ok i'll make i'll elborate the quick and dirty of it....
First problem -
There is a section of the DVD that is ALL the way next to the inner ring, it contains the region information and content protection...current DVD Burners CAN physically copy this section but due to the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copywright Act) they are not allowed so until someone hacks the firmware of a DVD burner to allow this you can't copy that section....
without that section you CANNOT play the dvd in your normal DVD player
Second Problem -
Current DVD burners DO NOT have the ability to copy a DUAL-LAYER disc....this dual layer is important...they can copy and create a DUAL-SIDED, but not dual layer...most movies nowadays have DUAL-LAYER, this is so after half the movie you don't have to flip the DVD like you use to have to do with laserdiscs...So even IF you cracked the firmware to copy the content protection and region...you'd only get HALF the movie!!!!
However...if you don't mind watching DVD's on your computer you can always use a DVD ripper program to copy all the *.vob files to your comp...then burn them onto a DVD, and watch it on your computer using a program like zoom player or such, but this will not work to make it play on a home DVD player
Hope this clears up any questions...some people might say i'm bs'ing or such, but if you want to waste anywhere from 399-699 on a dvd burner to prove me wrong go ahead 🙂 My neighbor has a DVD burner and also in a back issue of Maximum PC they dedicated like 7 pages on the different DVD/rewritable formats coming and showed the limitations of each and how each is specifically made to NOT copy movies
You can make your own data DVD's from stuff on your harddrive fine, you can also use a program such as DVDit, to make personal movies from video files into a DVD that will play on home units