Recordable DVD's, in particular cheap ones, can be famously picky about which drives they will work in. I found this utility when a friend was having problems burning supermarket own brand discs. DVDIdentifier queries the physical manufacturer details on the DVD and displays it. Supports all DVD formats and Blu-Ray. The database seems quite old, but new manufacturers are probably few and far between. The prognosis for my friend — go buy some decent TDK discs.

http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/