DVD Recorder suitable for use in Ireland and Australia.

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Sue Ellen

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Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a DVD Recorder that is suitable for use in both Ireland and Australia. Want to record programmes from telly and send them on to relative in Australia. Was thinking of possibly something in Argos?

Are DVD Records/VCRs any use?

Thanks in advance.
 
I would assume that if the DVD recorder you use can record DVDs with a Region Code consistent with Australia, then you're OK.

If your device can record to Region 2 or Region 0 and the device in Oz can read that Region code, then you're OK.

According to a Google search result, Australia is Region 4.
 
Hi sueellen,

See this article for a quick explanation of DVD region codes. Most DVD recorders will allow you to burn region-free discs, or at least to set it to region 4 for Australia (and some offer a choice of [broken link removed] output, although this isn't essential unless you envisage sending discs to the US). Here's an inexpensive example from a US website.

The Argos website seems to be down at the moment, but have a look here on [broken link removed] — they have a basic LG model for €180 + delivery, although personally I would recommend spending a bit more and buying something with a hard drive (HDD), so that you can store/watch stuff without having to record everything straight to DVD. Something like [broken link removed], maybe, although it hasn't been reviewed yet...
 
DrMoriarty said:
Hi sueellen,

See this article for a quick explanation of DVD region codes. Most DVD recorders will allow you to burn region-free discs, or at least to set it to region 4 for Australia (and some offer a choice of [broken link removed] output, although this isn't essential unless you envisage sending discs to the US). Here's an inexpensive example from a US website.

The Argos website seems to be down at the moment, but have a look here on [broken link removed] — they have a basic LG model for €180 + delivery, although personally I would recommend spending a bit more and buying something with a hard drive (HDD), so that you can store/watch stuff without having to record everything straight to DVD. Something like [broken link removed], maybe, although it hasn't been reviewed yet...
Click to expand...
Just to the Good Doctor's post, you should check the Net to see if the model of DVD recorder you are considering is region-free by default or region hackable. In terms of DVD Players, I know that the big brands - Sony, Philips, Pioneer etc. - usually prove to be more difficult to make region free, whereas other brands (though not necessarily lesser brands) such as Samsung, LG may have unofficial region hacks that you can type in on the remote, for example, to make them region free. As far as I know, the same thing applies to DVD recorders, although I am open to correction as I have owned more DVD players than recorders over the years.

I usually recommend Videohelp.com to search for DVD region hacks, but if you can't find it there, a quick Google for "DVD region hack" followed by your make and exact model number usually works. Bear in mind that sometimes there are more than one hack. For my current DVD player - a Samsung upscaling DVD player, the first region hack I found required a specific model of universal remote. I already have a universal remote, so was not keen on buying another one. After a bit of further searching, I found a hack for an earlier model of Samsung DVD player that could be entered from the normal Samsung remote; tried it and it worked!
 
sorry, i'm a DVD idiot.

got a DVD that was 'region' restricted. it was only a DVD player though, not a DVD recorded.

i did a google search, and i unlocked the region in under one minute. now it plays DVDs from anywhere. i only had to press a few buttons in sequence.

not sure if this is of any use. sorry if it aint.
 
vladamir said:
sorry, i'm a DVD idiot.

not sure if this is of any use. sorry if it aint.
Click to expand...

Some am I and it's not restricted to DVDs. :D

Thanks for the tip. The DVD recorders do appear to be a bigger challenge but I'm sure when I've digested all the AAM advice I'll master it or else get the son to do it!
 
sueellen said:
Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a DVD Recorder that is suitable for use in both Ireland and Australia. Want to record programmes from telly and send them on to relative in Australia. Was thinking of possibly something in Argos?
Click to expand...

guys, whats all this talk about region free - any recording that is made from television is automatically region free - the only recordings that have region encoding are purchased dvd's. Any recording from tele off any dvd recorder will play on any other dvd player (barring maybe pal/ntsc restrictions). I am assuming that the main point here is sending the recordings abroad and not actually using the dvd recorder in both countries.
 
podgerodge said:
guys, whats all this talk about region free - any recording that is made from television is automatically region free - the only recordings that have region encoding are purchased dvd's.
Click to expand...
Eh, that's a good point, podgerodge... doh! :eek:
 
podgerodge said:
(barring maybe pal/ntsc restrictions)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that advice. Correct about recording here and posting dvds to Australia.

Just wondering what exactly is pal/ntsc and is it likely/common enuf to cause problems?
 
Australia is the Pal system as in Ireland but a different variation. But I'd GUESS it will play just fine over in Australia. Bear in mind when you are purchasing a recorder to make sure its DVD-R/-RW and DVD+R/+RW so if you record onto a +R or +RW and your Australian relatives have an old dvd player that only plays -R or -RW you will be able to re-burn the program onto a -R disc. (and vice versa) But the vast majority of modern players will play both formats.

So apart from making sure you buy a multi format dvd recorder (and as Dr Moriarty has said , you really should invest in a hard drive recorder) there is nothing you can do in Ireland to make sure the Australians can play your dvds - just hope it works.
 
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