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Thread: Region-Free DVD Players--

  1. #1
    Crying Enthusiast Sven's Avatar
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    Region-Free DVD Players--

    --recommend me the best, cheapest one. Plz? Kthx.

  2. #2
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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  3. #3
    A Bonerfied Classic Derek's Avatar
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    I have the Phillips DVP642, which comes region-free so you don't need to worry about programming it or changing any setting. I got it through Amazon for around $60-70 and it's gone a year and a half without any problems. I've also used DVDs from various regions and it plays everything.

    Honestly, I don't know why more people don't own one when it's no more expensive than a regular player.

  4. #4
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Derek (view post)
    I have the Phillips DVP642, which comes region-free so you don't need to worry about programming it or changing any setting. I got it through Amazon for around $60-70 and it's gone a year and a half without any problems. I've also used DVDs from various regions and it plays everything.

    Honestly, I don't know why more people don't own one when it's no more expensive than a regular player.
    They don't sell it anymore. All you can do is buy one from an independent seller through Amazon, some of which are used.

    That Philips I posted is among the new "multi-region" Phillips players. The hack is simple and harmless. I had to do a hack on my Phillips and it's been over 3 years and it's still humming along just fine.

  5. #5
    Winston* Classic Winston*'s Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Derek (view post)
    Honestly, I don't know why more people don't own one when it's no more expensive than a regular player.
    They've barely sold the region-coded DVD players around here for years, I think. They all seem to be region free.

  6. #6
    A Bonerfied Classic Derek's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    They don't sell it anymore. All you can do is buy one from an independent seller through Amazon, some of which are used.

    That Philips I posted is among the new "multi-region" Phillips players. The hack is simple and harmless. I had to do a hack on my Phillips and it's been over 3 years and it's still humming along just fine.
    Oh ok, then that's the way to go. I had to do a code for my first region-free player and it wasn't a big deal, but I figured it's better to avoid a possible hassle if possible.

  7. #7
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Another voice supporting this plan.
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  8. #8
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    I bought this DVD player from hkflix.com on Dan Davis's recommendation.




    Oppo Digital DV-980H

  9. #9
    sleepy soitgoes...'s Avatar
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    Yes, the Phillips DVD player line is the best for hacking an inexpensive player.

  10. #10
    dissolved into molecules lovejuice's Avatar
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    that's too what i do. very amazing.

  11. #11
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting bac0n (view post)
    I bought this DVD player from hkflix.com on Dan Davis's recommendation.




    Oppo Digital DV-980H
    This is a great machine. You will be very pleased.

  12. #12
    If you want to be extra thrifty, you can buy this one. This unit has an HDMI plug-in as well. A hack can be found on the site listed above.

  13. #13
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting DavidSeven (view post)
    If you want to be extra thrifty, you can buy this one. This unit has an HDMI plug-in as well. A hack can be found on the site listed above.
    Does an upscaling DVD player play HD-DVDs, both HD and Blu-Ray? And if so, why are they so much cheaper than an actual HD DVD player? Is the difference in visual quality that much different?

  14. #14
    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    Does an upscaling DVD player play HD-DVDs, both HD and Blu-Ray? And if so, why are they so much cheaper than an actual HD DVD player? Is the difference in visual quality that much different?
    A standard upscaling DVD player can only play regular DVDs (not HD and Blu-Ray). If they have the HDMI output, they transmit an HD signal from your regular DVDs that supposedly comes closer to an HD picture than a regular DVD player would. I have the DVD player that I linked, but I haven't bought the HDMI cable for it yet, so I can't say how close it comes to actual HD quality. From the Amazon reviews, the HDMI picture is supposedly great. I guess you could pay $300-$500 for an HD-DVD player plus $30-$40 per HD disc for the real thing. I think I'll stick with a $40 DVD player plus no additional DVD costs for something that comes pretty close.

  15. #15
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting DavidSeven (view post)
    A standard upscaling DVD player can only play regular DVDs (not HD and Blu-Ray). If they have the HDMI output, they transmit an HD signal from your regular DVDs that supposedly comes close to an HD picture. I have the DVD player that I linked, but I haven't bought the HDMI cable for it yet, so I can't say how close it comes to actual HD quality. From the Amazon reviews, the HDMI picture is supposedly great. I guess you could pay $300-$500 for an HD-DVD player plus $30-$40 per HD disc for the real thing. I think I'll stick with a $40 DVD player plus no additional DVD costs for something that comes really close.
    Absolutely. That's even better news. I'm definitely getting one for Christmas. Thanks.

  16. #16
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    For those of you with a 360, the upscaling DVD playback through the VGA cable is really, really good. Probably the best DVD playback I've seen. If only there was a way to make it region free without a mod.

  17. #17
    Crying Enthusiast Sven's Avatar
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    More hlp plz, kthx??!!1

    We just got an HD TV. Whoa! Talk about forking up the dowry early! Anyhow, it's this:

    http://www.amazon.com/Olevia-532H-32...6129989&sr=1-3

    Then, we just bought the DVD player that KF linked, which is this:

    http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVP598...5704007&sr=8-1

    However, looking at it now, it appears that we have a 1080i TV, and the DVD player is 1080p. I have no idea what these mean, but is that gonna pose a compatibility problem?

    Secondly, I like this thing DavidSeven mentioned, about being able to hook up HDMi cables and getting a swanky picture. Is this something that I would be able to do, given our current setup? Please help me understand this stuff, but be gentle.

    Thanks in advance! I guess it goes without saying at this point that I am sorry I'm such a techno-noob.

  18. #18
    Quote Quoting iosos (view post)
    However, looking at it now, it appears that we have a 1080i TV, and the DVD player is 1080p. I have no idea what these mean, but is that gonna pose a compatibility problem?

    Secondly, I like this thing DavidSeven mentioned, about being able to hook up HDMi cables and getting a swanky picture. Is this something that I would be able to do, given our current setup? Please help me understand this stuff, but be gentle.

    Thanks in advance! I guess it goes without saying at this point that I am sorry I'm such a techno-noob.
    It shouldn't pose a compatibility problem. A 1080p TV would just produce the best picture since it's the highest resolution, but the two devices should work together fine. To set up the HDMI stuff, you'll need an HDMI cable. They're not cheap (priced at $80-$130 at Best Buy). However, both your TV and DVD player should have the proper inputs/outputs. It's just a matter of connecting them with the cable.

  19. #19
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting DavidSeven (view post)
    They're not cheap (priced at $80-$130 at Best Buy).
    Don't buy them at Best Buy - they mark up their accessories about 100-200%. Go to a Home Depot, I've seen them there for under $50, or order them from a web site like:

    http://www.cablewholesale.com/catalo...FRIUagodZU7gLQ

    where you can get them for under $10.

    And don't buy Monster or any name brand cable - it's crap. HDMI is a digital signal, all well made cables will produce the same signal. Most retailers now are price gouging on all HD accessories, don't be a sucker.

  20. #20
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    Don't buy them at Best Buy - they mark up their accessories about 100-200%. Go to a Home Depot, I've seen them there for under $50, or order them from a web site like:

    http://www.cablewholesale.com/catalo...FRIUagodZU7gLQ

    where you can get them for under $10.

    And don't buy Monster or any name brand cable - it's crap. HDMI is a digital signal, all well made cables will produce the same signal. Most retailers now are price gouging on all HD accessories, don't be a sucker.
    I was going to post the same thing. Wholesale cables are the way to go. Often times they're the same cables that Monster and other companies use, they just haven't been purchased by those companies yet. There's no difference in quality. All of my cables are wholesale cables and they work beautifully. Monster Cables are for suckers (apologies in advance to anyone who wasted their money).

  21. #21
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    James Randi recently extended his million dollar challenge to anyone who could scientifically prove that expensive name brand speaker cables provide a better sound than that of comparable, inexpensive cables. So far, no one has taken him up on the challenge.

    Here is a great story about this:

    http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/calling-b...ter-305549.php
    http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/calling-b...4.php?retitled

    http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/1...s-for-dea.html

    In this latest funhouse, Michael Fremer, audiophile and Stereophile editor, accepted a challenge, with the backing of Pear Cables, to prove that the firm's $7,000 leads are better than standard-fare one can pick up at Best Buy. It's not gone well for the challengers, with Pear backing out and Fremer frustrated by the all-too-public negotiations between Randi and himself.

  22. #22
    Producer Yxklyx's Avatar
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    I bought a Toshiba region free player six or so months ago and I average 6 movies a week I think. I use it for all movies - have only watched a few non region 1 dvds though. It cost 60 or 70 I think. I got it either from amazon or ebay. The local Facets here rents out non region 1 dvds which is cool. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't go into sleep/screen-saver mode so if I'm not careful the movie menu will continuously be displayed on my TV.

    What I don't like about the non region 1 DVDs are that they are in PAL format and so they play fast - voices/sounds are all higher and faster. I mucked with some video editing software to slow things down but it's not worth the hassle.

  23. #23
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Yxklyx (view post)
    What I don't like about the non region 1 DVDs are that they are in PAL format and so they play fast - voices/sounds are all higher and faster. I mucked with some video editing software to slow things down but it's not worth the hassle.
    You just need to make sure that the DVD player you buy properly converts PAL to NTSC.

  24. #24
    Crying Enthusiast Sven's Avatar
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    I'm having trouble with the PS2. PS2 on HDTV, from what I'm finding, is more or less kaput. Do any of you have both? If so, do you just not mind the pixellation or are there any secrets that in my researchings I've not come across.

  25. #25
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting iosos (view post)
    I'm having trouble with the PS2. PS2 on HDTV, from what I'm finding, is more or less kaput. Do any of you have both? If so, do you just not mind the pixellation or are there any secrets that in my researchings I've not come across.
    Doesn't the PS2 have a progressive setting, or is it just some games? I can't remember.

    I play the PS2 in HD on my projector, and it looks pretty killer, even on a 100" screen. It doesn't look as good as the 360 or XBOX, but the pixels aren't all blown out or anything

    Are you using component cables, or the RCA?

    Can you force your TV into 480P mode?

    This is probably the problem. If you are trying to play the PS2 in anything higher, it will probably look like total crap.

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