Purchase DVDs that have the required amount of time that you need on them for DVD movies. If you are only looking to record solo movies, a 2-hour (120 minutes) DVD may work, but check for the amount of time for the movies before buying recordable DVDs.
Check your movie guide to see what movies are coming on your cable stations or regular stations.
Press pause during each commercial break if you are recording movies from a regular television station. Commercials are usually bathroom breaks, and no one wants to continuously fast forward through commercials every time they watch the movie.
Set the timer or record the movie from beginning to end if there are no commercials in it.
Label the DVD digitally by choosing the letters to complete the name of the movie. This option is on pretty much every DVR or DVD-R. Labeling the movies is also a useful way to find the movie again if someone watches this movie.
Finalize the DVD so the DVD can be played on other DVD players. (Note: Make sure Step 4 is completed before Step 6 because many DVD-R will not let you name the movies afterwards. Regardless of whether you are using blank DVDs that are erasable or not, most DVD-R or DVR players require you to finalize your DVDs before you can play them on other machines. Check your User Manual for details.)
Place a label on the front of the DVD, and write the name(s) on the movie label.
Put each DVD in a DVD case to eliminate scratching when the DVDs are moved from hand to hand.