? about UK made laptop for use in USA

[sdsumike619]

Hello, I'm considering purchasing a used Dell laptop computer that is from the UK. The only thing the guy told me was that I have to use the plug adapter from UK to US standard so I can plug it in the wall. He showed me the adapter and it worked fine.

What I'm concerned about are any other issues that arise when using this UK model in the USA. I can't imagine there being any but I figured I'd post here beore going ahead with the purchase...

Thanks,
Mike

[sdsumike619]

things like the dialup modem (should I need it), the DVD player, anything like that?

[ozymango]

things like the dialup modem (should I need it), the DVD player, anything like that?

The DVD player is the only issue but it could be a big one -- if he's played DVD movies with this machine, unless he's got a region-free drive, the region code has been set to 2 and it'll only play region 2 DVDs (for Europe and the UK). There may be a firmware update that'll reset that, but I wouldn't count on it. Are you getting this via mail or can you check out the machine ahead of time?

[Shocker Milwaukee]

You should be able to change the region on the DVD-ROM a couple of times without any special hack.

[ozymango]

You should be able to change the region on the DVD-ROM a couple of times without any special hack.

Yeah, I spaced on that one -- you can only change the settings four times (I think) but that doesn't mean you can only play 4 discs before it locks, you can play zillions of discs in the same region and that doesn't count toward region change settings.

Also worst case scenario -- he (guy in UK) wanted to watch movies not yet out in region 2 so he played region 1 (US) discs in the player, switched out a few times, and ended up locking the player in region 1. Which would work fine for your US customer, not so great for your UK customer.

[waheed]

Every PC dvd drive (including laptop) allows you to change the region five times.

Even if the drive is locked on a fixed region, you can get software to unlock it and watch dvds from different regions unlimited number of times.

You can use AnyDVD or DVD Region & CSS Free.

[lumis]

the only other concern i would really have is that the tv-out on the laptop might be PAL only.. so if you were to hook it up to an NTSC tv it might not display correctly.. but it may provide you with an option to output in PAL or NTSC.

[waheed]

PC and Laptops have nothing to do with NTSC or PAL. It doesn't matter. NTSC/PAL is not an issue.

[ozymango]

PC and Laptops have nothing to do with NTSC or PAL. It doesn't matter. NTSC/PAL is not an issue.

It's an issue if the laptop has tv-out, which is what lumis was talking about. It can be just a setting, though, depending on the laptop -- we work with Dells a lot and you can usually set the tv-output (assuming the laptop has tv-out) to NTSC or PAL in the BIOS. But yes, it does matter -- otherwise you hook to a TV and you're gonna see garbage.

Perhaps those in the UK, who are used to being able to play back NTSC and PAL DVDs on the same (stand-alone) players and TV sets don't know this is an issue in the USA?

[sdsumike619]

thanks for the replies, ended up getting a Gateway at Best Buy instead =)

[lumis]

PC and Laptops have nothing to do with NTSC or PAL. It doesn't matter. NTSC/PAL is not an issue.

It's an issue if the laptop has tv-out, which is what lumis was talking about. It can be just a setting, though, depending on the laptop -- we work with Dells a lot and you can usually set the tv-output (assuming the laptop has tv-out) to NTSC or PAL in the BIOS. But yes, it does matter -- otherwise you hook to a TV and you're gonna see garbage.

Perhaps those in the UK, who are used to being able to play back NTSC and PAL DVDs on the same (stand-alone) players and TV sets don't know this is an issue in the USA?

thanks for replying to him for me.. saved me a few key strokes.. it bugs me when ignorant people try to rebuke something they obviously know very little or nothing about.

[waheed]

lumis, chill dude. I misread your post. I was talking about laptops in general.

Besides, many PCs and laptops do have the capability of outputing both NTSC and PAL through the TV Out, so its not a big deal. I managed to play both NTSC and PAL material having connected my PC to my TV.

[lumis]

lumis, chill dude. I misread your post. I was talking about laptops in general.

Besides, many PCs and laptops do have the capability of outputing both NTSC and PAL through the TV Out, so its not a big deal. I managed to play both NTSC and PAL material having connected my PC to my TV.

it could be a big deal to this guy, he was asking if he should have any issues/concerns about purchasing the laptop.. its something he might want to check about.