The cheapest the DVD player the best performer in DVD-R?

[Mario-Peru]

The title is something i read anywhere, well, i see a lot of people enjoying DVD-R on cheapest Home DVD players and i am suffering with my Panasonic, it isn´t new, in fact almost 3 years old, but plays all fine in -RW!!!! Is it the lens or is it because old DVDs don´t play DVD-R correctly? by the way, is there a better speed to burn to "old"DVD players ?
Thanks in advance