I want to buy some DVDs from amazon.com which I can't find in Malaysia or anywhere in Asia for that matter. They are
some musicals by Stephen Soundheim. Is there any way that I will be able to view them in Malaysia? I haven't bought a DVD player yet and will be buying one soon. Can anyone advise on what I should look out for? I understand that there are region free players. Can I play Region 1 DVDs on these?

you should be able to play R1 DVDs if you get a region-settable DVD player. Even if you get a code-free player most R1 DVDs will still work except for the RCE-encoded discs, which predominantly are DVDs from Columbia Tri-Star and Warner starting from new releases from last October or so. Hivizone on its front page sells a nice one supposedly, from what I hear.

More info (not 100% accurate though):
http://www.dvdtalk.com/rce.html

Yellow Hammer - if there's info that needs to be added to the RCE Faq let me know. We'd like to make it as close to 100% accurate as we can.

I got the Pioneer 525 player from Malaysia and it can play any RC or region DVD's.Get the 525 or the 535 model.You can import any DVD's from any region and play on it.

Thanks for your replies - guess I'll just take the plunge and buy the DVDs andworry later whether I can play them or not!

Don't worry about the DVD palyer, you can allways claim with the shop if it does not play any region also.Make sure you press the owner for a foolproof region free player.