Questions about Region-Free DVD Players

[dbarrie]

Hi,

I've been reading all the postings here, and, after giving it much thought, I've made a decision: I'm reverting back to my original plan and trade my Region 1 player in for a region-free one. It will cost me an extra $200 CDN, but I believe it will be worth the expense, because I want to play Region 2 discs (+ possibly Region 4 ones as well). I have no interest in upgrading the DVD drive in my computer; I prefer watching my discs on a stand-alone unit because they don't make the discs freeze or skip.

I just want to thank you all so much for the feedback you've provided over the past week. There are a couple of friends who are interested in possibly purchasing my Sony player. The region-free player I'm thinking of buying can be plugged into any TV, regular or HD, and has prog-scan.

My dad (originally from Scotland btw) made an interesting hypothesis this afternoon. He said there's probably a bigger market for region-free players in the UK (+ other countries outside of N. America), because folks there want to include Region 1-coded releases in their collections, since the U.S. (probably) represents the world's largest market for home entertainment.

I'll definitely let you know what happens. In the meantime, I give you my thanks and appreciation.

Sincerely,

OI MuppetFan (real name Donald)

 

[anathema]

My dad (originally from Scotland btw) made an interesting hypothesis this afternoon. He said there's probably a bigger market for region-free players in the UK (+ other countries outside of N. America), because folks there want to include Region 1-coded releases in their collections, since the U.S. (probably) represents the world's largest market for home entertainment.

Perfectly true. It doesn't hurt that all European players can play NTSC discs as standard (Japan, another NTSC country, is also R2 for some weird reason, so it's cheaper for the manufacturers to use the same chipset for both countries).

 

[bazooka_beak]

My player is a DAEWOO S151 that I got off Ebay. It plays all regions fine. Even PAL wasn't a problem, as I recently got back from England (two days ago in fact), and bought a DVD set from there. It feels so FREE to have one, as I'm no longer restricted to what I buy

 

[dbarrie]

Hi Bazooka,

I've heard about Daewoo players. I'm glad that yours works well. I may buy one of the Daewoo ones. Thanks for the feedback.

OI MuppetFan

 

[dbarrie]

Well folks, I finally did it. Today I bought a Daewoo Region-Free DVD player! It's the S500 model (cost $225 CDN). And tonight I got to play a bit of my first R2 disc, and it happens to be a Muppets release. Before I bought the player I bought the UK release of Muppet Family Christmas & The Christmas Toy. It was quite exciting to see both those programs the way they were meant to be seen.

BTW, this Daewoo player can also play CDs, PBC Video CDs, MP3s, MPEGs, JPEGs and VCDs. Thank you again for convincing me to make a worthwhile investment. I look forward to purchasing other overseas DVDs (esp. those from the UK), in addition to the R1 discs produced here.

OI MuppetFan

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Where did you pick up the DVD player? I'm actually looking at picking up my first real DVD player (up until now we've just been playing movies on the PS2) and I want to buy a region-free model.

 

[dbarrie]

I bought it at the House of 220 @ 1444 Gerrard St. E. (Coxwell & Gerrard). Its Web site address is www.houseof220.com. Apparently the Daewoo brand is the only one that is compatible with NTSC TVs. The staff were very helpful and informative when I was researching region-free players. As far as I know it is (or is one of) the only store(s) in Toronto that sells them.

OI MuppetFan

P.S. I discovered that it can also play your CD-Rs/RWs and DVD-Rs/RWs.

Where did you pick up the DVD player? I'm actually looking at picking up my first real DVD player (up until now we've just been playing movies on the PS2) and I want to buy a region-free model.

 

[Random EMO Fan]

OK, seeing as RCE hasn't been mentioned yet (and as this thread is about multi-region players, it seemed like an idea to put it here as it is kinda relevant), I thought it would be a good idea to mention this site ... doesn't really have any bearing on the thread's subject, but I thought it usefull given the thread's title...

It doesn't apply to anyone unless they want to play DVDs on non-region-1 players (as it's only on R1 discs at the mo...), so only us in Europe, Australia, etc need worry...

 

[dbarrie]

That was a very good link about RCE. I had actually known about some R1 discs presenting problems for some people who own multi-region players. I tried some out last night, including "Spider-Man," and they played just fine. I mention "Spider-Man" because it was listed as being one of the films that has RCE. But it didn't give me any troubles at all. Maybe discs that are manufactured in Canada are different than ones made in the U.S.(?) My copy of "Spider-Man" was released by Columbia-Tristar, but the back cover indicates that it was produced in Canada (w/ Cdn. video rating included).

OI MuppetFan

OK, seeing as RCE hasn't been mentioned yet (and as this thread is about multi-region players, it seemed like an idea to put it here as it is kinda relevant), I thought it would be a good idea to mention this site ... doesn't really have any bearing on the thread's subject, but I thought it usefull given the thread's title...

It doesn't apply to anyone unless they want to play DVDs on non-region-1 players (as it's only on R1 discs at the mo...), so only us in Europe, Australia, etc need worry...

 

[Random EMO Fan]

That was a very good link about RCE.

Thanks

Maybe discs that are manufactured in Canada are different than ones made in the U.S.(?) My copy of "Spider-Man" was released by Columbia-Tristar, but the back cover indicates that it was produced in Canada (w/ Cdn. video rating included).

To be honest, I doubt it. Like most things to do with CD production, there aren't many DVD-pressing plants (for instance, there are 8 factories in the world making CD-R/RW/DVR-R/RWs). It's likely it's the same disc, but with a different sleeve and print on the front. It's far more likely, IMHO, that you've got an RCE-breaking DVD player (Your disc should have RCE on it, as PlayUSA says it should)