The phrase to look for is: Compact Disc "Digital Audio" Recordable. My Pioneer PDR-W839 only works with "DA" discs. I picked up the wrong blanks when I first tried the CDR (they did not say "Digital Audio" on them and would not read). I then followed up with a 30 pack of Memorex "DA's" that had a high failure rate (over 70%). At this point, due to lack of patience, I stopped playing with the CDR. My godson then brought over ten Maxell "DA" blanks, for his music, and made ten for ten perfect copies (the Maxell are not really highly regarded and I guess that it was just a good batch, as the Memorex was a bad batch). The next time I purchase a bulk pack, if they work, I will go back the next day and buy a slew of them for future use (hoping that they are the same). If you are using the right blanks and it still does not work, then have someone 14 years of age (or younger:-) show you how to operate the thing. I understand that most of the "brand name" CDR's all source their blanks from different factories, at different times, so you never know what you are getting until you try them and they work constantly. Good luck.
Shouldn't this be intuitive?
I bought a used Philips CDR 765 recorder from a gent here on Agon. No user manual, so I downloaded a copy from Philips' website. This is a dual tray deck, for the life of me I cannot figure out how to copy a CD from the player drawer to a blank audio CD in the recording drawer. You'd think it would be obvious, but it's not straightforward nor is it well explained in the manual. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jeff