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report on Asian DS9 DVDs (1 Viewer)

Jay Pennington

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They're all over eBay at a fraction of the cost of the R1 releases.

But are they legit?

I got a few to fill in the gaps in my collection, and they're definitely bootlegs. They contain all of the original content in English, but they're the typical Asian bootleg recode-a-roo wherein the contents of a double-layered DVD is reencoded to fit on a single-layered one.

Playback looks okay, but by definition the legit ones look up to twice as good.

Some might not mind, given the ridiculous pricing of all the Trek series box sets, but be aware.
 

andrew markworthy

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Jay, are you sure they're bootlegs? A lot of reputable companies are selling them besides the inevitable ebayers. Remember that Hong Kong DVDs are ridiculously cheap (e.g. I've just picked up three legit Kurosawa DVDs for under 10 pounds - i.e. about 17 dollars - including postage ), so what look like bootleg prices could be legit product.
 

Mikel_Cooperman

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I have a friend who buys from ebay all the time and gets the Asian DS9's and X-files. He says they are legit.
 

Jay Pennington

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Okay, I was assuming a legit release would not be jamming two layers-worth of material onto one, but if they would, then these could be legit.

But I compared the bitrate and amount of data on the discs to the two-layer R1 releases, and crammed onto a single layer they be.
 

Sam Favate

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My understanding was also that these Asian discs were bootlegs and not to be trusted. I'd be curious to see evidence to the contrary.
 

andrew markworthy

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Compromise solution - perhaps there is a legit R3 release, but it has been heavily bootlegged? This would explain legit retailers selling it, but also the bargain basement ebay versions.
 

ScottRichard

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Even if Asian DVDs are really cheap, do you really think you could buy two seasons for $30 total? I've also noticed that some of these sets aren't 7 discs like the US releases, but about double that number, which would also point to these being bootlegs. As far as "legit" retailers selling them, I've seen them used on places like Amazon and Half.com but the picture or listing is always for the US release and the seller just puts in the description "Asian collectors edition," so I think the retailers might not even know this. It's really getting annoying to me because you don't seem to know for sure in some cases what you're going to get unless the description specifically states "Region 1."
 

Jay Pennington

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Certainly a possibility! If it's the case, one would never know what you'd get until it arrived, unfortunately.
 

Rob Gardiner

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Jay,

What region are the discs? R3 (probably legit) or R0 (which would point towards pirate copies)?

BTW the proper term for these, if illegitimate, is "pirate" not "bootleg".
 

KyleC

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I know what you mean. Last week I was trying to find season 7 to finish my collection, and all I could find were the asian versions. It was quite annoying. I think there were only like 5 out of the whole list that were the R1 versions.
 

Bill Williams

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Yet it's ironic that people are snatching up these really low-cost Asian-produced versions, and it's hard to find the Region 1 U.S. versions. I've gone to several Wal-Marts, and they don't even have the DS9 sets in stock anymore. It's really got me suspicious on the one hand, in that I don't want to get a crummy-playing version, yet I want to get the best deal possible for the best-looking and sounding product on the market. Heavily tempted to get the Asian versions through eBay. But more clarification on their playability and overall quality would be nice to have on hand.
 

Jay Pennington

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After consulting Webster's, I'll accede that "pirate" is a more exact term, but would maintain that "bootleg" also applies in a more general sense and is thus not "improper".

But I'm with ya, "pirate" is a better choice. :D

Oh, and I think the ones I have are R0, but I'll double-check.
 

Sam Favate

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I'll second that, and apologize for making this mistake earlier today.

These are distinct, although the industry would just as soon lump them together.

I think of it in terms of music CDs: A "pirate" copy is a duplicate of something you can buy in the stores, say a copy of the new Norah Jones record that someone is selling on a street corner for $4. A "bootleg" is a copy of something you cannot buy in the stores, such as a copy of Norah Jones' most recent concert appearance. Pirating directly costs the industry money in sales. Bootlegs are simply a copyright infringement. The RIAA has for years been blurring the line between the two, but the truth is there is a vast difference.

In movie terms, it seems to me a copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special would be a bootleg, but a duplicate of the X-Files for like $15 is pirated.
 

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