HKFlix

I've read that there is a series of remote control key commands you can enter to "convert" a Sampo DVD-620 to "international" mode (to access the "loophole menu".

First of all, does anyone know if "DVD-620" refers to the same player as "DVE-620"?

Assuming they are the same thing... Since the "international" versions of this player are about $100 more than the "USA" ones, can anyone confirm that this is true? I'd just as soon spend $150 rather than $250 and "convert" it myself if so...

The hacks I've seen are at the following URLs, and both say it is "unconfirmed":
http://www.dvdscene.co.uk/regionhacks/sampodvd560.htm
http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/m...l/sampo560.asp

Thanks!

nekobus

They are the same player. Any place charging more than $180 or so is a rip off. The firmware has been changed due to legal pressure from the MPAA, so the remote hack no longer works on newer players. However, you can flash back to an older version of the firmware and get the loopholes menu back.

Older production date 620s had a lot of drive problems and you have to swap out the drive make the machine useful.

Everything you will ever what to know about the Sampos can be read here: http://nerd-out.com/forum/list.php?f=11.

Be aware that you are looking at a cheap Chinese player, with all the joy that entails. My Pioneer DV-343's performance is light years ahead of my Sampo.

HKFlix

Thanks for the tips. I suspected that the Sampos were complete crap, but I honestly haven't been able to find any user feedback on them anywhere.

I'll probably just go for an all-region Pioneer 434 player. But do you or anyone know much about using a computer DVD drive to output to TV? Supposedly this can bypass region coding and PAL/NTSC stuff...no? Any tips or comments?

hypeiv

i have done alot of searches on newsgroups about pal conversion and the majority of the pople recomment two options. For a standard tv they recomend getting a Hollywood Plus decoder card and an older dvdrom drive that has no region on it. (some newer region dvdroms can be bypassed) the nice thing about the hollywood plus card it is has forced pal and forced ntsc settings. This card has Svideo (and comes with an svideo to comosite adapter) that only outputs the dvd signal not your entire desktop. It is actually good quality but if you have an HD tv i would recomend getting an ATI Radeon card (any will do no need for tvout) and the region free dvd drive and hooking this card to the 15pin vga port on your HD using a monitor cable or if you don't have the 15 pin connector use the RGB component IF AND ONLY IF your HD supports the 15VGA to RGB cables (only some makes can use them). This secondset up will display whatever is shown on your monitor so Pal/ntsc no problem.

The programs you need to make the H+ card region free is called zone selector and for the ati dvd software dvd genie works, you just have to reset the region and restart the computer and then enter the other region disc.

HKFlix

Wow, thanks for the details! That doesn't sound too bad...