eek! Panasonic DVD's tend to have a limitation of brands of dvd-r's that can be played on them (genereally only their own brand ... which sucks!!!) So check the manual about this. I wouldn't touch a panasonic dvd player, mine is half to 1/3 of the price yet plays everything. I don't like their tv either (which I have! I prefered my old sony tv.)

No VLC cannot burn. It is simply a player. If you want to burn videos to dvd, then get either the latest version of nero or roxio.