# cheapest region free dvd player



## Unregistered (28 Apr 2005)

Anybody know what the cheapest region free dvd player is? 
D local electrical store has black diamond for €59.
Saw one in woodies for €44.95 (alba) but not one member of staff could tell me if it was region free!!!


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## ClubMan (28 Apr 2005)

There are lots of cheap/generic _DVD _players, many of which can be made region free through a non hardware hack, going for about €45-€50 these days. Even the likes of _Dunnes _and _Roches _are selling them these days. I doubt that you'll get much cheaper than that even by going online. Anyway, at that level the price is almost nominal and the benefits of being able to deal directly with the retailer (as opposed to having to mail stuff back to online retailers) probably pushes things in favour of a local purchase.


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## Unregistered (29 Apr 2005)

Argos are doing a recording dvd player for 179.  Don't know if its region free


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## Crunchie (29 Apr 2005)

Power City's newspaper ad had one for €40 the other day. Don't know make or model but it did say Region Free.


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## MonsieurBond (4 May 2005)

*Alba DVD Recorder - RDVD1000*



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> Argos are doing a recording dvd player for 179. Don't know if its region free


 
It's the  - £99 in the UK, €179.99 in IRL.

A search on Videohelp.com revealed only one review which is negative but this guy may have just had a dud.

A number of the Alba DVD players are remote hackable but I haven't seen a hack online yet for this recordable model.


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## MonsieurBond (9 May 2005)

*Re: Alba DVD Recorder - RDVD1000*



			
				MonsieurBond said:
			
		

> It's the  - £99 in the UK, €179.99 in IRL.
> 
> A search on Videohelp.com revealed only one review which is negative but this guy may have just had a dud.
> 
> A number of the Alba DVD players are remote hackable but I haven't seen a hack online yet for this recordable model.



Did anyone bite the bullet and buy one of these?

Any feedback?

I see also that Dunnes have more stock of the Yamada DVR8000 @ €200 (which gets 4 stars in What Hi Fi, btw)...


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## ClubMan (12 May 2005)

[broken link removed] are doing a _DVD _(and _DivX_) player next monday for €60. Not sure if it's multi-region though.


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## Unregistered (14 May 2005)

check www.boards.ie - there is a hack available for this


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## yogi bear (24 May 2005)

amazon.co.uk are doing a multi-region DVD player for STG19.99.  I've found them very good for electronic stuff (camcorders,digi cameras etc before) plus they have a good returns policy if theres any problems..


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## podgerodge (25 May 2005)

power city are doing the mitsubishi region free dvd player - it's either 39 euro or 49 euro.


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## Alan Moore (25 May 2005)

The Power City offering is the Mitsubishi Black Diamond. My mother, sister and myself all bought one. My sister went through 3 of them, problem after problem. My own has vertical bands down the left hand side. My mothers does appear to be okay. Wouldn't buy another one. Think the old adage "you get what you pay for applies".


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## ClubMan (25 May 2005)

_Dunnes Stores _are selling a _Maxim _player for €45 at the moment. Not sure of the specific model or if a multi-region hack is available.


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## ClubMan (3 Jun 2005)

Not sure if it's region free capable but  for €38 on the 9th of June.


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## Decani (3 Jun 2005)

Argos in The Skwayer (Tallaght) had a pile of players (literally) for €40. Alba. I'm sure there'd be a hack available if you looked.

_[Edit: Actually,  is probably the one I saw and, according to this, it's already region-free]_


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## babydays (16 Jun 2005)

what the heck does 'region free' mean?!


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## MonsieurBond (16 Jun 2005)

babydays said:
			
		

> what the heck does 'region free' mean?!



Check out this link.


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## Alan Moore (20 Jun 2005)

Cheapest DVD Player that I've seen with HDMI ( upgrades standard definition to HD if you have a HD Ready TV ) and there is a hack.


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## MonsieurBond (20 Jun 2005)

Alan Moore said:
			
		

> Cheapest DVD Player that I've seen with HDMI ( upgrades standard definition to HD if you have a HD Ready TV ) and there is a hack.



This may be an older model - the DVD-HD945 gets a good review on Home Cinema Choice ([broken link removed]) - has HDMI, SACD and DVD-Audio Playback, and Video Upscaling. £180 back in February.

Or else the 850 is a trimmed down player without the high resolution audio playback. So you might not get to enjoy music titles such as The War of the Worlds in glorious 5.1 surround.


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## podgerodge (21 Jun 2005)

Maplin Electronics have a DVD player that is DIVX enabled (for those files you downloaded legally off the internet!) or for the Home movies you converted to DIVX for compression purposes!

It is multi region , a Yamada (a brand I have and am happy with) and is selling for Eur 65.


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## Alan Moore (21 Jun 2005)

Hi Monsieur Bond

I could be wrong here. 



If it outputs at 720P surely it must upscale. Not too worried as there is an upscaler on the projector I bought.

I saw the review of the HD945 and the HD735 in Home Cinema. Both got rave reviews. But I couldn't find the HD945 freely available. Looks a better machine though. 

Couldn't bring myself to spend too much on a DVD player. Have it in mind to buy a playstation 3 in spring 2006 which has 2 HDMI ports, Blu Ray discs and other gizmos.


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## MonsieurBond (21 Jun 2005)

Alan Moore said:
			
		

> Hi Monsieur Bond
> 
> I could be wrong here.
> 
> ...


 
I see from your link that it does indeed upscale AND has SACD & DVD-Audio support, plus HDMI. Looks good.

I know what you mean about not spending too much money; there's always the "next best thing" coming along!

(I personally think that HD-DVD is going to win out over Blu-Ray as it has more backing, is easier for production plants to convert to, and has that "consumer friendly" moniker.)


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## Alan Moore (21 Jun 2005)

"I personally think that HD-DVD is going to win out over Blu-Ray"

You coul be right. I think though that this could be more problematic than the Betamax VHS battle. I think its going to be akin to XBOX, Playstation where the code involved is pretty similar but the top games are normally the reserve of one platform only.

Hence if you want to see Lord of the Rings High Def you'll have to buy a Sony Blu Ray but if you want say Star Wars you'll have to buy the  HD-DVD. What a pain in the ass for the consumer. I half expect the current DVD format to die slowly for this reason.


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## MonsieurBond (22 Jun 2005)

Alan Moore said:
			
		

> "I personally think that HD-DVD is going to win out over Blu-Ray"
> 
> You could be right. I think though that this could be more problematic than the Betamax VHS battle. I think its going to be akin to XBOX, Playstation where the code involved is pretty similar but the top games are normally the reserve of one platform only.
> 
> Hence if you want to see Lord of the Rings High Def you'll have to buy a Sony Blu Ray but if you want say Star Wars you'll have to buy the HD-DVD. What a pain in the ass for the consumer. I half expect the current DVD format to die slowly for this reason.



Going Off Topic a bit, but you are right - this is probably going to be the case. (Incidentally, Lord of the Rings, being from New Line, is likely to be a HD-DVD release, even though it is not mentioned yet in the official HD-DVD release lists.)

We may end up yet with a dual compatible player, albeit an expensive one.


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