Region free DVD players?

[skibumwa]

Does anyone know where I can buy a 'region free' DVD player here in NZ? Preferably in Welly or nearby. I suppose if they are sold in Auckland, I can have a mate mail it to me. Please let me know, because my US dvd player broke and all of my DVDs are coded region #1 (US) so now I am sort of up the creek without a paddle unless I want to use my Apple MacBook Pro (bought in Oregon, USA) laptop as my permanent DVD entertainment system.

Cheers,

John

[CJ22]

Hi John, in fact most DVD players are region free if you know how

You can generally unlock them by an obscure combination of key presses on the remote control, allowing them to become region-free. Each brand is different.

Google for "region free dvd player" for various sites that list unlocking codes for various DVD players. DON'T pay anybody any money - there's a couple of sites that appear to be trying to sell various solutions to the unwary. There are free sites that will do the trick quite nicely.

This one is a good one:
http://www.dvdhacks.co.uk/

[Croft]

Some of the modern ones are getting more difficult to crack, but still possible. For some of the more difficult players the simplest way is to buy one of the many remote controls on the market that are designed to replace multiple controllers, They have a 'magic' button which allows reprogramming - you don't have to continue to use the controller, it's a once only process. Otherwise you have to download a program onto your Pocket PC or laptop (anything with an IR port) and do it that way - cheaper but more complex!

[dilanium]

Just be careful with Sony's. I've heard they are ridiculously hard to crack.

For now why not get a cable and plug your Macbook into your TV and do a dual display? Very easy. If you have a bluetooth mouse and keyboard then you don't even need to get up once you set it up!

[Mels]

good site CJ22, added it to favourites in readiness.

Quick question though, do these 'hacks' make the DVD player able to play UK and NZ DVD's, or does in switch it to only NZ - I know 'girly' question

Mels

[mikewalkerfrom]

or you can just go to Bond and Bond and buy a multi region dvd player! Take your american dvds along and test them in the shop to be sure

[CJ22]

It switches off the region-checking feature, so you can play DVDs of any region or none (not all DVDs have a region encoding). The region-protection is an entirely artificial block, designed to stop the importing of DVDs across regions. It's just a flag set on the DVD itself. If the DVD player doesn't check the flag, then it will play the DVD quite happily. The formatting of the disk is no different (although the video content itself will be in either NTSC or PAL, but I assume you've resolved that problem already).

DVD region encoding is a highly dubious practice. For a start, it makes no account for people like you who have a stock of DVDs purchased in one region who simply want to move somewhere that's in another region. It also means you can't buy DVDs while on holiday in a region other than the one to which your player belongs. Stoopid. By the way, it is not illegal to switch off the region-checking of your DVD player, which is why so many manufacturers leave in a back-door and the solution 'leaks' onto these internet sites. Region-encoding is not in the interests of DVD player manufacturers.

[Croft]

Just be careful with Sony's. I've heard they are ridiculously hard to crack.

Yes, they are - hence my allusion to the more recent players being harder to hack. We just got a Sony DVD recorder (half Nectar points offer, a bargain) and I'm going to have to do some really fiddly stuff to crack it. Our old player was just insert a Region 1 DVD, press a couple of keys on the remote, turn the DVD off and hey presto!!

[CJ22]

Well Sony are a major content owner too, so not really that surprising

[Croft]

Well Sony are a major content owner too, so not really that surprising

True! Hadn't thought of that...