Page 1 of Maybe I should have listened to you guys a bit more carefully??

Hi. I know that a few people will be fed up of hearing these sad tales of woe, but can anyone please help me choose which DVD player to buy?

I live in the USA, but want to be able to play my Region 2 discs (you know??...the important educational stuff from `home`: "Men Behaving Badly"!!). Does anyone know of a USA player that will, or has the means through a hack, play multi-region AND PAL as well as NTSC?

I appreciate as much help as you can give (I bought a Samsung 611 but can`t change the region, and didn`t realise that I couldn`t play PAL anyway...... silly me!!)

Thanks Guys - you are ALL doing a great job here by the way . . .it is very much appreciated.

Regards, Mick (Houston, Texas)

Mick, the easiest answer to this, assuming you don`t have a "multi standard" TV, and that it`s only NTSC:

Buy a UK player (I`d recommend the Aiwa 370);
Get a "Converter" to change PAL to NTSC;
Set the AIWA to PAL (not AUTO);
And buy a "Step Up" transformer to 240V AC.

There are some other UK players that would let you omit the step up transformer, but I don`t know how good they are as players.

AIWA 370 (officially) ROCKS!!!!!!!

I am beginning to think you are right. . .do you have any idea how easily available PAL to NTSC converters are, and approximate cost?

I do have an intriguing question though. . . I can play both region 2 and region 1 DVDs on my notebook PC, with TV out into the TV with no picture degradation. . .does a PC ignore the NTSC / PAL variances?. . do you have any idea?

Thanks again, Mick.

Jimbo suggestion on Aiwa from UK is good. But I have another solution.
I was going thru the same problem as you. I solved it by buying Lasonic DVD 3200. Its a cheap player I dont know how good the company is but they are around for at least 20 years.
This player is both NTSC/PAL and is remote hackable to play multiregion including Region 2.
It also allows you to play MP3 and VCD adn cd-r.
It is multivoltage 100V-240V 50-60hz so you dont need any voltage conversion. I bought this player about a week back and has been abusing it to make sure nothing happens during 30 day money back from my shopping club. Company warranty is 1 year. and cost me 180/- US $
If you need further info go to www.shoppersadvantage.com
If you decide to get it , e-mail me for the hack.

And by the way like Jimbo says you need a multisystem TV ot a pal to NTSC converter.
MK

I think the last thing you want is to enter the murky realm of standards conversion... most of the affordable converters are like watching VHS through a cotton sock :-)

How widely available are multi-standard TVs in the US? That`s without doubt your best option.

At least my feet don`t smell, so it wouldn`t be TOTALLY bad!!

Seriously? . .I just bought a new TV. A Sony WEGA (not cheap either!!)and like a fool, I never thought of checking whether it was multi-standard. . . I`m off checking my return policy now!.

Thanks for the help... this sort of forum must be saving people literally tens of thousands in total.... GREAT JOB!

Mick.

Hi Mick:
If you got yr player from one of the big stores, I am sure the wega is just NTSC. So if you really want to get rid of it while under return policy do so, but dont count on these big stores to carry a multisystem TV.
I am originally from India and I know the Indian electronics stores in NY and other major cities like Chicago, LA Houston etc do carry a large selection of multisystem TVs and one more thing dont hesitate to bargain with them and take an Indian friend with you. You will be surprised how much you will save. Did u check out the Lasonic 3200? I am happy with it. I dont care much about the name as its my second player. My first DVD is Panasonic.
MK

Thanks. I do have some Indian friends . . maybe I should try that suggestion.

I did check out the Lasonic but could only find it at $299 . . .I`ll keep looking.

Cheers, Mick.

>How widely available are multi-standard TVs in the US?

Almost unheard of. They *are* available, but you have to seek them out deliberately at specialist stores, and there is very little choice. There`s very little demand to watch PAL material in America, so 99.9% of TVs don`t support it.

FWIW, there`s an American player by Apex which is multi-region hackable *and* has a built-in standards converter.

The Hitachi 505 is multiregion and can output any source as PAL50,NTSC or PAL 60.

It is world standard also it`s conversion is very goood compared to most players.

The US 505 is the same as the European so they can us the same Multiregion Firmware.