New Wave Outpost Forum

Hi, I hope someone can help with this. I'm in the US, but want to purchase a PAL-region dvd. I've heard that I should be able to play the dvd on a PC dvd drive. Any truth to this? Thanks in advance.

DG

Most PC drives should be able to change regions, but the trick is that most also only give you a limited number of times you can change that setting, like 5 or something. That's likely not the solution you're looking for. If you want to open up the world of PAL videos, it's best to get a multi-zone player. A good place to mailorder is from someplace like B&H Photo & Video in NYC.

Thanks, Blir!

I believe this is just a little more complicated.
PAL format doesn't really refer to region (although some regions utilize the PAL format).
If you buy a multiregion standalone player, which I think is a good idea, you should be sure that it can convert PAL to NTSC, which is probably what your television monitor will require.

Thanks, Schwenko!

If you're interested in buying a DVD player that can be programmed to be region-free, go to your favorite electronics store, and write down the model numbers for all the DVD players that meet your specifications. Then go to http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks and search to see if any of those models can be programmed to be region free. I bought mine at Target.

If you'd rather buy one straight off the internet, I recommend http://www.jlist.com

<p align="justify">If it's just a PAL dvd (region 0) you might be able to play it on a US player from Walmart or K-Mart - those no-name bargain-basement kind. I bought a cheep Lasetronic from K-Mart and I was able to see PAL R0 dvds. Make sure to read the specs of the dvd player to see what it can play. Still, you might just wanna fork over the moolah for a modified player than can play any region and any format. Five years ago, I bought some crappy dvd player that was modified and only now it is starting to malfunction. Pas mal for a crappy player that cost me around 100 bucks at the time; they're probably waaay cheaper now.

[i]I've heard that I should be able to play the dvd on a PC dvd drive. Any truth to this?[/i]

Playing a different region disc in either a player or computer is the same: you still need an all-region player or drive/software.


If you want to talk about just PAL, yes, you can play it on a computer because the computer does not care what framerate/resolution the source video is. However, most modern DVD players (especially the cheap ones made in China) can properly convert a PAL signal to NTSC so that you can watch it on your NTSC TV.

Thanks everyone for the responses. This is very helpful.

I thought Sampo players were the best around for this purpose. They are no longer sold in the U.S., but if you can pick one up used or new used cheaply, I'd definitely go for it.

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I bought a Sampo, but it died quickly. I assumed I violated whatever warranty the DVD player had because of programming, er, hacking it for Region 0, but it was also extremely cheap.

I don't think you can go to a mainstream store and just pick up a region-free player. The boxes always say "region 1" and don't give any indication that the player can be reprogrammed. I could be wrong, though.

Sampos [i]did[/i] used to come out of the box region-free, but the MPAA didn't like that, obviously (since everything has to be harder than it needs to be thanks to them). By the time I got my first one in, I dunno, 2001, they weren't that way anymore, and you had to stick a flashware CD-R in to make them region-free.

Mine still works like new after 5 years. It's my "major brand" players that are giving me grief -- and I've had them for a lot less time.

--
<u>[b]YouTube Video of the Week[/b]</u>

Bone Symphony - "It's a Jungle Out There"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjL4Pm7Cr6o
(This was going to be XL Capris - "What Do They Do in Igloos?," but the bastards suspended RStrathfield and yanked all his clips. Thanks, YouTube.)

[i]I don't think you can go to a mainstream store and just pick up a region-free player. The boxes always say "region 1" and don't give any indication that the player can be reprogrammed. I could be wrong, though.[/i]

Well, just because it says Region 1 on the box/player, doesn't mean it actually is [:)]. I've picked up two players, one a Malata, one a Prima from Best Buy Canada, that says R1 but were all-region out of the box. Manufacturers just slap an R1 sticker on it so that they don't get in trouble.

One time at Costco, they actually had a handout by the player telling you what keys to press on the remote control to make it all region.

Whatever you do, do not pay inflated prices for all-region players that some internet places advertise. Like someone said, just do a bit of research at Video Help.

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