Best region free PAL DVD player for $50 - $70

[jamest]

Hi folks, I'm looking at picking up the DVP5990, although I've heard someone say that some people aren't getting the region-free code to work or something? It may have not been on this model, but I just want to make sure. How is the PAL to NTSC conversion on this? Are the reports of models breaking to be taken with a grain of salt?

[jamest]

The version is the Philips DVP5990/37, by the way.

[lordsmurf]

It's not "conversion" as much as it's just able to play PAL.

[jman98]

Are the reports of models breaking to be taken with a grain of salt?

I don't own this player, but I bought the infamous DVP-642 when it first came out. While I got lucky and mine still works 4 years later, I read a ton of reports of the DVP-642 needing to be replaced with a month or two of purchase. To be blunt, most DVD manufacturers in general and Philips in particular use cheap components to keep costs down. You absolutely must keep these cheap players in well ventilated areas with a lot of open space for air cooling. Heat damage is real. I've seen it happen to my brother's DVD player. Philips quality control is very poor on some models, but if you can keep the player in a well ventilated area, it will go a long way towards ensuring it works beyond the initial warranty period.

[jman98]

It's not "conversion" as much as it's just able to play PAL.

Good point. Again, I do not have this player, but the old DVP-642 which I did buy simply chopped off the top and bottom of PAL video to make it NTSC compatible. Better and more expensive players will actually downscale the image to NTSC. A cheap player like this may just chop it to get it down to NTSC resolutions, but again, I have not tested this player.

[GreggD]

Hi folks, I'm looking at picking up the DVP5990, although I've heard someone say that some people aren't getting the region-free code to work or something? It may have not been on this model, but I just want to make sure. How is the PAL to NTSC conversion on this? Are the reports of models breaking to be taken with a grain of salt?

I know of a company around the Chicago area that sells players in that price range, some have built-in converters & some upscale to HDMI, plus all the players are Region Free. They have the one you're talking about plus others. I just got a Pioneer DV-600AK-k from them.

http://www.world-import.com/dvd.htm

[jamest]

What does this in the Philips DVP5990/37 manual mean?

Helpful Hints:
– Maximum 10 sessions for CD and 10
multi border for DVD are supported.
– For DVD-R and DVD-RW multi border,
only fi nalised discs are supported.

[jamest]

To paraphrase: I just want to be sure that this isn't saying I can only watch 10 region free DVDs on this player maximum before that function doesn't work and only plays region 1 DVDs.

[jman98]

To paraphrase: I just want to be sure that this isn't saying I can only watch 10 region free DVDs on this player maximum before that function doesn't work and only plays region 1 DVDs.

I am 99.99999% sure that it is telling you that the player supports multi-session discs and you can have up to 10 supported sessions on both CDs and DVDs, although I've never heard that term "multi border" before, so I am guessing that it means multi-session. The only reason I don't say that I'm 100% is that I've seen some really weird stuff before in DVD players, but I don't see how what you propose could be true. If you have DVD-R/RW media, you have to finalize them before you can play the discs, even if they are multi-session.

[jamest]

To paraphrase: I just want to be sure that this isn't saying I can only watch 10 region free DVDs on this player maximum before that function doesn't work and only plays region 1 DVDs.

I am 99.99999% sure that it is telling you that the player supports multi-session discs and you can have up to 10 supported sessions on both CDs and DVDs, although I've never heard that term "multi border" before, so I am guessing that it means multi-session. The only reason I don't say that I'm 100% is that I've seen some really weird stuff before in DVD players, but I don't see how what you propose could be true. If you have DVD-R/RW media, you have to finalize them before you can play the discs, even if they are multi-session.

What do you mean by multi session and multi border? Multi border does not mean all regions, correct? I just want to be sure I will be able to play PAL DVDs from any region if I use the given hack for the DVP5990/37 or the DVP5992/F7, which seem to both have the same manual.