Gizmo

A Curtis Mathis can be made BD Region free and its about $100. Oppo is $500.

seymouru

The premium price on the the Oppo is mainly for its high-quality DVD upscaling, plus DVD-A and SACD playback. If you're not interested in any of those features, then the Momitsu or one of its clones are fine options. I have over 2,000 DVDs, so really good upscaling is worth the $500 to me. I also own the Momitsu as a second player.

zyzzle

@ GizmoDVD

Where can I get this fabled $100 Curtis Mathis 899 clone? Target has been OOS and others claim to have gotten it there. Sounds like it would fit the bill nicely if I could only FIND one for the $100 price.

cine

I have a receiver with great upscaling capability, so a Momitsu clone is a no-brainer solution until the price of players like Oppo and the likes come down closer to earth.

Rayrayvf

Also, can anyone confirm that the Curtis Mathes CMMBX72 can also switch regions? It's only $30 more, which isn't bad.

toddly6666

Here's some info I found on this Curtis Mathes:

-Turn Player On
-Remove Disks From Tray
-Close Tray
-Enter One of the Following Codes.

973511 = DVD region 1, blu-ray region A
973512 = DVD region 1, blu-ray region B
973522 = DVD region 2, blu-ray region B
973542 = DVD region 4, blu-ray region B

973501 = DVD Region Free, Blu Ray Region A
973502 = DVD Region Free, Blu Ray Region B

-Powering off Device causes Region to revert back to Region A.

E Unit

I ordered mine from Target online last Saturday. Within hours it went out of stock. The site said it was not availible in stores. I don't know any other store that carried it. Total price was $119 with tax and shipping.

Dusty Bottoms

trespoochies, has your player shipped yet? I ordered mine from Target.com on Saturday (9/26) also. It has an estimated delivery date of sometime next week, but the order status still shows "Item Not Yet Shipped".

E Unit

Yes, I have the UPS tracking number which has the delivery date of tomorrow, October
1st.

Dusty Bottoms

Well, that makes me a little nervous. It's been four days with no movement on my order. I have about $100 worth of import BDs on the way, and only one of them is region free.

E Unit

I'd say you ordered right when they ran out. I hope you get your order filled. And mine was actually on my porch today when I got home. Now to set it up...

zyzzle

Congrats to you folks who got in on the Curtis Mathes... I hope you get your players. Maybe this player will hit $100 again by Black Friday? It seems Meijer (?) had it also for $99 back in June. If only I'd known then that it is an 899 clone!! Apprantly, this Mathes can be cross-flashed with the Momitsu 899 firmware, but is it true that you then lose the functionality of the supplied Curtis Mathes remote control as I've read?

What a neat little perk for an entirely decent entry-level player... If I can only get one it will be a wonderful substitute for the Oppo 83 until IT get sub-$200.

Question: Is the Oppo 83's upconversion really all that?? How does it compare to the fabulous upconverting ability of the Toshiba XA2 whch I own and have been supremely satisfied with?

E Unit

Considering the Curtis was $99 as a regular price, I doubt you'd have to wait until Black Friday to find one - that is if it gets restocked. Interesting thing - I noticed the Target website no longer has the Curtis MMBX130, only the CMMBX72, as stated in post above. But the 130 is not even on the website saying out of stock anymore.

In regards to the 130, the code worked great. I've thrown in some other region DVD's, both PAL and NTSC and they look great.

cverneau

The CMMBX72 is now back in stock on the website for $129. Can this also use the same codes to unlock other regions, or will the codes only work for the MMBX130??

toddly6666

I need some advice...If I want to get a new multi-region dvd player, would these new multi-region Blu-ray players make all dvds look better (with the upconversion)?

In other words, I wouldn't necessarily buy Blu-rays, but since I may need a new multi-region DVD player, don't the Blu-ray multi-region players make the dvds look better?

I currently have a Malata. Is the DVD quality on a Curtis Mathes or Momitsu better that watching it on a Malata?

Josh Z

They're comparable in most respects, but the Oppo has more flexible aspect ratio control. For example, the XA2 will lock you into pillarbox mode for all 4:3 content, even non-anamorphic letterbox. So on a disc like The Abyss, you'll get large black bars on all four sides of the frame. The Oppo will allow you to zoom.

The Oppo will also play PAL content, which I don't believe the XA2 can.

Ted Kontos

The exact same codes as the Momitsu. Which, I might add, is no slouch in the upconverting department. I can see no difference between the 899 and my Oppo 983 for SD DVD (PAL or NTSC).

manicsounds

Upconversion with HDMI cables. If the player can upconvert standard DVDs, then yes it will look "Better" by adding extra definition between the lines.

Check to see if the BD player can do it. The Momitsu can.

I'm also comtemplating this issue too, Toddly

Dusty Bottoms

I just got an e-mail from Target notifying me of a delay with my Curtis Mathes CMMBX130 order. The new estimated delivery date is the second week of December.

E Unit

Um, damn. Merry Christmas!. But at least you will get the order filled, so that's good news.

FYI, I ran into my first glitch. I just got the Volume 3 Bond Blu Ray set from Amazon and I threw in Goldfinger. It wouldn't play past the menu. But the firmware from the Curtis Mathes site fixed that. So far, so good.

Dusty Bottoms

I guess a delay is better than a cancelation notice, but I will feel better if I get a shipping confirmation.

It's strange that this player seems to have such limited availability. Other than third party sellers, have any retailers had the CMMBX130 other than Meijer and Target?

Dusty Bottoms

I decided to cancel my Curtis Mathes order through Target. I placed another order for a new CMMBX130 with a seller on Amazon Marketplace. After Target delayed my estimated delivery date by two months, I'm just not sure that they will ever fill the order.

It's going to cost me about $30 more this way, but it's still half the cost of the Momitsu. The player is supposed to ship by Monday or Tuesday.

cine

I wonder if this means they will restock and again sell it, or are simply fulfilling the existing back-orders.

E Unit

Since the 130 is not even on the Target site anymore, I doubt it. They are probably just fulfilling those backorders.

toddly6666

So if I would buy a multi-region Blu-ray player to play my DVDs better, I don't have to worry about getting a blu-ray player with component inputs? I'm not so sure about purchasing a player that only has HDMI and NO component inputs. I still like the idea of having both HDMI and component.