DVD players

[SunDrop 59]

I know that the voltage is different and that the US operates on NTSC/ Region 1 and the UK is Pal/ Region 2.

My question is - how easy to get, how much approx and where do you buy a transformer for the voltage OR a multi-region player?

Between my SO and I, we have a massive DVD collection, some of which you can't get in other's respective countries. Not to mention objecting to having to buy em twice! Right now, he really wants to take a Region 2 Channel 4 series home with him (flies out tomorrow) but can't play it in the US, obviously.

Thanks,

Tish

[Kim & Chris 0]

I know that the voltage is different and that the US operates on NTSC/ Region 1 and the UK is Pal/ Region 2.

My question is - how easy to get, how much approx and where do you buy a transformer for the voltage OR a multi-region player?

Between my SO and I, we have a massive DVD collection, some of which you can't get in other's respective countries. Not to mention objecting to having to buy em twice! Right now, he really wants to take a Region 2 Channel 4 series home with him (flies out tomorrow) but can't play it in the US, obviously.

Thanks,

Tish

I'm in the middle of packing up to leave New Zealand and am facing the same problem. Mine are from all sorts of different zones. Some of my collection is from home, some I bought from Amazon UK & US and some I bought in the US when i was there last. I'm taking them all.

I'm assuming you and your collection are going to eventually end up in the States permanently. It's not worth the bother of mucking around with converters and conversion plugs. You'd be better off buying a multizone DVD player when you get there.

It's what I'm doing and they're not really anymore expensive than some of the U.S. zone ones they sell there anyway.

Here in New Zealand most players sold are already multizone. Saves the hassle, I guess coz we buy alot of online DVD's from all over.

Hope it helps

[SunDrop 59]

I know that the voltage is different and that the US operates on NTSC/ Region 1 and the UK is Pal/ Region 2.

My question is - how easy to get, how much approx and where do you buy a transformer for the voltage OR a multi-region player?

Between my SO and I, we have a massive DVD collection, some of which you can't get in other's respective countries. Not to mention objecting to having to buy em twice! Right now, he really wants to take a Region 2 Channel 4 series home with him (flies out tomorrow) but can't play it in the US, obviously.

Thanks,

Tish

I'm in the middle of packing up to leave New Zealand and am facing the same problem. Mine are from all sorts of different zones. Some of my collection is from home, some I bought from Amazon UK & US and some I bought in the US when i was there last. I'm taking them all.

I'm assuming you and your collection are going to eventually end up in the States permanently. It's not worth the bother of mucking around with converters and conversion plugs. You'd be better off buying a multizone DVD player when you get there.

It's what I'm doing and they're not really anymore expensive than some of the U.S. zone ones they sell there anyway.

Here in New Zealand most players sold are already multizone. Saves the hassle, I guess coz we buy alot of online DVD's from all over.

Hope it helps

Hey, thanks for answering Yup, my daughter and I are heading out there. She's got a bigger collection than me of all the disneys, which cost loads and are far less frequently found in 2nd hand formats because they're not all on release all the time, so people tend to hold onto them

Trying to find a multi-region in the UK is nigh on impossible. At least, where I'm looking! lol. Lots of people get them 'chipped' but as it's illegal, you can't just walk into an electrical goods shop and ask them if they know where and how.

I'll go google some US retailer sites for multi-region players. Only because I know from experience that the sales folks are usually completely ignorant of life beyond US shores, unless it's Mexican! Asking in store is therefore futile.

Thanks

[Chris & Mara 0]

So here is a question...

Are you all packing the DvD's into a box and shipping them over? Or are you packing them into a suitcase and stuffing them onto the plane?

I am trying to work out the best way to get the majority of my stuff over (especially with my Fiance coming to visit in a few weeks and being able to take an extra suitcase back with him) but Im worried if i pack a 50 or so dvd's into a suitcase and send them to the USA with him will he get held up in customs and questioned suspiciously?

[Kim & Chris 0]

I have a big collection too, I'll take a select few ( or so), in my luggage, to watch while I'm waiting for EAD and the rest will go in the crate i have going over when we relocate in the northern spring. No point in moving it twice.

I googled online for multizone dvd players in the US. They have some on Amazon, or did when I looked last, plus various other sites. Gotta be cheaper than replacing them all

[Neonred 3,647]

Take a look at these sites

http://www.barrel-of-monkeys.com/graphics/...ers/277ww.shtml

http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/index.htm...atalog86_0.html

https://www.samstores.com/Store.asp?CtgID=23

http://www.220depot.com/c-5-DVD-Players.aspx

or you can go to this site and look up the region free hack for your dvd player

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic291314.html

On a visit to Russia I used the hack guide to make my step daughters DVD player region free and was able to play DVDs we brought from the US. I think most TVs in Russia are able to play both NTSC and PAL as Russia uses SECAM.

Not sure where you wanted the DVDs to play, in the US or over there but buying a dual voltage NTSC-PAL converting region free DVD player will work anywhere.

[aidan80 9]

Amazon, eBay and a dozen other sites out there sell simple, basic multi region DVD players that'll play just about anything. The one we got will even switch from 220v to 110! Amazon also has some basic power step up/step down transformers that can switch between 110v and 220v. We managed to find one for $15.

Another option is, assuming the laws allow. Would be to make a backup of your movies and remove the region codes from them. Assuming your DVD player will play DVD±R discs you could in theory just play the copies on your standard US DVD player. That's what I've done in addition to using the multi region DVD player.

Cheapest option might be to liberate the codes from the movies, there are plenty of programs out there that will do it in just a few clicks! Black DVD±R's can be had for as little (or less?) than $10 for 50 discs!

[StillThePrettiest 3]

My question is - how easy to get, how much approx and where do you buy a transformer for the voltage OR a multi-region player?

Between my SO and I, we have a massive DVD collection, some of which you can't get in other's respective countries. Not to mention objecting to having to buy em twice! Right now, he really wants to take a Region 2 Channel 4 series home with him (flies out tomorrow) but can't play it in the US, obviously.

I brought my DVDs from Australia (region 4) and from the UK (region 2) and added them to my husband's US collection (region 1) and we play them all on a player he bought here... it's not multi-region (my Aus player was, but we didn't bring it because of the voltage issue) but he researched it online before buying it, to find out which ones could easily be converted and what codes you needed to do so; he ended up paying around $60 for a very good player, and the code to convert it to multi-region was right there on Amazon

if you want to know make and model let me know, but I'm sure you can find something that suits you with a minimum of searching

[SunDrop 59]

My question is - how easy to get, how much approx and where do you buy a transformer for the voltage OR a multi-region player?

Between my SO and I, we have a massive DVD collection, some of which you can't get in other's respective countries. Not to mention objecting to having to buy em twice! Right now, he really wants to take a Region 2 Channel 4 series home with him (flies out tomorrow) but can't play it in the US, obviously.

I brought my DVDs from Australia (region 4) and from the UK (region 2) and added them to my husband's US collection (region 1) and we play them all on a player he bought here... it's not multi-region (my Aus player was, but we didn't bring it because of the voltage issue) but he researched it online before buying it, to find out which ones could easily be converted and what codes you needed to do so; he ended up paying around $60 for a very good player, and the code to convert it to multi-region was right there on Amazon

if you want to know make and model let me know, but I'm sure you can find something that suits you with a minimum of searching

You all rock! Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to read over them all, have a look at the links and give a shout if we can't get it figured out Right now, I'm still clearing up from the whirlwind of his going back home on Sunday 19 weeks, 6 days to go. Not that I'm counting! lol...

[Daveyamf79 0]

I'm using my old computer (Pentium 3) with a Realmagic DVD decoder card and a hacking program called Region Selector. The Realmagic card has an output for my TV, so it converts the PAL or SECAM to NTSC as well. I also had to hack the ROM on the DVD drive itself to remove its own region checking system. However, I can play any disc on my NTSC TV, even the ones that check for multi-region players because the Region Selector program appears to the disc as a single-region player, for whichever region the disc is made for.

[justashooter 430]

the chinese players i have are 110-220V ansd 50-60HZ capable. no converter needed, as they have plugs with 2 parallel blades. they play black and white when set to PAL and used with 110V, but as soon as you set the format choice to NTSC, the color comes back into the picture. now if i could just get them to stop talking to me in chinese.

check your machine to see if it is multi voltage/frequency capable.

the cheap players you can buy in wal mart for $30 will play all of the chinese bootlegs i have, except for the super compressed ones with an entire season on one disc.

[paulinespens 3]

the chinese players i have are 110-220V ansd 50-60HZ capable. no converter needed, as they have plugs with 2 parallel blades. they play black and white when set to PAL and used with 110V, but as soon as you set the format choice to NTSC, the color comes back into the picture. now if i could just get them to stop talking to me in chinese.

check your machine to see if it is multi voltage/frequency capable.

the cheap players you can buy in wal mart for $30 will play all of the chinese bootlegs i have, except for the super compressed ones with an entire season on one disc.

I paid $25 for a DVD player from KMART last year its a toshibia and plays DIVX. I got the codes from the internet and turned it into a multiregional DVD player.