Using Nero (V6.6.1.4), I tried to backup a DVD movie using a new spindle of Maxell 8X discs.

Since the source DVD is already a DVD-5, I used Nero Copy DVD and set booktype to DVD-ROM. The DVD was burnt in 12x speed and it had no problem to play in my DVD player.

Just to experiemt, I then used Nero Recode-2 to make another copy. I chose the option Advanced Analysis and High Quality Mode and set booktype to DVD-ROM. The Nero log said all OK but the disc could not be played in my DVD player. I burnt another one using Recode-2 again with the same options, same result.

Do you see a problem using Recode-2 to copy a DVD-5 disc? Maybe the Maxell disc were defective?

A bad batch of media can happen. The software used to do the burning have no influence on burning quality.

To see what happened on that discs, it's useful to see a quality scan. What burner do you have? If your burner supports scans, can you post a scan both of the disc readable and of the disc with playback problems?

I've never had a problem like that with Recode but then again, I never run a dvd5 disc thru Recode. If its already small enough, I just use ImgTool Burn by Cuojo to burn the files. If I have an iso, I use ImgBurn by Lightning UK.

If you have an ISO try to burn it with cd-dvd speed: it shows graphically what happen during the burn, and can give useful informations

My DVD writer is LG GSA-H10N and I do not believe it support scans.

This is correct, but you can do burnings with cd-dvd speed.

You can also use imgburn to do a test to exclude a software problem with nero.

I notice the discs are rated at 8x and you are buring them at 12x. That seems to be a good way to make coasters. Are you trying to play the recoded movies on your CPU or a media center unit.

If your are trying to play them on a media center unit it might not be able to handle the new format you recoded them too.