Dvd Question

[phetaroi]

My "stuff" from home arrives today by ship, and included is my collection of DVDs. So now it is time to buy a DVD player.

I am thinking of BluRay.

So I will need a BluRay/DVD player that will play both region 1 and Thai DVDs, as well as BluRays.

Is that possible? What do I tell the people at the shop?

Thanks.

[acht72]

Take some discs with you and try in the shop.

[rfukata]

My "stuff" from home arrives today by ship, and included is my collection of DVDs. So now it is time to buy a DVD player.

I am thinking of BluRay.

So I will need a BluRay/DVD player that will play both region 1 and Thai DVDs, as well as BluRays.

Is that possible? What do I tell the people at the shop?

Thanks.

I've been looking myself for a upgraded new DVD perhaps blu-ray but apparently Thailand has very limited selections

of 'blu-ray'. I've only seen Sony here at selected stores. If you live in Bangkok, you may have a better chance of

finding one compared to the country side where I live. You'll find a 1080p digital upscaling in most advance models.

Popular DVD name brands to foreigners are; Pioneer, Samsung, LG, Philips, Sony which are available in Thailand

[leftnose]

...

So I will need a BluRay/DVD player that will play both region 1 and Thai DVDs, as well as BluRays.

Is that possible? What do I tell the people at the shop?

...

I may be wrong but I don't think this type of standalone player is available with factory firmware.

The region protection will allow changing from region 1 to region 3 standard DVDs and back, but only a limited number of times--not indefinitely.

Some models can be made region free by knowing and using certain key combinations with the player--these key combinations are usually for use by factory technicians, but again just use Google and you can get this stuff.

<snip>

As for blu-ray playback I haven't looked into it so hopefully someone else can provide more information about blu-ray players.

[phetaroi]

I may be wrong but I don't think this type of standalone player is available with factory firmware.

The region protection will allow changing from region 1 to region 3 standard DVDs and back, but only a limited number of times--not indefinitely.

Some models can be made region free by knowing and using certain key combinations with the player--these key combinations are usually for use by factory technicians, but again just use Google and you can get this stuff.

So it sounds as if you are saying it is best for me to buy a stand-alone regular DVD player for the regular DVDs from the States (region 1) and a separate Blu-Ray for new discs that I buy. Am I reading you correctly?

Thanks for your input...I feel so dumb on this.

[pjclark1]

Buy a Blu-Ray drive for your PC.

Load up AnyDVD HD to break all the region protection.

(a PC is generally cheaper than a standalone blu-ray player anyway)

Not that I would even consider buying blu-ray out here.

[monty]

Apparently a Sony playstation 3 is one of the best cost effective Blue ray players. Full HD (1080p) capable as well, and I think they just lowered the price of them...

[d0ndela]

There is also the option of getting an external Blue-ray drive (an example) to connect to your computer. I'm not sure about the regions, but I think a computer can manage all regions without problems?

Then of course you have to run your movies through your computer, and that might be a no go.

[webfact]

I have a reason to remind everybody to give advise on what we are allowed to advise on TV...

Sure everybody is aware of that.

[mattcodes]

Save yourself the money, bluray is moving a very slow momentum at the moment, choice is limited, discs are expensive, hardware is ridicously expensive and it is possible (in my opinion likely) with the advent of digital delivery and faster and faster broadband that it will never reach anywhere near the popularity of DVD.

Of course some people said the same thing about DVD, but we're in a different century now and the big players have openly admitted that the distributon media war is over, there wont be a successor for mainstream after bluray and that itself speaks volumes.

[mattcodes]

I would buy a simple upscaling DVD player for a few thousand baht and if Im wrong in a few years, prices will be cheap and there will be people with collections greater than two dozen to swap discs with...

[astral]

Read here first. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

The old DVD regions and the BlueRay are NOT the same.

[phetaroi]

First, thanks for all the replies.

Based on what I read here, and looking at DVD versus BluRay prices in the stores here yesterday, I've decided to skip BluRay for the time being.

So it seems my best bet is to simply buy two good DVD players, have one set to region 1 and the other set to region 3.

[chiliwasabi]

I would suggest seeing what is around and possibly taking a disc from each of the regions you have. Quite often DVD players will automatically play multiple regions (usually the cheaper ones ).

If this doesn't work make a note of a variety of brands and their respective model numbers and go home to google them and see if there is code available for changing regions. Once you find the code go and buy the machine and using the code set the player to region 0. It will then play all region DVDs.

Better still take the code to the store and try it out there to be on the safe side. It will just be a code that can be entered using the remote.

[Daewoo]

I would suggest seeing what is around and possibly taking a disc from each of the regions you have. Quite often DVD players will automatically play multiple regions (usually the cheaper ones ).

If this doesn't work make a note of a variety of brands and their respective model numbers and go home to google them and see if there is code available for changing regions. Once you find the code go and buy the machine and using the code set the player to region 0. It will then play all region DVDs.

Better still take the code to the store and try it out there to be on the safe side. It will just be a code that can be entered using the remote.

Most DVD Players are now All Region... If it isn't all region, taking your DVDs into the store won't help, because it will usually allow you to play a DVD from a different region a few times before it decides what region to lock to...

I have been able to make my last 3 DVD players region free using a sequence of different buttons from google. I don't think this is illegal (so can be discussed on TV) as it is a function of the DVD player... and region locking is not a legal requirement, but an agreement between DVD manufacturers and Movie distributors... My advice would be, skip the BluRay, select a good quality DVD Player, check that you can make it region free before purchasing, buy it, watch DVDs eating popcorn, turn the volume up REALLY loud and annoy your neighbours...

Cheers,

Daewoo

[Crossy]

I have been able to make my last 3 DVD players region free using a sequence of different buttons from google. I don't think this is illegal (so can be discussed on TV) as it is a function of the DVD player... and region locking is not a legal requirement, but an agreement between DVD manufacturers and Movie distributors...

Unlocking DVD players is like unlocking phones, a bit of a legal grey area. As such please do not discuss the specifics of how to remove the region lock from particular brands (there are plenty of other sites with that information).

Meanwhile, ALL the players I've bought here (even name brands) have been 'all-region' from new

I too would forgo the blu-ray unless you are heavily in to hi-def TV.

[astral]

I too would forgo the blu-ray unless you are heavily in to hi-def TV.

And a good processor.

My 3 year old notebook, with a Pentium M 2.13Ghz cannot quite manage the task.

It runs at 100% with the latest version of VLC and still the picture breaks up.

[chiliwasabi]

Most DVD Players are now All Region... If it isn't all region, taking your DVDs into the store won't help, because it will usually allow you to play a DVD from a different region a few times before it decides what region to lock to...

Cheers,

Daewoo

I have never come across a standalone DVD player that will "decide what region to lock to" only computer based DVD players do that. Taking DVDs from different regions into the store is quite helpful in finding a multi-region player.

[astral]

There should be a small label on the back of a DVD machine to say what region is plays.

0 means all regions.