Probably the easiest way to go Region "B" and "2" in North America

[Tembo]

Thanks to "mar30's" thread regarding going Region B we started investigating what our options were to be able to play our Region 2 DVDs and start collecting Region "B" Blu-Ray discs.

Having just bought Sony's new 4K-UHD UBP-X800 player for half-price before Christmas we were looking for some alternatives to one of the "multi-region / region free" mods offered by some sellers. In particular we weren't crazy about having manufacturers' warranties voided nor having to go some convoluted way of pressing buttons to play certain discs.

While mar30 bought a specific model in order to be able to play 3D this added the complication of obtaining a step-up 110-220v transformer.

We elected to research further and discovered that quite a few Sony BDPs actually work off 12v DC, powered by an (included) power transformer. Further research provided the info that the same models sold in numerous countries and all use the exact same step-down 100-240v ac transformer (to provide 12vdc) model L1210WW (world wide!) with a separate detached plug cord to match the service in each specific country. Only in Canada and the US is there a different transformer M1210UC (UC=US/Can) and only 110-120v rating.

We have just received our Sony BDP6700 from Europe and can confirm that it plugs in and works perfectly straight out of the box, except that we used an old Sony cassette player power cord from wall to the L1210WW transformer.

We actually received this February 7th, just a week after placing the order with amazon in Europe. We've already played a couple of "B" Blu-Rays that we could not previously play, as well as a Roger Whittaker PAL2 DVD that our Sony X800 rejected.

Total cost was 124 Euros, about $150 US or $190 Canadian.

So for about $400 Cdn or $300 US we ended up with both a Region A1 Sony UBP-X800 and Region B2 Sony BDP-S6700.

To answer the unanswered question, yes, there is a potential remote control conflict with the two Sony's. However, since both are fed through a wall-mounted Tripp-Lite surge protector with individually switched outlets and only one BDP is activated at a time, no problem!