Looking for new Region Free, Progressive Scan DVD player

[jspacemunkey]

Anyone out there able to recommend a reliable, progressive scan, region free DVD player with solid PAL-NTSC conversion capabilities? (By "solid" I mean very good to excellent.) I'm looking for something under $400, though if there's a player out there for a couple hundred more that will do all I've described and is far above the grade in all respects, let me know. The player does not have to be terribly advanced to use. I'm not concerned about being able to adjust image ratios in order to eliminate overscan or anything like that.

The impetus behind my search for a new player comes from the fact that I'm sick of my Malata DVP-520. From the get-go this player has been plagued by the "scrambling" issue that appears to be a frequent problem with this model. In addition, my brother's DVP-520 (which worked flawlessly, w/out any scrambling) just died out of the blue. Nothing we've tried has remedied the issue, and dealing with Malata's North American repair group is something short of pleasant. I have lost all confidence in this player. At any rate, I want something that will get me picture quality and PAL-NTSC conversion on par with the DVP-520, is region free and perhaps does not have all the tech-oriented extras this player includes. (I thought they would be a great boon to have, but in the end I almost never use those features.)

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

[jspacemunkey]

I always hate replying to my own posts, but I'm not finding anything on my own (searching the net for region-free DVD players turns up a lot of junk links).

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm so desperate now that I'm even willing to give Malata another chance. I'm looking into the DVP 558 as it appears to be more reliable than the DVP 520 and will provide the same level of PAL to NTSC conversion as the 520 (while being $130 less than I payed for my 520). Am I crazy to be looking to any company but Malata for excellent PAL to NTSC conversion? I guess if I'm stuck with them I might as well keep using my DVP 520 until it dies or something much, much better comes out.

Oh yeah, if I'm not getting replies because people feel that I'm asking them to do my research for me, then please feel free to leave a brand name or model name only. You don't have to justify your suggestion because I'll research the player on my own anyway to make sure it's what I'm after.

Again, any help is greatly appreciated.

[pjcwu256]

I know of a number of shops in Singapore and Hong Kong that sells region free DVD players. That would not help you in North America unless you do international travel.

What you are looking for, i.e., region free and NTSC/PAL convertibility, you already have on your PC. The tools are found in this board.

I have never heard of Malata and from the sound of the prefix it doesn't inspire confidence.

[RowMan]

I have been quite happy with the Cyberhome CH-DVD 300. Small unit. Progressive Scan. Great price (usually under $50). I have three of them (Two in use and one for back-up since they were so inexpensive). They can be made region free with a simple remote hack and the PAL to NTSC conversion is very good.

So far, only one had failed me. Upon reading things about this player here and on another site, I found that its power supply wasn't the greatest. Apparently it still draws a lot of juice even in the "standby" mode (there is no complete "power off") which is too much for the power supply over a long period of time and it just burns out. One solution was to plug the player into a switched outlet and just turning off the power when not in use. To save the power supply of my CH-DVD 300 players, I have installed power switches on their power cords. The players have been going strong for over a year with moderate to heavy use.

[shaynew]

Check out the Phillips DVP642.

[CaZeek]

If you don't mind paying $300 plus, you could get a combination of a player plus a converter.

This is the player I recently purchased, and I'm very happy with it so far:
http://www.world-import.com/dvp-ns575.htm
It's not the standard DVP-NS575 that is sold in the U.S. This one is region free, with digital progressive scan for both PAL and NTSC (which I couldn't find on any other players in that price range. You can also get it from bhphotovideo.com for cheaper, but world-import.com has a pricematch.

World-import.com also sells digital standards converters if you want to go that way.

Keep in mind that player does not convert. If you buy it, you'll need an external converter to go along with it.

[nick101181]

at futureshop in canada they have the nova dv-p511. Says progressive scan and is region free as well. I've tried out other nova dvd players and they play pal back properly. The player is 29.99 right now after a mail in rebate of 15 dollars. Sale ends soon so if you live in canada, check it out.

[jspacemunkey]

just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone for your replies. so, thank you!

i've narrowed my decision down to the following players: cyberhome CH-DVD 300, philips DVP642, and the giec GK-3500 (my brother just purchased this player and is raving about it, especially in comparison to the much more expensive malata player). now that i have some other options that are even less expensive than the DVP 558, i don't feel inclined to buy from malata ever again.

basically, i've decided to spend $100 or less so that if the player doesn't work out i won't be out a ton of money. (sorry CaZeek! i may look into the sony NS575 and a converter in future, though i would appreciate your recommendation on which converter to go for.) anyway, i'm going to continue reading reviews of these players and try to determine which one to get. thanks again for your help, everyone.

[handyguy]

All you have to do is use this:
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

Check what features you want & then you can find what to buy.

[jspacemunkey]

i know. being that the only features i want are, region-free capability, pal/ntsc conversion and progressive scan i was coming up with a long list of players. i do not have time to sift through all the reviews on this site so i was looking for a few quick recommendations from people who own these players (hopefully). many of the reviewers on this site base their scores off of a player's ability to play multiple disc and recording formats, and because this doesn't matter to me at all (i'm playing commercial dvds that are either pal or ntsc, that's it) i didn't want to discount a player based on score when it might in fact be a perfect match for my needs. so, rather than read every review for every player i thought i'd ask and see what people had to suggest.

(i swear i'm not lazy! just seemed like the best way to get started was to ask.)

[KTH]

In the U.S. try this company called Mindlogic. They have region free DVD players that have PAL/NTSC converters built in. I believe the JVC units have the PAL/NTSC converters built in. Both my friend and I have ordered from this company before and have never had any problems with them. The link to their web site is listed below.


http://www.mindlogic.com/Prod_MSDVD.shtml