Using a portable USB powered BD player with a Western Digital Media Player

[David S Graham]

Hi all,

First post so hopefully in the right section. I am an avid Australian based movie buff and purchase many dvd and blu-rays. Up till now I have used a region-free DVD player to play US DVDs however I am wanting to play US Blu-rays as often they are cheaper than the UK Blu-rays or sometimes the movie may only be available on US blu-ray. I am aware that the Blu-ray region coding is different to that of DVD however the cost of getting modified blu-ray players in Australia is on the expensive side so have been looking for other options. I thought of buying a cheap US blu-ray player but then would have to fiddle with the power. I do however own a western digital mini media player that has a USB input for external drives. Sooo... would this accept a USB powered portable Blu-Ray player? If so, I assume a US one would be able to play US blu-rays. Your advice would be appreciated.

Thanx

David

[october262]

the usb port on your western digital mini media player may not provide enough power for your portable bluray player so
it might be a good idea to find one with it's own power supply

[Chopmeister]

Just get a zone-free blu-ray player (for BD as well as DVD). Contrary to what you believe, there are players that do this woithout needing hardware modification. They can be found and aren't expensive. I have two a Toshiba that cost me $NZ 129 (circa $A 100) and a Veon which cost me $NZ 50.

The Toshiba 1200ky and Toshiba 3200ky should both be readily and cheaply available in Australia, and the Australia firmware that de-zones them is readily. Then you just press "Setup" on the remote and enter "8520". A new menu will appear that lets you change the DVD and Blu Ray regions. I have the 1200 model, and can confirm it works. Interestingly, the remote control codes for the Veon are identical. I also understand that the Soniq B100, which JB HiFi were selling, works the same as well (I haven't verified this).

[jman98]

Do what Chopmeister suggested.

I want to be absolutely clear about this - if you want region free anything, DO NOT buy Sony or Samsung or you will very likely regret it. That's what makes his suggestion great - he doesn't suggest using anything by Sony or Samsung.

[usually_quiet]

Hi all,

First post so hopefully in the right section. I am an avid Australian based movie buff and purchase many dvd and blu-rays. Up till now I have used a region-free DVD player to play US DVDs however I am wanting to play US Blu-rays as often they are cheaper than the UK Blu-rays or sometimes the movie may only be available on US blu-ray. I am aware that the Blu-ray region coding is different to that of DVD however the cost of getting modified blu-ray players in Australia is on the expensive side so have been looking for other options. I thought of buying a cheap US blu-ray player but then would have to fiddle with the power. I do however own a western digital mini media player that has a USB input for external drives. Sooo... would this accept a USB powered portable Blu-Ray player? If so, I assume a US one would be able to play US blu-rays. Your advice would be appreciated.

Thanx

David

I have only seen USB-powered external Blu-ray drives, not actual USB-powered portable Blu-Ray players. If this item really is a player, not just a drive, I'd be interested to know more about it.

If it is only a USB-powered external Blu-ray drive, it would never work for what you want to do. Most Blu-Ray discs made for the US have AACS copy protection, which means the playback device has to be able to decrypt the disc's contents in order to play it. So, even if the WD player could power the drive and access it, that combination of equipment would not allow you to watch the movie because your WD player doesn't have the ability to decrypt AACS-protected material.