I'm looking into getting The Sopranos seasons 1-4 off eBay. However, 90% of the ones listed are the Asian versions. They say the audio is still in english, and only the outside cover is different from the US version. My question, are most of these DVDs just bootleg copies, or are the Asian releases just that cheap. And if they are that cheap, is there any loss of image or sound quality?

I would bet the asian stuff on ebay is bootleg, the majority of the x files sets on there are the same way....probably copies of the R1 sets.
I figure if they were legit sets from Asia, wouldnt they be Region 2 or 3? I've heard that many have had problems with the X files sets, some discs not playing, etc.
Try and find some used Sopranos sets, you could probably find some good deals for the real ones on ebay or over on the exchange forum.
Better to do that than get cheap ones from Asia that may or may not be real, and or may/may not work well.

No.

Nope...

I'm in Asia and there's a reason why I can buy DVDs here for $1.43 a copy.

Yeah, I figured anything that cheap must be too good to be true. I'll just try to keep my eyes out for any good deals on the sets.

yeah...every asian dvd is a bootleg. they don't make legitimate discs over there, only bootlegs.

Is Japan one of the countries in Asia? I also know many people purchase DVDs made in HK and Korean here. Even in China, there are also many legit DVDs, you just need to keep your eyes open, and know which is, which is not.

What are the stats that give the percentage of actual real DVDs over there compared to boots? I read it a long time ago, and it just amazed me.

I wish I could remember the exact numbers though.

Unless my 3rd grade teacher lied, yes.

There are lots of legit DVDs produced throughout Asia - but I would suspect that cheap issues of TV season box sets would not qualify.

On ebay, the vast majority of Asian imports of American movies/TV shows are bootlegs.

Saying all Asian DVDS are bootlegs is a pretty ridiculous statement,IMO. If thats the case, I guess the International page here at DVDTalk caters to that,lol. Sure you'll find bootlegs rampant from Asia on eBay, but at the sametime theres bootlegs rampant on there from R1 discs as well, not from Asia!

If your looking at getting the Sopranos, the (legit) Asian versions would looklike this,

Korean
http://koreandvds.com/dvddetail.html?id=7520

Hong Kong
http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.asp...w/version-all/

There are plenty of legit Asian DVDs if you buy from real stores like Tower Records or HMV in Hong Kong, but I agree that 99.9% of Ebay Asian DVDs are bootlegs.

Would DVD's sold in NY's Chinatown be mostly bootlegs, too?

I'd bet dollars to donuts that post was sarcastic, and I'm really surprised that people got at all angry in response to it.

That said, I've often been tempted to try out a bootleg like that on E-bay too ... they're SOOOOOOO cheap ... but nobody has ever done it, so nobody can ever tell me if the picture/sound quality is up to any sort of par. Also, I feel guilty, not so much because my money isn't going to the artist (which is bad, but it's not like much more of it would be going to the artist if I bought it through legitimate places) as because I would be contributing money to support something as illegal and bad as bootlegging.

There are plenty of legitimate stores on-line where you can buy DVDs from Asia, however, I think most legitimate Asian sellers avoid E-bay because they know that nobody on there will trust people from Malaysia, Thailand, or China (I can't remember if Korea and/or Vietnam have big bootleg markets on there also) to be selling legitimate stuff.

Asian DVD's on Ebay are bootlegs? Aw crap... that's my entire collection! I've bought over 1000 of these asian discs through Ebay over the last 2 years, now you're telling me they aren't worth the $200 I paid for all of them?