Multi region DVD players for USA

August 11, 2005 1:51 PM

Can you recommend a multi region DVD player for use in the USA?

Amazon lists several all from third party sellers, it's not clear which ones have had their hardware hacked. I am looking for something that either plays discs from all regions right out of the box, or only needs a very simple hack via the remote, i.e. I prefer not to void the warranty.

posted by cushie to Technology (21 answers total)

Cyberhome CH300- They have em at Bestbuy for 40$. Shitty sound, great picture (for the money), and plays all regions with a very available on the net remote control "hack".
posted by dong_resin at 1:57 PM on August 11, 2005

I bought a Pioneer from Zone Free DVD, and am very happy with it.
posted by mosch at 2:01 PM on August 11, 2005

Here's a list of codes, many are just remote hacks:

DVD Codes
posted by tetsuo at 2:05 PM on August 11, 2005

And here's some more from a UK site:

More codes

(NSFW Links)
posted by tetsuo at 2:08 PM on August 11, 2005

And one more for good measure:

Last one
posted by tetsuo at 2:09 PM on August 11, 2005

I've heard great things about the Philips DVP642. Supposedly, it'll play anything, right out of the box. Amazon has it for $63.
posted by amarynth at 2:23 PM on August 11, 2005

Best answer: Second the DVP642. Anything without macrovision is bulletproof. Including DIVX and XVID avis.
posted by arruns at 2:58 PM on August 11, 2005

Best answer: Third the Philips. The 642 does a fine job with R2/PAL discs, but they don't look *quite* as good as NTSC ones do, as the player has to convert them from 25fps/576 lines to 30fps/480 lines.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:27 PM on August 11, 2005

Not sure where you live but if you're in NYC, the one they carry at Kim's Video on St Mark's is usually reliable.
posted by scazza at 3:33 PM on August 11, 2005

And by the way, a lot of those codes do not work. The discussion about my player was basically about how sure there are codes but to get the special remote to actually be able to type in the codes, or the service disk that actually works, is near impossible.
posted by scazza at 3:35 PM on August 11, 2005

I have the Philips DVP642 (as apparently a lot of others do as well) and it works great! Plays just about everything you throw at it. I did have to use a simple remote hack to make the player region-free, but it's a snap. Great player - and inexpensive too!
posted by Independent Scholarship at 3:57 PM on August 11, 2005

I umpteenth the DVP642. Although I just splurged on a Momitsu V880N because I am in love with devices that do everything (DivX, network, USB hard drive connection, HD upsampling). Highly recommended if you want to go big...
posted by Gortuk at 5:06 PM on August 11, 2005

Side question: why does B & H claim the DVP642 is "Region 1?"
posted by realcountrymusic at 5:31 PM on August 11, 2005

Never mind, I see the hack now.
posted by realcountrymusic at 5:33 PM on August 11, 2005

Count me as another happy DVP642 owner.
posted by holgate at 6:29 PM on August 11, 2005

Response by poster: Good to hear about the Philips. It does seem like a lot of the hacks are unreliable on some machines.
posted by cushie at 6:50 PM on August 11, 2005

One caveat on the otherwise excellent DVP642: if you're watching subtitled DivX or XviDs (like say, unlicensed anime fansubs) they might get cut in half, depending on your TV.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:51 PM on August 11, 2005

They being the subtitles, not the whole files.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:51 PM on August 11, 2005

If you're looking for an all region player, the chances are you'll be wanting to view PAL discs as well as NTSC. Remarkably, for 40 bucks, the Cyberhome dong_resin recommends converts PAL signals to NTSC so you can watch European discs on your US TV. A truly extraordinary - and completely real - deal.
posted by forallmankind at 6:58 PM on August 11, 2005

Bazillionth plug for the DVP642. Other than the slightly awkward remote and a bit of sluggishness when dealing with DivX files (the menus, not the playback that is), it's a fantastic player.

I've seen rumors that not all units are Macrovision-free. Mine appears to be. Also, I've read that the "firmware update" available for it does little other than enable Macrovision.

One thing I should point out is that when playing anamorphic PAL discs on a 4:3 TV, there is a bit of pixelation in the downconverter. Not overly annoying but it's there.
posted by neckro23 at 1:37 AM on August 12, 2005

Oh yes, and I should also point out that the remote code region setting is semi-permanent. That is, you can set it to "region-free" and won't have to do the remote trick every time you want to play a foreign disc. You can set it back to region 1 if you run across an RCE disc.
posted by neckro23 at 1:44 AM on August 12, 2005