Most compatible DVD Player for multiple formats and regions

[contract73]

Hello everyone. Have not been here in awhile. I would like to request some to advise what is the latest and probably talked about reasonable DVD player that plays the most regions, PAL/NTSC and video formats with the least amount of hacks/hassles?

Anyone, thanks in advance

[contract73]

I should add, I am most concerned with the most compatible Xvid and .mp4 playback on DVDs, and both PAL/NTSC compatibility

[jman98]

Philips still makes SOME players for the US/Canadian market that can be hacked to play DVDs from any region, can convert PAL to NTSC output, and have good Divx support, but MP4 is just a killer requirement. I don't know of any DVD only players that can meet that one since MP4 usually means H.264 video and possibly AAC audio, 2 things that are normally not supported at all on DVD players.

[contract73]

Could you suggest a good Philips model? Seems to be so many available?

[usually_quiet]

Could you suggest a good Philips model? Seems to be so many available?

The Philips website only lists 4 DVD players for the US market at present, which does not seem like many to me. Your best bet among current Philips players is probably the DVP3680/F7, which is still available online at Amazon for a reasonable price although most electronics stores have discontinued it. It plays PAL or NTSC DVDs, DivX AVI and there is a region free hack for the DVP3680/F7 posted here. If you must have MP4 playback you will need to buy a region free Blu-Ray player from a specialty retailer like 220-electronics.com or world-import.com.

[Edit]The Philips DVP2880 is another possibility. The region free hack is here and has been confirmed to work in this post. It can be purchased from Best Buy and probably other stores that sell electronics.