yeah..
 

nice that the Oritron is so cheap yet can be region-switchable. But, if someone is going to go to the trouble of getting a region-free player, why not spend a couple extra bucks and be able to turn off Macrovision and do PAL/NTSC conversions as well? To me, it would be worth the US$30-US$40 to really get all the nifty features.

On a side note, as a rhetorical question, why do Japanese DVDs have to be so darn expensive?!?!? ARGH!

You may want to check out Pioneer DV 535 /530. It plays all Regions and also the regions can be manually changed. It also has DTS and DD, with both Digital and Optical out.

You could check it out at www.leconcepts.com . I just bought one and I am very happy with it. Be careful though, if your TV is NTSC only. Since mine is Multisystem, I 've had no problems

Star

...also take a look here:

http://www.mindlogic.com/Prod_MSDVD.shtml

...and here:

http://www.dvdoverseas.com/

...and here:

http://www.noexpress.com/sys-tmpl/regionfreedvds/

...or, if cost is no object, check this out:

http://www.vtna.com/prodvd.htm

. . .

In case anyone missed it. A thread on this player exists at http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...readid=123639.

I bought it and tried it and the region switch worked but the player doesn't convert PAL to NTSC :(

I've never actually used these people to purchase anything so don't take this as an endorsement. However I recently spoke to someone @ a place called www.multiregionmagic.co.uk. I found them while doing a random search on the Philips 711/701 which I heard over @ asiandvdguide forum was a pretty good regionless player. Anyway, here's the "conversation" and their recommendation...


From: "Gavin / Graham" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Philips 711/701


Have a look at the Hitachi 505.
It will run at 110V.
It can output NTSC as NTSC and PAL as NTSC. Very useful !
Please note we do not take credit cards from the US.
Yes you can have it VAT free.

Graham.
------------------------------------------------------------
www.multiregionmagic.co.uk
Tel: 08704441172
Fax: 08704441173
email: [email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nemein" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Philips 711/701


> I was curious about these machines. As I live in the US the three
> main things I can think of that would be a problem are power, video signal
> out and VAT/shipping. I was hoping you could answer my questions
> about these issues. I've seen on another website where this machine can
> run off of the 110V we have here, is that true and do you sell them that
> way or is there something else I need to do it? From your website I
> see it can do both NTSC and PAL but I assume it does no conversion from
> PAL to NTSC right? Is there some other sort of external converter/box
> that will do this (and how much is that)? Finally (with the thought of
> these extra products) how much will it cost to ship all of this to Va
> USA (assuming you ship to the US at all)?
>
> Thanks
>

Re: yeah..
 

A) I don't need to turn off Macrovision. I already have a box for that. And even if I didn't, I haven't used the box in a couple of years, so i doubt I'd use the feature.

B) I only plan on using it for HK dvd's, which I've been told I don't have to worry about the PAL/NTSC conversion (is this wrong?). Theoretically, someday, I may be R2 DVD's, but I haven't wanted to yet (400+ dvd's), so I doubt it.

C) Some of the info about the Apex's I've read from the links seem to imply that SOME of the Apex's aren't upgradeable (for example, one thread said SOME 660's are, some aren't, depending on firmware). It seems some need an expensive ROM burner to update the chip, which I don't have. Although, some can be updated with a CDR in the drive. And I seem to have some trouble finding one of those players that isn't overpriced. I haven't tried Walmart yet, though.

If I can find an Apex which I KNOW can be updated by a CDR or a good price, I upgrade, just to be able to play the MP3's, and the small possibility I may use the other features.

One nice feature that the Oritron has is a hack that allows you to skip the annoying "It is illegal to copy this DVD blah blah blah" warning messages that you can't normally skip.

Experiences w/ Name-Brand Multi-Region DVD Players?
 

I'm interested in hearing about experiences with name-brand DVD players -- in particular the newer Pioneer models -- that are modified to be multi-region capable (e.g., such as those advertised on Codefree or DVDoverseas websites).

Thanks.

Oh my God.
 

I am not one to make harsh statements, especially in BBS format, too much chance of starting a flame war, but those Sampo prices on that site are a complete and total rip-off. That is some serious gouging going on there. How anybody could charge that much is beyond me. I will tell you exactly why too.

The Sampo 620 is being sold by Sampo themselves for US$169.00.

This machine can be had elsewhere even cheaper if you look around. I got mine from a B&M for US$129.00.

All that is needed to make the player region-code selectable is about a 6-digit remote-control sequence of keypresses. THAT'S IT. No hardware mods. You don't even have to open the case. IT IS REGION-CODE SELECTABLE OUT OF THE BOX. In the absolute worst case scenario, in order to be able to have the keypad sequence work, all you would have to do is burn a small file onto a blank CD, stick it into the Sampo, and dowgrade the built-in firmware (the internal program that controls everything) by one version. This process takes less than 5 minutes and literally anybody can do it.

So, for the worst case, this place gets a Sampo player in, and they have to take five minutes to change the firmware, 2 seconds to punch in 6 buttons on the remote control, and they end up charging US$110.00 over the MSRP for this 5 minutes and 2 seconds worth of stuff anybody can do. Further, all they are probably doing is changing the region code to 0, which means the newer RCE disks will give the owner problems as you have to manually select the regions to get RCE discs to play.

Also, as a further gouge, in order to disable Macrovision, all you need is another 6 keypresses on the remote control. So, for another 2 seconds they charge another US$70.00.

So, in total, they end up charging you OVER TWICE the MSRP for a player that YOU can "make" region-selectable and macrovision free in under ten minutes, and chances are you might be able to do it RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX.

Now, mind you I am not criticizing this places customer service, or anything. They might be very reliable as far as giving a customer the merchandise that the customer wants and has paid for. What I am highly critical of, are the wayyyyyy over-inflated prices. Also, since they are gouging this bad for the Sampo, I would be VERY wary about their other merchandise. Chances are (I don't know this for sure though) they might be pulling the same stunt, overcharging for players that people can make region-free/macrovision free themselves (right after opening a fresh, factory-sealed box) with just a few button presses.

As I said in an earlier post in this same thread, BUYER BEWARE. There are lots of places you can go to "read-up" on the whole region-free/macrovision free issue. I listed some sites in a previous post in this same thread. There are several players out there that can be made region free with just a few simple keypresses on a remote control.

Sorry for the long rant, but I can't just sit here and ignore the possibility of someone getting gouged that bad.

Re: code-free/converter bundles
 

I just bought the pioneer pack with a 2 year warranty for 580 shipped. I hope the converter is good. I'll post about how the quality is when I receive it. I only have The Girl On The Bridge to test this with right now though.

Re: Re: code-free/converter bundles
 

I'd be interested in your findings when you receive the bundle. With all the great titles being released by HK Legends, I'm really starting to consider a region-free system.

the problem with the converters I have seen (in the <$500 range) is that none of then have component inputs/outputs. my wega has component in, and I'll be damned if I use s-video when the better option is available.

on another note, I just picked up a region/macrovision free Pioneer dv-343 from dvdoverseas.com (I love my dv-333 so much I had to go with another pioneer) so I'll let you know how that works when it arrives this tuesday (7/17)

What type of converter are you using?

Can anyone suggest an affordable converter (Tenlab, Sony, etc.) that does the conversions correctly with regards to aspect ratios and doesn't cost a fortune?

I don't have one yet - I'm doing this one step at a time. I figured first get a ncie solid region-free player and then get the converter. this way I can watch all the r2 ntsc discs for now

Re: code-free/converter bundles
 

That Sony bundle is very nice, I would buy it right away but the price is a bit too much.
Maybe I should sell some 60 DVDs out of my collection that I don't watch much anyway on eBay, make 600 bucks off of them and then get it heh.
I'm also interested in ScreachingWeasel's experience with the converter, going to wait what he has to say

I keep seeing conversion and converters why?
The optimum solution is to have a multi standard televison that accepts both pal and ntsc in their native untouched format, and to have a dvd player that outputs same.

In Australia both are common although some DVD players convert ntsc to pal60. mine doesn't, so I watch both ntsc or pal as it's supposed to be viewed, I would of thought that players in U.S. have this facility also.

Could be that a lot of equipment sold on the American market didn't see need for this or it's discouraged?.

The otherday I was looking at some player models that are common to both the UK and USA and this might be a good place to start. I think it was the latest sony Vpsn?400 model and Sony DVD players usually don't convert the signal or ours don't anyway, so your equivalent model should have same function or it's been slightly modded for your market to remove pal functionality.
Just some thoughts.

Hope you get sorted out somehow without resorting to converting anything, a compromise will always look dreadful.

in the US mutilstandard TV's are basically nonexsistant, and those that are available are not priced reasonably, hence the need for a PAL->NTSC converter. Though if you have a widescreen set or a 4x3 set that does the squeeze, you can get away with using an apex player or similar that does the conversion (because they cannot downsample to 4x3 and convert to NTSC at the same time).

It's hard to understand for non-americans, but the PAL format is almost non-existant here.You can not find a muli-system tv in a store(and i live in L.A).In Europe it is a totally different story where most quality new tv's has NTSC capability.If you wanted a multi-system tv here ,you would have order it from a web site.There was 1 or 2 small stores in L.A that had them(catering to mostly immigrants from the middle east) but they are out of business now.You could visit ten thousand homes here and not find one PAL compatable tv,i don't know how to explain it clearer.

I don't get how people can complain about the Odyssey player. I have one and it works great. No problems with conversion and no problems with losing any of the picture on PAL to NTSC.

I found the following site which may be of interest with multi satandard DVD players, television, converters etc.
http://www.dvdoverseas.com/

The solution!
 

Well...

As far as I'm concerned, there's only one way in which the regions can be hacked, and that is through a computer.

Get yourself a region-free DVD-ROM (most of them are, or can be flashed), and a video card like the ASUS v7100 Geforce2 MX, which uses PowerdDVD, - and then put a program called DVD Genie on your machine.

It will work with any region DVD, even if all you have is a NTSC player - that's what I'm using for my European discs... works like a charm.

Re: The solution!
 

What does a setup like this cost? My computer is 3 years old, so I don't know if my DVD-ROM would play non-Region 1 discs.

Re: Re: The solution!
 

If the drive is that old, it probably has no region protection.

You can use this program to see whether or not your DVD-ROM is region protected:
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/do...driveinfo.html

If there's no region protection, then all you need is DVD Genie to switch the region settings in your DVD playback software.

I tried using Drive Info, but I'm not sure if it's doing anything. I tried selecting either my Hitachi GD-2000 0056 DVD-ROM and my Yamaha CRW8824E 1.00. It says THIS DRIVE HAS NO REGION PROTECTION, but doesn't put anything in the Region Info box. I tried this with a DVD in the drive and without and I get the same results. Does that mean it's region free?

Yes, it means your drive is region free.

Re: Re: code-free/converter bundles
 

Well I got this from UPS today. I threw in Girl On The Bridge. Which is a black and white film that came out last year I think. The picture looked really good. There was a little color intro thing before the movie started that looked fine too. I think sometime next week I'm going to be receiving a couple HK Legends discs ( Dragon Inn and Drunken Master. Wich I kind of regret now since I heard they are cropped with Mandarin only). I'm going to order Iron Monkey so I can compare it with the Honk Kong Mega Star version. Anyway so far so good. If color movies look good then it seems like a pretty good deal.