There are utilities out there to check the data band on dvd's, such as the dvd+rw utils for linux (which would no doubt work for a windows box running Cygwin, if there isn't a native Windows version available.) Ohh here, did a quick google and found this for ya:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
Also be sure to read about media quality on that site, as lower quality dvd's would likely be blowing errors you're getting. I generally stick to Taiyo Yuden brand, or at the very least look for "Made in Japan" on the package label. Anything less and you'll be tossing lots of coasters.
Hope that helps.
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