Best NTSC/PAL 110-220V region free player in US

[donpedro]

I feel that there in an minority of people that are looking for stuff like this. I assume, Europians that live in US (or somethink like that) that are interesting in features like.

- ability to play NTSC and PAL DVD's on NTSC or PAL TV without distortion
- ability to play DVD's from all regions (at least 1 and 2)
- can be bought in US
- and finaly ability to move/play with player = 110V-60Hz and 220V-50Hz

I have on of those....

Daewoo DVD-5800 - remote control region free hack

Problem is that I have trouble to play DVD's burned on Panasonic's standalone DVD recorders, so I am looking for something new. SInce there is no search here that will let me select these criteria, I am looking for people with this issue this way.

Please... post only about players that does it all - 110/220V, NTSC/PAL, region free, and can be bought in US

Thanks

[Roundabout]

There is the Daewoo DVD-S150:

$47.00 at Sam's Club
110/220 v. - 50/60 Hz.
Region Free w/ Remote Hack
Will play PAL discs on NTSC TV
Will play NTSC discs on PAL TV
Plays raw MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files
Plays MP3 Discs w/ Folder structure
TV System auto sense feature
Component video output
Will work anywhere in the world, basically, and play almost any disc except DivX & Xvid (not many players play these formats yet)

I think Sam's has discontinued this model but some are still available at certain locations. Also available on Ebay for around the same price. I bought 4 of them and am very happy with price vs. performance. For the money and features I think it's the best out there IMHO.

[FulciLives]

The Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 model is the best that I've seen (and I've seen many) for quality PAL to NTSC conversion.

The Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 can be ordered directly from the CYBERHOME WEBSITE for $79.95 plus S&H

It is a progressive scan DVD player that has built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoders. It will even pass DTS through the 2 channel Stereo RCA outputs and of course it also has dgital audio outputs as well.

The unit requires a "special" code be entered to make it region free ... this info can be found at the NERD-OUT WEBSITE in the message forum area (there is a forum just for CYBERHOME players).

This player has played any DVD-R I have made on my computer BUT it does not like SVCD nor does it like DVD-R discs finalized on PANASONIC stand alone DVD players. It handles VCD without issues as well as any store bought DVD I have tried. It has no problems with DVD+RW (both from my experience and from what other people have said) but I have heard that it ironically does not like the DVD+R format (I never tried as I don't have any to try). The few DVD+RW discs that I have (and work) were created on a Philips stand alone DVD player and are in the PAL format (were made from PAL VHS videos).

All in all an excellent DVD player with superior PAL to NTSC conversion. Don't let the low price scare you away. However beware other Cyberhome models. The CH-DVD 500 is the top-of-the-line model and seems to do PAL to NTSC better than the other models.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[proxyx99]

If I may, question is about NTSC<->PAL playback flexibility which has not much to do with DTS. If you have tested its capabilities with regard to that, it would be appreciated. Do you have PAL TV? What can you play on PAL TV? What can you play on NTSC TV? This is a question; and of course 110/220 V. Let's not forget that the question relates to worldwide sharing of video material (home movies) that many don't know what to do with, not to speak about advanced format converion.
Simpler means better in this case.

[FulciLives]

If I may, question is about NTSC<->PAL playback flexibility which has not much to do with DTS. If you have tested its capabilities with regard to that, it would be appreciated. Do you have PAL TV? What can you play on PAL TV? What can you play on NTSC TV? This is a question; and of course 110/220 V. Let's not forget that the question relates to worldwide sharing of video material (home movies) that many don't know what to do with, not to speak about advanced format converion.
Simpler means better in this case.

I live in the USA so I have only used the Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 in the USA with a NTSC only TV.

According to the Cyberhome website though this unit should work anywhere in the world because it can do PAL to NTSC as well as NTSC to PAL. If you have a multi-system TV then you can output PAL as PAL and NTSC as NTSC without doing conversion.

Also this is from the webiste:

Power Supply:
• Switching, 110~230V

So again the Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 should work anywhere in the world on any type of PAL or NTSC television.

As for the PAL to NTSC conversion this unit does: I have compared it to APEX, SAMPO, DAEWOO, JVC and MALATA and it performs better than all of them!

One last note ... there is a "secret" remote control code you enter to make it region free. You can set it to any region or make it region free (i.e., region 0). I have played USA NTSC DVD discs that I know had RCE protection on them and yet they play back without problems when it (the DVD player) has been "set" to REGION 0.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[donpedro]

Great news guys.... So we have at least 3 models so far...

[Roundabout]

BTW: It's important to note that the Daewoo DVD-S151 is not the same or updated version of the DVD-S150. The cabinet is entirely different, but more importantly, although the 151 has virtually all the same features, it is 110 v. / 60 Hz. only - no 220 v. compatibility. Just wanted to make sure no one buys the 151 expecting it to be the same unit. :P

[redrumjack]

LiteOn LVD2001 and LVD2002 I know do PAL/NTSC Conversion... not sure about the power adapter though.

[deejay.2001]

all of these players above are cheap because none of them can handle
X-Y scaling and conversion pal/ntsc without picture distortion....
best of all is:
MALATA DVP 520
OR MALATA DAV 3600 (HOME THEATER)

it is older but still there is nothing better out there.......

[donpedro]

Do they fit one of the requirements ? "can be bought in US"

[FulciLives]

all of these players above are cheap because none of them can handle
X-Y scaling and conversion pal/ntsc without picture distortion....
best of all is:
MALATA DVP 520
OR MALATA DAV 3600 (HOME THEATER)

it is older but still there is nothing better out there.......

Sorry but this is simply not true. While the MALATA 520 (and the older 996 model at least I think that was the model number) have X-Y scaling it really is not a big deal.

Also ALL of the MALATA players use the same chipset that the JVC uses and this chipset has problems with PAL DVD sources that are VIDEO BASED in that you tend to get excessive combing effects etc.

On top of that the MALATA players have a lot of "issues" with not working correctly including overheating problems and MPEG decoding break-up/artifact problems.

The MALATA was considered the best at ONE time but that time is long past. Apparently you bought one and stopped researching newer technology or you are ill informed.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[deejay.2001]

well it is your opinion...but i have malata 3600 at home...

-no overheating problems...
-no PAL DVD region 2,3,4,5,6 problems...(i have some pal dvds at home)
-what is more RCE proof....
-am/fm radio...dolby digital and dolby pro logic and DTS decoder included -speakers 5.1 (300 watts)
-110/220V available
-what more you want for $200 (i bought it at ebay)


maybe you read something somewhere...but first try....then advice...
i guess you did not have malata 520 or 3600 at home at all...so do not know what you talking about....
and you telling me X-Y scaling is not a big deal....so what about overscaning...and do not forget...all of these cheap players do very bad pal/ntsc conversion...

try and then talk...

ps: malata is available in US including US support

[FulciLives]

well it is your opinion...but i have malata 3600 at home...

-no overheating problems...
-no PAL DVD region 2,3,4,5,6 problems...(i have some pal dvds at home)
-what is more RCE proof....
-am/fm radio...dolby digital and dolby pro logic and DTS decoder included -speakers 5.1 (300 watts)
-110/220V available
-what more you want for $200 (i bought it at ebay)

OK well the Malata is not the only region free DVD player that allows REGION 0 as well as REGION 1, 2, 3, 4, ETC.

X-Y scaling is interesting but when I say it is not a big deal ... well the Malata players are the only players that have it so ... who cares? Overscan isn't that big of a freaking issue unless you have a cheap ass TV with excessive overscan.

maybe you read something somewhere...but first try....then advice...
i guess you did not have malata 520 or 3600 at home at all...so do not know what you talking about....
and you telling me X-Y scaling is not a big deal....so what about overscaning...and do not forget...all of these cheap players do very bad pal/ntsc conversion...

try and then talk...

I had a friend who had the Malata N996/996N model and it died after 6 months. The quality was good on PROGRESSIVE PAL but not so good on VIDEO PAL material. This was fron my observations as well as stuff I read from other users on various forum groups (including the high end AVS forum). That model was known to have big time heat issues which caused a quick and early death (not to mention poor assembly). The 520 models are known to have MPEG-2 artifacts from time to time that they seem to create themselves (i.e., not on the DVD as it can be at different times on the same DVD ... can't be replicated at the same spot etc.).

Also ... Not all "cheap" DVD players have poor PAL to NTSC ... you simply don't know what you are talking about. For instance the Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 does PAL to NTSC better than the Malata and better than any other model make of DVD player I have seen. I have had many region free DVD players that have done PAL to NTSC ... I've seen the Malata in action ... and I've done alot of research by reading other user comments on forum groups etc.

So don't get rude because you lack knowledge I have. It's called learning and you should be gratefull ... not an ass.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[bayaraa_us]

After reading reviews i decided to buy a Sony DVP-NS725p. Because it supposed to do all of the above plus it is Progresive scan.
I bought one online for $120. After burning my PAL Home video i put the disc in the player. But somehow it didn't play. I asked the Online store what is wrong. They say it is only plays NTSC discs. I returned the player within 30 days. I really liked the player, so i did little more digging online and found exact same player for $220 with All-region, PAL-NTSC conveter .

Now everything plays fine.

[redrumjack]

The LVD-2002 can be purchased at thenerds.net. It played my PAL DVD Without an issue. It is cheap. I'm not positive but I believe it also has a Regio Free Code (Not positive).

[donpedro]

The LVD-2002 can be purchased at thenerds.net. It played my PAL DVD Without an issue. It is cheap. I'm not positive but I believe it also has a Regio Free Code (Not positive).

What about 110/220V ? I couldn't find that info.