Is it worth buying a region A blu ray player?

[mrpants]

If so, where is the best to buy from? Region free players seem pretty expensive but there are still a lot of Region A I want to own, so owning both a region B and A player seems like a good idea.

Is there anything I'm missing regarding technical and importing issues?

[Indiana Jones]

Does it need to be a single unit that can play both? as a US PS3 might be worth a look, it's a fine player and with the PS4 out shortly they should be relatively cheap to pick up, will play all Region A BDs and it has a multi-voltage PSU so will work on UK mains without a converter.

[rewak]

Region A? No. Region free or hackable, yes. I picked up my Toshiba BDX3200 for £60, can be made to be switchable between regions for BD, region free for DVD, and it's compatible with 3D BD's.

[Naiera]

Anyone who really cares about collecting Blu-ray should just get a modified Oppo and be done with it.

[Hintermann]

Originally Posted by mrpants

If so, where is the best to buy from? Region free players seem pretty expensive but there are still a lot of Region A I want to own, so owning both a region B and A player seems like a good idea.

That's a question I was asking myself until recently but the announcement of Criterion release of the mega-version of IAMMMMW made me make-up my mind. I have just ordered 4 other Criterion titles plus the 40th Anniversary Region A version of The Exorcist.

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/ - This UK based site is very good and you can get a hardware hacked Region-free BD player for under £200. The guys are very, very helpful.

[rewak]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Anyone who really cares about collecting Blu-ray should just get a modified Oppo and be done with it.

Why? I've seen this so many times but i can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would pay £500 (the cheapest i've seen an Oppo) for a player when there's a good choice of players at a fraction of the cost that can be made region free with a simple firmware switch.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by rewak

Why? I've seen this so many times but i can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would pay £500 (the cheapest i've seen an Oppo) for a player when there's a good choice of players at a fraction of the cost that can be made region free with a simple firmware switch.

The Toshibas were an anomaly. It's such a shame that you can't update the firmware with other players. I still look for the 3200 whenever I see BD players on sale!

After the Toshibas buying a US PS3 is probably the next cheapest option before going to chipped player.

[DaveSimonH]

It's worth it alone for being able to import any title without having to worry. I have a couple of the older model Toshiba's, the BDX3200 & BDX1100, one in the bedroom and the other in the living room so I'm not restricted to a specific TV.
I still only have a few titles that are A locked, but I've been able to order titles like The Pagemaster before its region status was known.

As Indiana Jones said, a US PS3 would be a good option if you can track one of those down.

.

[mrpants]

Originally Posted by rewak

Region A? No. Region free or hackable, yes. I picked up my Toshiba BDX3200 for £60, can be made to be switchable between regions for BD, region free for DVD, and it's compatible with 3D BD's.

I've had that one, picked it up when it was on sale at M&S, but I found it to be very noisy so got rid. Was also concerned about firmware updates as isn't it a firmware hack that makes it region free?

Even the cheapest region free player seems more expensive than two players, a Uk and Us player. I've plenty of space on my shelf and my amp will take two hdmi cables.

The problem is sourcing, and technical (someone just mentioned power, see I didn't even think about that).

[HotRats]

If an Oppo's out of your price range multi region Panasonics can be had for quite a lot less, if you have a blu drive in your PC there are several programmes that will defeat region coding. A few years ago Aldi was selling a multi region machine under the name of Tevion for £60, don't know if they still are. Or you can simply buy a Region A player, the days when foreign electrical goods burned out without an improvised transformer are long gone, you'll simply need a new power lead or change the plug/use an adaptor if its a captive lead.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by Naiera

just get a modified Oppo and be done with it.

Agreed. I own a Toshiba BDX3200KY, like many players that the major brands now sell it's quite cheaply made, it will get you by for a little while but essentially it's not meant to last and is nothing more than a throw away player. Then you are left with the task of finding another region free player to replace it, and with there not being many options available this can be hassle. With investing in such a large collection obviously I'm still going to want to watch them in 10-20 years time, which with the Oppo's being built like a tank and made with high quality parts I would be very surprised if they don't last that long. Over the years you would spend the same as an Oppo, if not more, replacing cheaper models that break. Like you said you may as well purchase an Oppo in the first place, where you won't have to worry and you can just forget about it. The Oppo's are also one of the easiest players to mod, and if you choose the hardware option it's pretty much guaranteed to be future proofed, not only that, they are amongst the simplest to change regions when you need to. Besides, the Oppos offer multichannel outputs where you can benefit from the players DAC, which if you have high end equipment can improve audio quality.

[Leterface]

My relative brought me a region A player a few years ago and even the cheap Toshiba isn' t a well built player it propably will last for some years more for me since I only watch region A BD's with it. IIRC I paied about £50 for both the player and for the voltage converter + a socket adaptor.

[Ben_R]

Originally Posted by HotRats

if you have a blu drive in your PC there are several programmes that will defeat region coding

This is by far the easiest & cheapest way to do it. If you have a PC, get a cheap external blu drive and the appropriate software then you're sorted

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by mrpants

If so, where is the best to buy from?

I can recommend this store >>>

Panasonic DMP-BDT320EB MULTIREGION 3D Blu-ray Player:
Link:
http://www.tps.uk.com/tps/home.html?...e_name=product

or

Panasonic DMP-BDT500EB MULTIREGION 3D Blu-ray Player:
Link:
http://www.tps.uk.com/tps/home.html?...e_name=product

[CinemaScope]

I'm staying region B for an uncomplicated life. I went through all this with multi-region DVD players, the player packs up, & instead of looking around for the best player at a good price, you have to look around for a multi-region player as well. And so far there's only a couple of region A titles that I'd have liked to buy.

[dylan32]

I have still not gone multi-zone yet for the same reason.

The switch to multi-region DVD was a no-brainer (Criterion DVDs, uncut horror from the US, etc).

These days we now have MoC, BFI, Arrow, and we no longer have issues with banned or cut horror films. The only issue for myself is Criterion again (all other US titles that interest me are region free). Now that Criterion are going dual format, this is not such an issue.

I would go with the cheapest option. There are still no multi zone players which tempt me. We are still in the early days and I reckon a slew of multi zone players will be hitting the market in the next couple of years.

[Pooch]

Hi,

In answer to the original question, then YES, go multi-region as soon as you can. There are numerous reasons why it's worth paying to go region-free, than sticking to just your own country's coded releases.

As for the Toshiba BDX3200, I have one of them, and whilst they're not the quietest Blu-Ray players, for £60, I'm not going to complain. Moreso when that £60 got me a machine that can play ANY disc from ANY country in the world.

Paying £200 or more for a better built machine, may be worth your while, if you can afford to. But a lot of people can't justify that kind of money these days. So cheaper options are sometimes necessary.

But, yes, absolutely go region-free as soon as you possibly can. Once you have, you will not regret it for a second! The world, will, quite literally, become your oyster.


Pooch

[Blu MacReady]

I've got the Panasonic mentioned a couple of posts back.

Get one, or get a region free player. The amount of decent films that only come out in the states is unreal.

For example, my wife is buying my the Friday 13th collection tin for xmas. Its full of stuff and it'll cost £65. This will not be released in the UK as the films included are with so many different distributors.

Plus if you like 80's/90's films there is a massive amount which are not here yet or may never turn up....like Hand That Rocks The Craddle, Trading Places.

Also add scream factory for horror and sci-fi.

Plus you normally have better extras or uncut films, see Avengers as a prime example

These all cost around the same as over here £6 - £15 via amazon or other sites

[mrpants]

Originally Posted by dylan32

I have still not gone multi-zone yet for the same reason.

The switch to multi-region DVD was a no-brainer (Criterion DVDs, uncut horror from the US, etc).

These days we now have MoC, BFI, Arrow, and we no longer have issues with banned or cut horror films. The only issue for myself is Criterion again (all other US titles that interest me are region free). Now that Criterion are going dual format, this is not such an issue.

I would go with the cheapest option. There are still no multi zone players which tempt me. We are still in the early days and I reckon a slew of multi zone players will be hitting the market in the next couple of years.

A slew did hit the market, but they seem to have dried up recently, can't find a cheap multi region anywhere, even the usual suspects like ebay, ebuyer, supermarkets etc.

Struggling to find a cheap Region A for that matter.

Might have to look into doing dodgy things but can't be discussed here. It's incredible that region locking still takes place, the digital age has no oceans.

[JimDiGriz]

Originally Posted by mrpants

If so, where is the best to buy from? Region free players seem pretty expensive but there are still a lot of Region A I want to own, so owning both a region B and A player seems like a good idea.

Is there anything I'm missing regarding technical and importing issues?

Its not like the DVD days though is it? A lot of US titles are region-free anyway and I can count region A locked titles Im that bothered about on one hand. Not worth it for me anyway.

Ive found that there will usually be a region b/free version sooner or later anyway, sometimes German, Australian etc.