Jason.Shumate@sita.int), April 05, 2001.

I have an older Sony DVD player (DVP-S300), and it plays CD-R/CD-RW just fine. But I've heard that the newer Sony players (such as the DVP-S360) are not made as well, and as such aren't compatible with CD- R/CD-RW. What you should do at this point is decide how important being able to use CD-R/CD-RW is to you. If it is very important, I'd suggest getting a new DVD player.

-- Michael Messina (mjmessina@mindspring.com), April 10, 2001.

i dont no

-- Bilal spall (Bilal_spall2003@yahoo.com), September 13, 2003.