It's time for me to buy a region free player. It seems everyone is very happy with this player and I want something nice. So, I am going to buy this one. But, I am not too sure where to buy this. I've seen in HKflix.com for $299.95. Is this the best price? So, any suggestions are welcome.

When I got mine i paid a little more than that I believe, but it was awhile ago. I got mine at jvbdigital.com and it was great service. recommend them on that alone.

hkflix.com

Just got mine in the mail from hkflix.com Yesterday.

www.220-electronics.com sells the model for 269.99 plus s/h (about 15 bucks).

Has anyone ordered from www.220-electronics.com? I am considering ordering from them now since their prices are cheaper than hkflix.

220 electronics is where I got my jvc/500 from last week, fast shipping, good product. Only get the 600 if you want dvd audio, the 500 is quite a bit cheaper, and on special for 189.99

Does it matter where you buy code free players? I am just curious, because aren't there different chips in these players or are all jvc players have same mod chips? I would appreciate any input on this matter.

Not sure on the mod chips, but the one I just got from 220 is perfect, no problems at all!

I was actually looking at getting the 900 heh, thanks for your input.

Most mods are developed and produced in Europe. Once created, the mods are reverse engineered, hacked, reproduced, and implemented by other people who may or may not have a clue. So not all mods are the same.

Some things you might want to look into before buying:

1. Make sure the player is NEW and not a refurbished unit.
2. Make sure the mod allows manual region selection, not just auto. Better to be safe.
3. Ask what firmware revision the player has, and make sure it's the latest available. Some modifiers might actually flash back to an old firmware revision to open a loophole or compensate for their outdated mods. This of course leaves you with a buggy, less than optimum player.
4. See what kind of upgrade service they offer. If a new protection scheme is born tomorrow, will you be out of luck?

Edit: Also make sure you're getting a decent warranty on parts and labor. These mods void the manufacturer's warranty, so if something goes wrong you only have the dealer to turn to.

Thanks for your info, paranoized. I am thinking about buying it from HKflix. I know they are little bit more expensive than the 220-electronics, but i've dealt with them before and it seems many of ya bought their JVC players from them. What is the latest firmware for JVC players ( i am thinking about getting 600 model). I hope I will be happy with buying it from HKflix.

I got mine from http://www.dvdoverseas.com and was very happy. I subsequently recommended them to a friend who also purchased from them and was very happy.

HKFlix has been very good communications-wise - replying generally within a couple of hours.

Mods for this line of JVC's are firmware independent, so you don't really have to worry about that. We discovered some of the early 500 models have the "fade subtitle" bug, where certain subtitles like those in Star Wars Ep 1 & 2 don't display. The 600's have this corrected, as well as the zoom icon that was "sticky" in the 500's.

Another site to purchase region-free players is samstores.com. Their prices are comparable to 220-electronics.com.

...and here's yet another site offering 'codefree' DVD players...
...and another... and another... and another... and still another...

. . . . . .

Wow, that site is a ripoff, you can get the 7-disc changer from JVC for the price of what they offer the 500 at from other sites.

Keep in mind that not all mods are the same. It's important that you are able to manually lock the player into a specific region, as well as the standard AUTO mode. As RCE/RCA technology develops, players that are AUTO-mode only (like those sold by 220 Electronics) will have problems. Such players also have issues with some DVDs that are encoded for multiple regions like Region 3 and Region 6.

Regards,
Jeff
HKFLIX.com

Jeff, are the JVC 600s and 900s you sell manual and automatic?

Quote:

Keep in mind that not all mods are the same. It's important that you are able to manually lock the player into a specific region, as well as the standard AUTO mode. As RCE/RCA technology develops, players that are AUTO-mode only (like those sold by 220 Electronics) will have problems. Such players also have issues with some DVDs that are encoded for multiple regions like Region 3 and Region 6

I just bought a JVC 500 from 220 Electronics. Can I later get it serviced if such problems do arise in the future? It's worked great so far and I'd like to keep using it.