Before I got my DivX dvd player I found I had the least amount of problems when I used Nero 7. I gives you the option to increase/decrease the bit rates (more bits the better quality) to fit to a dvd+/-R. As I'm sure you've read, you can't really Increase the quality to be greater than the original file.
In all honesty though, I have to recommend you get a DVD player that plays MPEG-4 (XviD, DivX, etc.) format. Mine cost less than $90cdn for a Panasonic and it's saved me soooo much time and money. Now I can fit 6 or 7 movies to each disc and quality is exactly the same as the original file.
mo_mo well you did not search all over the forums verry well, if you go to the top of the page here, and you will see a tab and it will read guides, if you click on that tab you will find anything you need, to do with what you are asking, welcome to the afterdawn forums
irish80ca; I've been looking for a player that will do what you're suggesting. What model of Panasonic? Is it region free? From what I've found at AD it appears that Philips 642 or 5140 are quite popular. Any other good ones out there?
I'll look tonight when I get home for the model of my Panasonic. I picked it up at Futureshop but I'm sure BestBuy also carries it. I tried a few different dvd players that played DivX. I didn't like the Sony one at all as features were limited. The Panasonic will play a DVD which I have put movies, music, and photographs all onto the same disc. It gives a very easy to read menu and will give sub-menus for the different files. The sony I DID have wouldn't do that so I returned it a few days after buying it and got the Panasonic. I think I got it for approx. $90cdn.