Info and forum posts by 'John Willis'

Joined on: Tuesday, 16th November 1999, 19:07, Last used: Wednesday, 2nd March 2005, 13:48

Access Level: Mostly Harmless

About this user: Hi I am the author of the UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ.

I also make a point of being a real thorn in the side of Reviewers Admins :-))

This user has posted a total of 273 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0.03 messages a day, or 0.21 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: another freeview question

Nope ;-),

You can however request a free to air viewing card from the BBC that will give you most of the FreeView channels over a Sky box and dish. Then you can always ditch Sky if you want.

I`ll dig out the link for the card later.

RE: Is this a digital co-ax cable for connecting dvd player to amp?

Ste,

If you're not going to move it then go for the above cable.
To be honest the best price/performance I got was to build my own so that`s what I tend to do now.

Your right in saying that your normal phono leads have the same connection however normally the cheap phono leads are not close to 75 ohms. That said I have used a `good` phono lead as a short term digital CoAx lead without the slightest problem, in fact, to be honest it still there after 2 years ;).

John

RE: Is this a digital co-ax cable for connecting dvd player to amp?

Ste,

It does say it`s digital however it does not say it`s 75 ohm anywhere in the ad. That said I can tell you this is a CoAx 75 ohm digital lead, just not a very good one ;-).

I had a 2.5 meter version of this cable, sound quality was great but the soldering on the plugs was awful, broke after 2 `gentle` moves.

To be honest if you don't plan to move leads about much then this will do you fine but it is at the 'cheap and cheerful' end of the market.

RE: Wanted: PS2 and/or Games

Vivisektionist,

Sorry, as I am in the UK PAL games and bits only :-(.

John

RE: Wanted: PS2 and/or Games

dbzgamer,

Sorry only after a PAL PS2 and looking at your threads on other forums your is an NTSC US one.

Cheers,

John.

Wanted: PS2 and/or Games

Guys (and Gals),

One of my `little` tasks is to track down a reasonably cheap PS2 as a present for my sister.

I`ll pay a fair but not OTT price and I am not too fussed if it comes with games, provided the unit is in good condition (boxed is a bonus).

Not fussed about it being chipped or anything like that.

Also on the lookout for any cheap PS2 games and accessories to go with above console.

RE: Help about Macrovision and MP3

Macrovision can be removed with a hardware mod for that player (I think) and as for MP3, if it`s not a feature of the player there is very little chance of adding it ;-)

John
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

RE: Chasing Amy (Criterion Collector`s) Region 1 - £9.19 inc. P&P

DVD Boxoffice (and DVD Soon) both are customs friendly IMHO.

£9.19 for Chasing Amy Criterion is a steal but why is it a pre-order as it`s been out for about a year.

John.
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

RE: .... has caused an error in kernel32.dll Internet explorer will now close.....

Quote...

Except that I don`t have Windows XP! It is Windows Me! Help!

End Quote...

Well, there is you problem then :-D.

On a more serious note, Windows ME has some well known inherent stability issues but most problems like that tend to be caused by software that is interfaceing with the system at a low level such as drivers (Check windowsupdate and the vendor sites to ensure you have the newest non-beta drivers) or rubbish that is being loaded when you start the PC such as spyware. A first step would be to grab AdAware5 from http://www.lavasoft.nu/ and run that on you system and remove any nastys it shows up, esp. gator and BSP Projector (I think thats the name).

You may also want to run MSConfig.Exe and have a look at what is being loaded when you start your PC but don`t change anything if your unsure.

John
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

RE: HELP bargain or not folks -Westy,Clayts anyone?

Don`t do it my friend. ;-)

There are some truly excellent 36 inch TV`s like the Hitachi with DTS/DD5.1 that can be had new or graded for about £1300 without any faults and a proper guarantee.

The offer on the Panasonic is a false economy at best as repairs are astronomical for the glass.

I have a 36 inch Hitachi that I paid just over £1100 for in an offer and I have to say that I think on pure picture quality is beats both the Sony 36 Trinitron and the Panasonic hands down when well setup.

Kind Regards

John Willis

UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

Read the UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ at
http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/umdvdfaq/

`Will Heaven be like Swansea?`
`Yes, but a lot bigger`

RE: Off Topic - Gameboy Advance

Hi,

The games have NO region coding of any kind, I have US games for mine and they work great.

John.

RE: RCE - Version2

Hmmm,

Well, if studios improve RCE then you will end up with more genuine unmodded players failing (as RCE already does to some) so it`s a big no from a technical standpoint and is just scaremongering as far as I am concerned. Plus it is not really possable to make it much more effective dur to region selection features of most modded players.

John,

The FAQ guy.

RE: Anyone got

This HAS to be one of the best DTS reference DVD`s I own.

As said above Hotel is a storming track. I have a review of it knocking about on this site somwhere.

If you like the Eagles then get a copy.

Cheers,

John (The FAQ guy).

RE: Drinks meet

You will need to do a lot better then a format for the Hard Disk.
You really are in it IMHO. Did you PGPWipe it?

J.

RE: Anybody know where to buy an LG3350e?

"12 Jan they said they don`t know when they`ll have any (in writing)."

In fairness to Dab`s. I ordered one last Wednesday week (3rd), there site said > 1 week and the box turned up on Friday gone (12th), not bad at all in my book.

Now to see whats really different between that and the 370 :-).

Regards

John
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Admin

RE: Gladiator region two disk two on the proline 1000/ Proline 1000 macrovision disabled

"Got Gladiator 2 for xmas and the disk two hangs after the universal logo appears and the whole player freezes".

Yep, known problem, universial repressed the disk as it was faulty. Caused loads of players to not read it.

Do a search @ http://www.deja.com/group/uk.media.dvd for the address to send your disk back to.

J.

RE: Aiwa 370 playing R1 black&white

Use a fully wired SCART lead and make sure the TV/Awia is setup to output/recieve RGB then your laughing..

J.

PS: Leave the switch on the back to Auto, Make sure thet QuasiPAL is `on` in the menu.

RE: I want to use my phone and no one should stop me.

Try

MovieTyme...
http://www.movietyme.com
+44 (0)1543 458458

Used them over the phone a few times, No probs at all...
They only recently added e-comm ordering so there main business was mailorder/phone.

John Willis
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

RE: Aiwa 370 - what`s the proper format for MP3 discs?

Make sure you don`t use VBR MP3`s as they won`t work on the Aiwa/LG.

Other then that what you describe works fine for me, and burrying then in dirs work great to, as does playing a DVD-Rom with MP3`s on it.

Later

John.

RE: LG 3350E - Remote hack?

Try http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/full/aiwa370.asp

Work`s just fine on LG 3350`s with newer firmware (1.2 and above)

Regards

John

RE: LG DVD-3350E remote hacks

http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/full/aiwa370.asp

Might work, depending on your players software version.

Regards

John
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

RE: Aiwa 370 PAL 60?

Yep, Pal50/60 and Pure NTSC from NTSC source disks based on how you set it up.

Later

John
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Admin

RE: Aiwa 370: new supplier UPDATE!!!!!!!

Sorry Poncho,

There is no confirmed macro hack for the Awia/LG.

There is a rumored pin snip that should do it but I for one am not testing this until I know a little more (yes I now have an Aiwa and will try and write a review as soon as I have had a decent play with it) yet to find a problem disk in the 80+ I own (inc some well known problem ones).

Regards

John Willis
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Admin

RE: OMG Samsung-511 region free with NORMAL handset...!!

It should work on a 305.

Just try using number 9 when you perform the hack to get the player auto region free (like the old 709 hack) and can somebody test macrovision on a 511/305.

Regards

John

RE: PHILLIPS 750:REMOTE HACK REQUIRED!!!!

Try,

http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/full/philips750.asp

The hack is there for this player (The 750), should work fine as long as your firmware is current.

As for the Packard Bell try http://www.firmware.com.bi as a starting point, you will need to know the model number however.

Regards

John Willis
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

RE: Samsung 709

Hi,

The hack on this site and in the FAQ do work I can assure you.
They can take a lot of perseverance with the remote control but the hacks most defiantly work on version 3.23 of the firmware.

There is no internal hack other then a chip so you have little choice then to keep trying.

I have hacked 12 709`s without problem using a One for All remote and most versions of the 709 firmware.

Kind Regards

John Willis
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author

RE: Robocop: Director`s Cut Region free?

The US Criterian special edition is Region 0 (i.e. Region Free).

Later

John
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author.

RE: DOES ANYONE LIKE

The Fifth Element is a great film IMHO,

Luc Besont (I can`t spell), does this comic book style tale at its very best :-). Pace, visuals and humor are great, not Leon, or Besont`s best, but a very watchable film.

Later

John
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Admin.

RE: Wharfedale 750 + Videologic Digitheatre DTS

Hi Ian,

I`ll just lay some down my views regarding the Wharfdale.

I think this below is correct but I could be wrong.

The player it made abroad to Wharfdale’s specs, but the original manufacturers are responsible for fixing bugs in the player etc.

There are actually different versions of this player with slight revisions to firmware and HW to fix problem disks etc. and naff about with DTS.

The first revision of the Wharfdale outputs DTS fine (but it was not mentioned in the manual) as did the 2nd revision (mentioned in the manual and Wharfdale’s web site).

The 3rd revision with firmware updates to fix some subtitle problems with disks like Deep Blue Sea apparently does not output DTS correctly :-(. My guess is this is the version you have. (It’s not in the manual any more).

The current 4th revision Wharfdale actually has the DTS logo on the front of the player and a light to tell you when it`s outputting DTS. So this version defiantly supports DTS.

Hope that might help explain why some people have no problems and others sit their tearing there hair out. Maybe you could persuade Tesco’s to swap it for new stock? Not to sure where you stand, out of luck would be my guess as it works as specified in the manual.

Regards

John Willis
UK.MEDIA.DVD FAQ Author.

RE: Urgent, multi region hack needed

You will need to get it chipped.
This involves getting a mdification made to the players hardware.

Later

John