"Region-Free" player recommendation? (1 Viewer)

[Rick_E]

I'm going to be moving from the U.S. to Australia soon, and want to get a "region-free" player so I can play all my Region 1 discs there. Can anyone recommend a good one?

Thanks!

 

[Alf S]

You could buy a cheap ($40-50)Oritron model DVD 100 on Ebay and change it to "All Region" via the remote control. Not a fancy player by any means, but for $50 it may be worth it to you.

I did this to my bedroom unit but haven't bought any other region DVD's to test it yet.

Alfer

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

The best regionfree player remains the Malata N996. It's replacement, the 520, is a good 2nd choice if you can't find the 996.

 

[Rich Malloy]

The Malata is best for now. However, the upcoming Philips 963SA SACD/DVD player looks to be completely hackable (should be confirmed soon), and is due out in the US in first quarter 2003. A tad more expensive than the Malata at a $399 preorder price from J&R, but it includes Faroudja chipset and SACD capabilities. And CD upsampling. And increased analog bass management...

 

[Lew Crippen]

Wait and buy a DVD player in Australia. Region free players are available and you won’t need a to worry about 220v electricity or if a DVD player purchased in the States will be compatible with a PAL TV.

Basically all the TVs will display NTSC ok. And DVD players bought in Oz will be ok with NTSC as well, but if you buy there you can use one of your R1, NTSC DVDs to check for sure.

You are going to love living there, Rick. I spent a little over five years there and loved every minute. You may need to develop an understanding of cricket and footy (several kinds), so you will have something to talk about on Monday morning, but that is easy to do.

Good luck.

 

[Tomoko Noguchi]

Rich,

Where did you get the information about the Philips being hackable? Does that mean you can do it with a remote control? Or do I have to solder something? I have a Malata which is great, but the video could use some upgrading.

 

[Eujin]

Tomoko,

Surf on over to avsforum.com and do a search for '962SA' and you'll find all the info in a VERY long thread. It is, indeed, a hack performed via remote--no hardware soldering involved, but it does require a certain kind of remote. There are two hacks that must be performed if you want both PAL progressive AND region free capability. Good luck.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Eujin's got it right - over at the AVSFORUM! There's been discussion here, too, but more about the SACD and CD upsampling capabilities of the 963.

 

[Rick_E]

Thanks to everyone for the info (including the info on life down under)...I think I'll wait and buy the unit there.

Thanks again.