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My first region-free player

post #1 of 16
7/7/08 at 10:16pm
Thread Starter 
And so, as my trusty Sanyo DVD/VCR combo finally starts to die on my, and the remote is totally on the fritz, I must select a new player. Eclectic cinephile that I am, I of course want a region-free player to play those various discs that I otherwise could not. It's a birthday gift from a very kind relative, and I really need to get down to things and start looking so that he can purchase one for me. I am aware of region-hacking, though only vaguely. I'm looking for something in the $100 or so price range, it's me limit wink.gif. I'd like, naturally, something reasonable good for the price, that'll play whatever I put in, and that will give me decent reproduction. I'm sadly a novice in much of this, and wish to entreat some help and suggestions. Anyone who is willing to offer something, I would much appreciate it. I figured that there's probably no better place on the Internet to ask than here . I really should read up home theater and DVD information and FAQs or something in the future, but any help would be invaluable. Thank you.
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post #2 of 16
7/8/08 at 12:51am

Re: My first region-free player

This should probably be in one of the Hardware forums.....
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post #3 of 16
7/8/08 at 8:33am
Thread Starter 

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by MielR
This should probably be in one of the Hardware forums.....

Gah! Sorry! Didn't know where to put it! Maybe a mod could move it. By the by, do you post at originaltrilogy.com?
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post #4 of 16
7/8/08 at 1:35pm

Re: My first region-free player

Check Amazon they carry a pretty good selection of region-free players that are under $100.00. I recently purchased a Philips DVP 5140 for less than $50.00 and so far it works real good. If you do purchase the Philips make sure you record the region-free instructions included in the product reviews.
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post #5 of 16
7/8/08 at 3:39pm

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ernest
Check Amazon they carry a pretty good selection of region-free players that are under $100.00. I recently purchased a Philips DVP 5140 for less than $50.00 and so far it works real good. If you do purchase the Philips make sure you record the region-free instructions included in the product reviews.
I'll add my endorsement for the Philips DVP 5140.
WalMart sells the Philips DVP 3960 for under $50 and its just as good and serviceable.
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post #6 of 16
7/8/08 at 4:30pm

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138
By the by, do you post at originaltrilogy.com?

Yup!
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post #7 of 16
7/8/08 at 7:43pm

Re: My first region-free player

Most Philips models are hackable. You can get specific info at videohelp.com. Look for the "DVD Hacks" link part way down the left side. The grand champions are from Oppo (oppodigital.com) but they start at closer to $200 and are well worth the price. They really play anything, including SACD and DVD-A.
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post #8 of 16
7/8/08 at 8:20pm

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138
And so, as my trusty Sanyo DVD/VCR combo finally starts to die on my, and the remote is totally on the fritz, I must select a new player. Eclectic cinephile that I am, I of course want a region-free player to play those various discs that I otherwise could not. It's a birthday gift from a very kind relative, and I really need to get down to things and start looking so that he can purchase one for me. I am aware of region-hacking, though only vaguely. I'm looking for something in the $100 or so price range, it's me limit wink.gif. I'd like, naturally, something reasonable good for the price, that'll play whatever I put in, and that will give me decent reproduction. I'm sadly a novice in much of this, and wish to entreat some help and suggestions. Anyone who is willing to offer something, I would much appreciate it. I figured that there's probably no better place on the Internet to ask than here . I really should read up home theater and DVD information and FAQs or something in the future, but any help would be invaluable. Thank you.
I've been very happy with the one that we purchased. It's a region-free DVD player with a VCR combo. It purports to play just about everything in existence. Whatever we've thrown at it, has worked fine. And the price was $125.00. Here is the link:

220 volts electronics - Code Free DVD Player reviews, Voltage converter guide, Multi system lcd plasma tv multisystem home theater

The link for the code-free DVD players is at the left. Best wishes with your purchase.
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post #9 of 16
7/10/08 at 6:40am

Re: My first region-free player

Here's another source for chipped R-Free players. Their Cust Svc Dept is good here as they've answered all of my e-mail questions.

Low Prices! Fast and safe Delivery on all PAL TVs PAL VCRs Code Free DVD Players Region Free DVD Players Multi-System TV Multi-System VCR multisystem multsystem plasma TV voltage transformer transfermor 220 volt in chicago

I recently bought an upconvert (R-Free) Pioneer DV-400 player for my Mom so we can watch upconverted Std DVD's on the Samsung 46" LCD that I bought for her a few weeks ago. I did some comparisons between a PS3 unit and the Pioneer player comparing Std upconversion and the Pioneer picture looks a little better. It's amazing how much the upconversion helps improve the picture Q.

I have the Pioneer DV-578 R-Free Std player. I've had this one for a few years with no problems. I did buy a JVC R-Free player before the Pioneer and that one had intermittent problems related to the internal R-Free mod. After 3 exchanges I got one that worked but that one's in storage now. The Tech Support guy at World Import was very helpful in sharing information about what brands tend to be more troublesome than others and some tech info about the PAL/NTSC Converter specs.

I went the "chipped" R-Free route vs the hacked method since I liked the idea of the lifetime warranty covering the internal mods and there's some 'net posts about occasional issues with the hacked players when playing RCE-encoded DVD (movies). I don't know if the RCE problems are more "urban legend" than fact but I went ahead & spent the extra $'s to get the internal mod player.

I have tested my Pioneer unit with several known RCE movies and have not seen any problems.

Has anyone that has a hacked R-Free player encountered any issues with Std RCE movies?
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post #10 of 16
7/10/08 at 7:57am

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Willis
Has anyone that has a hacked R-Free player encountered any issues with Std RCE movies?
I have three region free players and have never had any problem. FYI, the three players are a cheap no-name that had a hack, and Malata that was region free out of the box and an Oppo that had a hack.
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post #11 of 16
7/19/08 at 7:49pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by MielR
Yup!

Hey cool! I'm Mike O over there. Anyways, my old player died on me and I'm down to the wire, so if anyone has anything else to add, they can commence. Almost done.
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post #12 of 16
7/20/08 at 1:35pm

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138
Hey cool! I'm Mike O over there. Anyways, my old player died on me and I'm down to the wire, so if anyone has anything else to add, they can commence. Almost done.
LOL! I had a feeling you were "Mike O" when I saw your name was Mike in your profile! Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you post in a while.

I don't understand why the mods haven't moved this thread to the "hardware" forum. You'll get more advice there. Maybe you should start a new thread there.
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post #13 of 16
7/23/08 at 8:27pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by MielR
LOL! I had a feeling you were "Mike O" when I saw your name was Mike in your profile! Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you post in a while.

I don't understand why the mods haven't moved this thread to the "hardware" forum. You'll get more advice there. Maybe you should start a new thread there.

I've actually been having trouble logging back in . Plus, discouraged . Anyways, I'll move this right about now. Thanks!
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post #14 of 16
7/23/08 at 8:35pm
Thread Starter 

First region-free player

Since, like the n00b that I am, I messed up and put this in the wrong place, I'll link to my other thread. Anyways, thought that I might bet better advice when I put this where it actually goes.
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post #15 of 16
7/23/08 at 8:47pm

Re: First region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138
Since, like the n00b that I am, I messed up and put this in the wrong place, I'll link to my other thread. Anyways, thought that I might bet better advice when I put this where it actually goes.
Next time just ask a moderator to move the original thread.

M.
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post #16 of 16
7/23/08 at 9:24pm

Re: My first region-free player

Quote:
Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138
I've actually been having trouble logging back in . Plus, discouraged
Jay finally implemented the new forum software.

I don't know if you've seen it, but there's actually some exciting stuff going on there now....
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