Sony BDP-S1700: How is it made multi-region?

[Jar Jar Stinks]

You can buy the Sony BDP-S1700 for as little as $63 at B&H. I'm assuming it's locked to Region A.

Several places, including 220 Electronics, sell a multi-region BDP-S1700 for $100.

Here's the question: How do they make it multi-region? Is it imported as a multi-region device? Are they chip modding it? Is it a firmware mod? Lastly, can the $63 one be easily switched to multi-region via a firmware update?

[Shingster]

I believe it's chip modding only with Sony models, which is a technical soldering job i'm afraid so it depends on yer skills in that arena. For firmware modding you wanna look at Panasonic players. Oppo models (like the bdp-103) can be modded by slotting a tiny circuit board into a port on the back of the machine, they are the easiest "hardware" mods.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by Shingster

I believe it's chip modding only with Sony models, which is a technical soldering job i'm afraid so it depends on yer skills in that arena. For firmware modding you wanna look at Panasonic players. Oppo models (like the bdp-103) can be modded by slotting a tiny circuit board into a port on the back of the machine, they are the easiest "hardware" mods.

Hey, thank you! Very informative!