All-Region DVD and Blu-ray Player Advice

[Gregory]

I bought my current modified blu player from their affiliated company 220-Electronics (International Video and Electronics), a Sharp BD-HP24, which turned out to be one of the most maddening devices I've ever had, with a defect that often have to reload a blu-ray over and over for 5 minutes or more before playing it. Because I had to travel soon after buying it, the store's warranty ran out while I was still troubleshooting. Probably not worth getting into all the specifics of what the player does here.

However, looking at their selection now, it looks like there are far more inexpensive options. I wonder if the LG BD611, BD630, or BD640 would be worth getting. I don't really care about streaming, so the BD611 might be a good basic player to have on hand.

[TMDaines]

Does anyone else have this concern or am I being ridiculous?

Ridiculous. Being region free need be no more expensive or unreliable than being region locked for the most part. The Toshibas that can be updated with the Aussie firmware seem a good choice at the moment. The Limit (Momitsu) player I bought a few years ago is still as good a 50 quid as I've ever spent, although I end up watching far more stuff on my PC at my moment because of university. The HTPC route will pretty much always be a sure fire thing.

[mfunk9786]

I bought my current modified blu player from their affiliated company 220-Electronics (International Video and Electronics), a Sharp BD-HP24, which turned out to be one of the most maddening devices I've ever had, with a defect that often have to reload a blu-ray over and over for 5 minutes or more before playing it. Because I had to travel soon after buying it, the store's warranty ran out while I was still troubleshooting. Probably not worth getting into all the specifics of what the player does here.

However, looking at their selection now, it looks like there are far more inexpensive options. I wonder if the LG BD611, BD630, or BD640 would be worth getting. I don't really care about streaming, so the BD611 might be a good basic player to have on hand.

I have the BD630 - it is not only the best Region Free option I've tried by a longshot, it's also the best Blu-ray player I've ever used. I bought another one for my bedroom that was region locked (because it was less than half the $ and a room I watch Blu-rays in far less often) because I just like the player so damn much.

[Gregory]

Does anyone else have this concern or am I being ridiculous?

Ridiculous. Being region free need be no more expensive or unreliable than being region locked for the most part. The Toshibas that can be updated with the Aussie firmware seem a good choice at the moment. The Limit (Momitsu) player I bought a few years ago is still as good a 50 quid as I've ever spent, although I end up watching far more stuff on my PC at my moment because of university. The HTPC route will pretty much always be a sure fire thing.

Region-free now vs. region-locked now doesn't really address my fear of having a hard time getting a region-free player in ten or fifteen years, or whenever blu-ray is as dead as laserdisc is now but I still want to be sure I can still use some of the Region B discs I've bought. I've read too much about Momitsus to think I can count on one working for years. Don't want to go the HTPC route, as it's too complicated for my current needs.

You could always ultimately have one shipped from the UK. There may be fewer and fewer Region Free players, but Region B players exist by the millions elsewhere.

I've heard that UK dealers will refuse to ship players to US addresses. I just tried to put an LG player at Amazon UK into my cart and check out but I got an error message saying "LG BD650 2D Blu-ray Player cannot be shipped to the selected address."
Thanks for the feedback on the BD630, I'll consider getting one.

[David M.]

If you need help ordering a UK player to a US address, give me a PM and I can forward the package for you

[Zot!]

For what it's worth, my laserdisc player still works fine. By the time the blu-ray machines die out, memory will be so cheap that you'll be able to make a lossless back-up your entire collection (removing any region coding in the process) and play it off a computer for all eternity. Compatibility is actually improving.

[Gregory]

That makes sense, and salves my technophobic anxiety.
Thanks very much for offering to help me with an order, David M. -- I hope I won't ever need to order a player from so far away.

[The Masked Marvel]

I recently picked up an LG BD630 from Bombay Electronics. So far, so good. Region-switching is a breeze, and things both look and sound great. I've had a strange issue playing the MoC edition of "Profound Desires of the Gods" (mentioned here), but other than that, all is well.

It's difficult to imagine there being a better bang-for-your-buck option out there.

[Mathew2468]

I bought a Sharp BD-HP70U from 220-Electronics. The only non-Region 1 and NTSC DVDs I tried were a few Artificial Eyes that work alright except for a very slight up and down jitter. No big deal. But the Region Free Gaumont Blu-Ray of A Man Escaped just plain doesn't work. Works fine on my PS3. :-k

A Regionless player that doesn't play Region Free Blu-Rays? I've got Mondo Vision's Region Free L'Important C'est d'Aimer coming in the mail and I'll see if it also spits out Region Free DVDs. I'm afraid to update the firmware or anything in case it murders my Region Freedom.

[Michael Kerpan]

Back in early DVD days, no region discs could be a problem -- as the standard required at least one region code. All-region was no problem, but no region discs might run into problems with certain players. The same might be true for Blu-Rays -- Region A, B and C == okay. No region at all = possible trouble.

Or maybe some completely differesnt sort of problem.

[JonasEB]

I bought a Sharp BD-HP70U from 220-Electronics. The only non-Region 1 and NTSC DVDs I tried were a few Artificial Eyes that work alright except for a very slight up and down jitter. No big deal. But the Region Free Gaumont Blu-Ray of A Man Escaped just plain doesn't work. Works fine on my PS3. :-k

A Regionless player that doesn't play Region Free Blu-Rays? I've got Mondo Vision's Region Free L'Important C'est d'Aimer coming in the mail and I'll see if it also spits out Region Free DVDs. I'm afraid to update the firmware or anything in case it murders my Region Freedom.

It's just a case of that disc having compatibility issues with that player (as you've noted, nothing you can do about it as far as updating the region free player goes.)

[mfunk9786]

Yeah, sounds like a firmware issue. If the player is hardware and not software modded, you should update the firmware and see if it helps.

[peerpee]

I've distilled all my feelings about "regions" into the design of an internationally recognisable anti-regions logo.

[swo17]

Just don't actually put that on any releases. It's hard enough to get things through customs these days as it is!

[Saturnome]

So my Sherwood finally died. Just in time for my Accattone, LifeBoat, etc. that I got today. Picture goes black randomly and doesn't come back until I start it again.

I have a PS3, so all I need is a R2/B DVD/Blu-Ray Player, right? I would need to find a low-priced one that ship in Canada... Or is the Bombay Electronics Region-Free player a better option? I don't mind having a bunch of players, I just want the cheapest option... that won't break.

[knives]

I don't know if Canada runs into this problem too, but you should also pick up a converter because the Europe plug system is slightly different from over here.

[willoneill]

Since you're in Canada, another option might be a Seiki player from Wal-mart. I think the model number is 660. It can be set to any BD region through a simple remote hack. I've had one for two years and the only thing it hasn't been able to play is the MoC edition Silence. I only use it for R2/B stuff, but I find it works great.

[Saturnome]

Well, wow, thanks. The Seiki was 48$, took me a minute to setup in R0/B, works perfectly fine! I'm amazed how quick and cheap this have been.

[Jack Phillips]

Since you're in Canada, another option might be a Seiki player from Wal-mart.

I take it this is offered exclusively in Canada, not in North America generally?

[remy]

Just wanted to let everyone know of this simple trick that worked on my Region A Panasonic DMP-DB 601:
(comes from DVDTalk)

All the information I have found on the internet has indicated that this player can only play Region B and C discs with a mod chip, with no remote solutions available. This is not the case!

All you need to do is load up the disc. When the message pops up that says the disc will only play in a Region B or C player pops up, press "stop" on the remote control. Then press "1" on the remote, followed by "enter." This will bypass the message and load up the disc to play normally.

Hard to believe that there's such a simple solution available. I'm assuming this works on the DMP-BD80 as well and possibly other Panasonic player.

I can finally watch the Region B-locked Before the revolution and La signora senza camelie BDs that have been sitting on my shelves for a while!

[jwd5275]

My Insignia is starting to act all wonky (spontaneously freezing, playing muted, etc). Kinda strapped for funds, so I'm looking at getting either a Toshiba or an LG. I have a Roku so having Netflix etc is not important (and though wifi would be nice but not a deal breaker). Does anyone have any opinions or experience with the Toshiba or LG?

[mfunk9786]

I'm a big fan of my LG 530.

[David M.]

Just wanted to let everyone know of this simple trick that worked on my Region A Panasonic DMP-DB 601:
(comes from DVDTalk)

All the information I have found on the internet has indicated that this player can only play Region B and C discs with a mod chip, with no remote solutions available. This is not the case!

All you need to do is load up the disc. When the message pops up that says the disc will only play in a Region B or C player pops up, press "stop" on the remote control. Then press "1" on the remote, followed by "enter." This will bypass the message and load up the disc to play normally.

Hard to believe that there's such a simple solution available. I'm assuming this works on the DMP-BD80 as well and possibly other Panasonic player.

I can finally watch the Region B-locked Before the revolution and La signora senza camelie BDs that have been sitting on my shelves for a while!

That likely won't work with all discs - if it does though, then it's excellent news!

That model # would also be DMP-BD601.

[willoneill]

Since you're in Canada, another option might be a Seiki player from Wal-mart.

I take it this is offered exclusively in Canada, not in North America generally?

As far as I know, yes.

[Askew]

I've had one for two years and the only thing it hasn't been able to play is the MoC edition Silence. I only use it for R2/B stuff, but I find it works great.

That's odd, my Seiki can play Silence just fine and I've yet to find a disc that doesn't work on the machine. I honestly can't recommend this player enough to fellow Canadians.