Help! Need some advice on a DVD player...

[SONICMAN2]

Hello,

Hope you have a minute cause its gonna take me a few to explain the situation..LOL!

Well, I live in the USA and Im a BIG fan of Farscape the TV series. We'll I was looking into buying the DVD's for the 1st 2 seasons and I found them all available through a dealer in the UK. It was then after reading their site that I learned about regions and PAL compatibility(somewhat as Im a BIG NON techie on these matters). I learned enough to know that I cant just buy these, pop them into a DVD from here and have them play right. I can get them here in the USA , but they are no where near getting as many released as they are overseas! 8-(

Well, I dont own a DVD player as of yet and I've been researching all week to try and figure out which 1 to buy and whether to even go this route at all. You see I also(if Im was told right) found out that the television needs to be PAl compatible also or it wont work even if the DVD player will. If its a case of buying a new TV and a DVD player to use the DVD's from the UK, then I guess I will just have to buy the region 1 DVD's and wait for them all to be released here. 8-(

I really have no use for all the other DVD "tricks" i see being posted about copying stuff, I just want to watch my DVD's without waiting, no piracy involved here.

So here my questions:

1) In my situation am I going to have to buy a new TV as well as a DVD player to watch region 2 DVD's of Farscape?

2) If a new TV isnt required, then what DVD player is the most user friendly as far as getting the different regions setup to watch?

3) And if it looks like a new TV would be a must, then I'm going to just sit and wait for release here in good ole region 1..so what DVD player would be the best to buy locally without reguards to region cracking and such?

Thx for your time and help,

Jon
Lafayette, GA

[aldus4]

You can get Farscape DVD's in NTSC, Region 1 here

http://www.cdnow.com

go to the video/dvd link at the bottom. When the new page appears type in "Farscape"



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: aldus4 on 2001-07-05 18:02:50 ]</font>

[SONICMAN2]

Thx Aldus.

They had 1 more than Ive been able to find in region 1 distribution so far.

I guess after relecting on this tonight I dont feel like all the hassel of trying to get a player/TV to watch multi region movies. Gonna wind up costing too much in the long run I believe.

I signed up at CDNow and purchased those DVD's. Hey, at least they were all $5 less than where I was going to purchase them! So if nothing else you saved me some cash my friend.

Jon

[next]

Your Farscape DVD's will play fine on a region free DVD player regardless of your PAL/NTSC concerns. Take for example an Apex 660. It will output to both PAL and NTSC televisions. The player has the ability to be set for either output. The Apex 660 is not unique in this ability.

Your current television will work fine. You will need to find a DVD player that can be set to region free. I mention the Apex 660 because I own one and it is an easy process to upgrade the firmware to make it region free.

Your total investment to purchase a DVD player will range from around $99 on the low end up to several hundred dollars if you want a top of the line player. But that's it. It's no more complicated than that.

Like I mentioned - Apex. Sampoo as well. And Shinco. And many more. Do a web search for region free dvd players.

By the way Circuit City is selling the Apex 660 for $99. I think Sam's Club has them for $129. Check out the forums for info on Apex at http://www.nerd-out.com

Your problem is a very simple one with a very simple solution.

Good luck my friend!

[valzuniga]

I agree,
I own an APEX 660, and the de-macrovision patch works like a charm. i think circuit City is still ofering them for 99 dollars (us) with a 20 dollar rebate. I love my Apex, the only caveat I have about it is the slight whirrrr it makes during the first half of most dvd's.

[aldus4]

@sonicman2

Living in Europe we have similar problems, just the other way around. But nowadays all TV's,VCR's DVD Players sold here will play PAL/NTSC and if we're lucky even SECAM.

I'm glad you managed to get your Farscape DVD's in NTSC.

[statuspending]

valzungia!

there is solution to it making a whirring sound

TURN UP THE VOLUME!!!!!


=)

i wouldn't have mine any other way!

[barneystorm]

Word of caution here...

Unless the TV set is capable of displaying a PAL signal, you are going to get either nothing or (at best) a distorted picture from a PAL DVD, regardless of whether your player is 'multi region'.. bit like plugging a VCR into a black and white TV and expecting it to play in colour!!

Over here, most new TV sets are multi standard now, though the other way, the technology is not quite as easy. I trade hockey videos with a friend in the U.S. (I'm in UK) and he got a multi standard VCR, but as his TV was only NTSC, the picture was unwatchable..he then got a TV capable of playing a PAL signal and his problems were solved.

[next]

I'm confused here. I have heard of no problems playing multi region DVD's in a region free DVD player regardless of the technology of the TV set. None what so ever. All region 2 DVD's are in the PAL format and yet play without a problem. I'm not sure about VHS players though. It may be a different animal. Barneystorm - are these VHS tapes home made? If so then we may be comparing apples to oranges here. I'm not up on VHS technology but your experience may not apply to the region free DVD thing. Unless maybe I'm totally wrong here.

edit-

Barneystorm, I think your friend may have had a VCR that is depicted at this site for example:

http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/index.html?catalog60_0.html

Notice how it says that PAL tapes will not play on an NTSC TV. But it offers suggestions on how to solve this. I don't think this restriction applies to most region free DVD players though.


Thanks for the comments!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: next on 2001-07-09 06:38:18 ]</font>

[next]

barneystorm - this may help. Check out these two links. The first is for a DVD player that requires a converter to play on a TV for PAL/NTSC conversion. The second is for a player that does not require the converter. This may help.

http://www.planet3000.com/MSDVD_GYNC.shtml

http://www.planet3000.com/MSDVD_SMPO.shtml

By the way their prices are outrageous. The sampo can be had for around $150.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: next on 2001-07-09 08:21:25 ]</font>