I'm going to pick up a Malata Canada DVD-N996 Codefree Progressive Scan Multiregion DVD player. I have a Toshiba 34" widescreen television and a Dolby Digital setup. I've already decided I want the black colour but do I want the Region 0 default or the Region 1 default?

Also, if anyone has one of these, please comment on it.

http://www.avdeals.ca/malata_dvd.htm

Thank you!

PS - Do these bypass Macrovision?

They don't bypass Macrovision.

I bought the region 0 for two treasons. #1, I don't have to bother changing the region coding for anything but RCE titles.

#2. The firmware can be upgraded via a CDR, so if there are problem discs down the road, the manufacturer can create a fix, put it on the website, you download and burn it to CDR, Flash your player and Presto! Instant upgrade. VERY cool.

Unless the majority of your titles are going to be non R1, and you don't care about Macrovision, get the R1. It's $50 cheaper, and otherwise the same player. It takes all of 6 seconds to switch regions (2 keypresses). I wanted to get the R0 just for the heck of it, but in the end got the R1, and am perfectly happy.

So are you saying the region 0 version disables macrovision?

He's just saying that there could be a firmware upgrade in the future that does disable Macrovision. If you get the R1 version, you cannot update the firmware. Only the R0 can do this.

Right. Though during the warranty, if discs don't play because of firmware and there is a firmware fix, that's covered.

So far, every DVD I have tried has played fine (including the seemless branched T2 and Stargate). I am almost through my 100+ collection (no, I do not watch each DVD all th way through!).

Hey, doesn't macrovision get automatically disabled if you switch Region 0 to Region 1?

Why would it do that? Macrovision is always on if it is in a player. Sucks, but true. The price we pay for quality.

I'll tell ya, now that I will have a large HDTV, my VHS collection will be pretty much worthless (I rarely watch VHS now anyway), so I couldn't care less about Macrovision.

Does the Malata decode DTS in the player and send that to the receiver? I read on the AVS forum that it DOES do this. Can anyone confirm?

Thanks!

It says it has on-board DTS and DD5.1. U don't neeed the on-board, so I just have it send the DTS and DD5.1 signal through.

OK, so let me get this straight. I have a receiver that decodes DD5.1 in it but not DTS. Will the Malata decode the DTS and send it to the receiver, letting me play DTS DVDs?

Sorry about the questions, just want to know as much as I can about it before I get it.

Short answer, no.

Long answer: it has a built in DD and DTS decoder, but to utilize those, you must connect your speakers directly to the Malata (it has standard jacks for speakers, not wire). Also, if you choose, you can have the Malata convert the DTS track to PCM audio and play that through your receiver, but it's about like pro logic.

That IS SUCK.

Oh well, thanks for the info though.

Is this player made in Canada?

Also, not that I don't trust you guys but , are there reviews for this player available?

I believe they're made in China.

Check out http://www.avsforum.com and do a search in the DVD Hardware forum for Malata and you'll get lots of reviews of the player, all of which are giving it the

Hey thanks, that helped!