Magnavox H2160MW9 not recognizing any DVD-RW discs
 

I recorded a TV program to the hard drive. Then I tried dubbing to an old DVD-RW. That failed. So I put in a brand new DVD-RW disc. And that failed.
By failed, I mean that the Dubbing option is greyed out. Only when I put in a DVD+R disc does the Dubbing option become available.

How does a DVD recorder lose the ability to read and write to DVD-RW discs?

I guess I'll have to see if it will do any better with a DVD+RW disc.

It's not so much an issue of "losing the ability" as much as the drive inside the unit probably works better with DVD+RW media. It is, after all, from a company that is part of the RW Alliance. Also, the DVD-RW you're using may not be the best, or the DVD-RW are just not that compatible with that particular burner drive.

I use both DVD+RW and DVD-RW regularly. Which disc goes in which device/drive really depends on what works best for that particular device/drive. My Philips recorder mostly gets DVD+RW, while my older DVD recorder (that only uses DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM) gets DVD-RW. I use both in the computer, but it's mostly DVD+RW in there.

It worked a little bit with my DVD-RW discs, but tonight it stopped completely.

These are "good" DVD-RW discs not junk. Sonys and Fujis. The Fuji are the ones made by MCC in Singapore.

By the way, where do I go to pick up a few good quality DVD+RW?

Offline, Office Depot and Walmart both have small packs of DVD+RW if you want to just grab a few locally. Grocery stores, drug stores, office stores, electronics stores and most generic retailers (Target,Walmart,etc) have some discs. What is available varies from store to store, both in brand and pack size.

Online, I highly suggest buying the Verbatim DVD+RW discs available at Amazon. See link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957

Note that I'm having no problems with TDK-branded 4x DVD+RW, also available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957
These are PHILIPS 041 media ID, the 2.4x-4x DVD+RW discs. These are easier to locate, and a bit less expensive than the Verbatims, if you want to try them yourself. These work flawlessly in my Philips DVD recorder (for recording and playing), and several DVD players (for playing). I only have about 5 of these, all are excellent.