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  1. Hi everyone,

    I've been using my DVD player for about eight years now. It's a rather obscure and cheap one, the HE DVD3328H. It's so obscure I can't even find a website for the brand. It's always worked adequately so far, it's not the best DVD player in the world but I've never had any problems, and the wonderful thing about it is that it's region free.
    But sadly, it's failing. When I try to play a DVD, I may get through the menu and it may play for a minute or so, but then it starts making soft clicking noises, like there's sand in it or something, and then it starts looping the noise it makes when it loads a DVD, followed by a louder sound like the DVD tray is pushed upwards or downwards. This keeps looping and it doesn't sound very good. It doesn't respond to anything I do with the remote (although it does display the icon in the top right corner of the screen after a while) except when I push the button to eject the DVD.
    Does this sound like something I could fix? Would it help if I run one of those lens cleaners or do you think it's just dying of old age?
    If you think it's hopeless, could you recommend a DVD player that's easily and reliably made region free using a hack? During my research I've found very few DVD players you can buy region free, and I want to be sure I can hack a new player before I buy it.

    Thanks a lot,
    Joanna.
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  2. Do you have a hammer handy?
    Not for old dvd player, but for my head coz old dvd player might work. It is my head stopped working.
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  3. Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Freedonia
    Search Comp PM
    Welcome to the forums. It's unusual but not impossible for American women to be interested in such things, so if you're a man pretending to be a woman to get help here, that's not necessary.

    Your drive sounds like it has to be replaced. Since you can't find a website for it, that basically means that a repair isn't possible. You can invest in a cleaning disc and there is always some small chance that it might fix your player, but I would say that you've only got maybe a 10% chance of that. Your player has just likely reached the end of its useful lifespan.

    It's getting harder all the time in the USA to find players that can be hacked to be made region free. Philips still makes a few that can be made region free, despite official denials. But not all Philips players can be made region free. If you want to do it the easy way, these guys sell a few
    http://www.220-electronics.com/blu-ray-dvd/region-free-dvd-player.html?gclid=CLHSpfzO_...FWcV7AodXhYATQ
    These guys do too
    http://www.world-import.com/region_free_blu_ray_DVD_players.htm
    You can also find a few on Amazon but you'll have to buy them from a reseller. I'd advise reading the reviews to be sure that reviewers say the player really could be made region free before buying from an Amazon reseller.

    Finally, if you do a LOT of research on your own, you can check current Philips models that BestBuy sells and cross-reference them with our DVD Players list in the column on the left and see if we have recentish reports of hacks that still work. Be sure you note how the hack works because we've had recent reports of Philips changing the remote control on some players to NOT have number buttons and typically those players will be quite difficult or impossible to unlock. For example, if the hack says "Enter code 1122" and your remote control does not have numbers, then do NOT buy that player! Good luck.

    Hollywood does not like region free players and works actively to force manufacturers to stop producing them or to produce new firmware that takes away the capability I cannot emphasize this enough - if you do get another region free player, DO NOT EVER update the firmware on it or you may find that you have lost the ability to play discs from other regions, possibly forever. Some players can automatically update their firmware if connected to the internet, so you may wish to not ever connect a new region free player to the internet.
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  4. Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Nova Scotia, Canada
    Search Comp PM
    8 years from a cheap dvd player is pretty good actually. I'd say it's toast. Anyone qualified to fix it will charge $75/hr. Take jman's advice and check to see if it can be made region free first.

    Also, ripping and burning software can make any dvd region free.
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  5. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Something to keep in mind when shopping for a region free DVD player if you live in N. America: Some players that are sold as region free or which can be made region free do not convert from PAL to NTSC and only play video using its native system. Unfortunately many TVs sold in N. America cannot cope with PAL video resolution and frame rates. So, before you buy a region free DVD player, make sure it can convert from PAL to NTSC for playback if you want the ability to play DVDs from any region and watch on a typical N. American TV.
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  6. Thank you all very much for your replies. I am a woman, and I must say I didn't realize that was so extraordinary. If it helps explain my presence here, I did do an introductory course in computer science at university. There is such a thing as nerd girls, you know.

    Anyway, I'm sorry to hear there's no hope for my trusty DVD player, but I will keep all of your information in mind when looking for a new player. I'll try the region free players first and keep the hacking as a last resort. I'll check back if I have any difficulties!

    Thanks a lot,
    Joanna.
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  7. Can anyone help salvage my DVD player?
    1) Open door wide.

    2) Place DVD player against door.

    Done.
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