Region Free Blu-ray player recommendations

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by Thomas Veil

http://www.220-electronics.com/lg-bp...vd-player.html

Anyone know anything about this one? Looking to finally dive into non A region titles. Will this work for me?

Can anyone vouch for this site? I'm about to buy the LG Bdp330. I asked in the other thread but no response.

[markymark73]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

Can anyone vouch for this site? I'm about to buy the LG Bdp330. I asked in the other thread but no response.

I have that player and I got it from that shop. Both are great. My only complaint about the LG is that it doesn't have an Amazon app, but that's neither specific to the mod nor the shop. I got the player for Christmas and have used it nearly every day since.

[djchaseb]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

Can anyone vouch for this site? I'm about to buy the LG Bdp330. I asked in the other thread but no response.

Yes, I have the LG BP330 and it works great! Only thing that's lame is the system menu but other than that, plays all my region B titles with PAL content perfectly

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

Can anyone vouch for this site? I'm about to buy the LG Bdp330. I asked in the other thread but no response.

I ordered a Sony S5100 from them and it worked great... for a month. Then a software update completely removed the player's ability to play Region 2 DVDs. The site advertises hardware region free but obviously a software update can still break it, so not sure how trustworthy their upgrades really are.

I'm in the process of dealing with them for a refund or exchange and will let you know how it goes.

[johnjohnson]

Originally Posted by Thomas Veil

http://www.220-electronics.com/lg-bp...vd-player.html

Anyone know anything about this one? Looking to finally dive into non A region titles. Will this work for me?

I bought an LG region free player from 220-electronics. At first it was great, I was able to play my region B discs, but after a while, the player would shut down suddenly. Now, I find the player doesn't play all region B discs. I'm a bit wary of going back to this company.

[johnjohnson]

I'm looking to buy a new region free player. Any suggestions for player and company to use? I tried 220-electronics, but I want to see if another company can offer better service.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I ordered a Sony S5100 from them and it worked great... for a month. Then a software update completely removed the player's ability to play Region 2 DVDs. The site advertises hardware region free but obviously a software update can still break it, so not sure how trustworthy their upgrades really are.

I'm in the process of dealing with them for a refund or exchange and will let you know how it goes.

Interesting. I will shut the wifi off on my player then. I don't want any firmware updates or anything, I only use it for B locked discs. The player works fine, but looked like there shouldve been a bottom piece they forgot to put back or something because theres some screws sticking out (as in sharp). Not sure though. For the price I can't complain but if it dies within a few months I'll be pissed.

[RockzillaXD]

I love my Panasonic BDT220 but I have no way of making it region free, so I was thinking of getting the Sony S5100.

Here is an alternative site to 220electronics. http://www.bombayelectronics.com/Son...o_bdps5100.htm

I noticed in the first review the guy mentions you have to hit numbers on the remote to change BD regions. For anyone who bought this player from 220 did you have to do that????

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

Interesting. I will shut the wifi off on my player then. I don't want any firmware updates or anything, I only use it for B locked discs. The player works fine, but looked like there shouldve been a bottom piece they forgot to put back or something because theres some screws sticking out (as in sharp). Not sure though. For the price I can't complain but if it dies within a few months I'll be pissed.

They do sell the S5100 for about $70 cheaper than most other shops so I guess it makes sense they do lower quality work. Still they guarantee their work for the life of the player and had an Amazon payment option, so I took a risk.

I think I'll have them refund me and buy the same player from a larger dealer if they let me. They might force an exchange though. We shall see, they haven't responded yet (it was a weekend so not condemning them for that just yet).

[StingingVelvet]

220 Electronics emailed me a custom firmware which restored region free functionality. I'm a little put off by the fact their supposed "hardware modifications" required a new firmware to work, but at least they responded quickly and effectively. It was a somewhat cheap test player for the whole region free idea anyway.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

220 Electronics emailed me a custom firmware which restored region free functionality. I'm a little put off by the fact their supposed "hardware modifications" required a new firmware to work, but at least they responded quickly and effectively. It was a somewhat cheap test player for the whole region free idea anyway.

This does not sound too good. Harware MOD BD players should not be affected by firmwares. I recently purchased a region free Hardware mod Sony player off Ebay from Global Electronics and the seller said that the HD ICONS chip they put inside the players is independent from the firmware. Sure enough, I went ahead a updated the player's firmware and it did not affected the region free capabilities.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

This does not sound too good. Harware MOD BD players should not be affected by firmwares. I recently purchased a region free Hardware mod Sony player off Ebay from Global Electronics and the seller said that the HD ICONS chip they put inside the players is independent from the firmware. Sure enough, I went ahead a updated the player's firmware and it did not affected the region free capabilities.

Yeah, like I said it's very suspect. I wouldn't recommend 220 Electronics after seeing how this played out.

Still, you're saving $70 and they already had March 5th's firmware updated for me, so it might be an attractive option depending on your priorities. I don't like being misled though, and 220's website does say hardware modifications. Maybe the NTSC to PAL is hardware and that lets them claim that, I don't really know. I'm not going to throw a hissy-fit but I'm also gonna say maybe buy elsewhere.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Yeah, like I said it's very suspect. I wouldn't recommend 220 Electronics after seeing how this played out.

Still, you're saving $70 and they already had March 5th's firmware updated for me, so it might be an attractive option depending on your priorities. I don't like being misled though, and 220's website does say hardware modifications. Maybe the NTSC to PAL is hardware and that lets them claim that, I don't really know. I'm not going to throw a hissy-fit but I'm also gonna say maybe buy elsewhere.

I think your best bet or for anyone that's interesting on getting a region free player is not to update the firmware unless it's really necessary. If the player works well and you are able to play all your movies without any issues, I see no reason why you would want to update the firmware.

[RockzillaXD]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

This does not sound too good. Harware MOD BD players should not be affected by firmwares. I recently purchased a region free Hardware mod Sony player off Ebay from Global Electronics and the seller said that the HD ICONS chip they put inside the players is independent from the firmware. Sure enough, I went ahead a updated the player's firmware and it did not affected the region free capabilities.

Well that's good to hear. I decided to pull the trigger and buy an open box unit from them on Amazon. I'll report back here with my opinion.

[Moonrunner]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

220 Electronics emailed me a custom firmware which restored region free functionality. I'm a little put off by the fact their supposed "hardware modifications" required a new firmware to work, but at least they responded quickly and effectively. It was a somewhat cheap test player for the whole region free idea anyway.

Hahaha...

What did you expect ?

In fact there is no "hardware modification" for multiregion functionality !

All these so-called "hardware modifications" are just technical installations to override some kind of software setting.

Lemme give you an example:

Let's consider a simple Blu-ray player with its region settings stored in an eeprom at location 0x50 and 0x51

Location 0x50 contains the DVD region (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
Location 0x51 contains the BD region (1,2,3 for A,B,C)

The "hardware modification" consists of a micro controller which connects to the eeprom on one side and to the remote control sensor on the other side.

The job of the hardware modifiction is to change the data being read from the eeprom whenever locations 0x50 or 0x51 are being read from the system processor of the Blu-ray player.

If the systems processor reads from eeprom location 0x50 or 0x51, the micro controller of the "hardware modification" detects it and changes the data on the bus to the desired return value which has been set in a previous operation with the remote control.

This works as long as the manufacturer of the Blu-ray player doesn't change the eeprom settings because one of the developers has gotten tired with their Blu-ray device being hacked.

Now imagine the manufacturer has decided to render the modification useless and he does it by providing a firmware update with the eeprom locations for the region settings changed from 0x50/0x51 to 0x55/0x56 or data values re-assigned with different region meanings.

As soon as you install that new firmware, the hardware modification stops working because it doesn't know about the new locations for the region settings in the eeprom.

This is something the suppliers of the modifications don't want to talk about but in reality the story that a "hardware modification" survives firmware updates stays only true as long as the manufacturer of the device allows it !

Edit: I would send the device back and ask them to refund your money because you paid for a hardware solution !

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Moonrunner

Edit: I would send the device back and ask them to refund your money because you paid for a hardware solution !

Only thing that would result from that is me paying $75 or more elsewhere for the same player, with no real guarantee that one would end up any better. I'll just stick with it for now and try to get a better player in a couple years.

[Moonrunner]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Only thing that would result from that is me paying $75 or more elsewhere for the same player, with no real guarantee that one would end up any better. I'll just stick with it for now and try to get a better player in a couple years.

No, you could just buy a player from a manufacturer with a more tolerant attitude towards these "hardware modifications".

This situation happened multiple times in the past with "hardware modifications" from different manufacturers and for different player brands.

One of the better known examples was the Oppo "hardware modification" for the 103. A firmware update from Oppo rendered all the "modifications" useless and the modification providers were forced to replace them.

You can read about this on AVForums.co.uk

[zrdb]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

This does not sound too good. Harware MOD BD players should not be affected by firmwares. I recently purchased a region free Hardware mod Sony player off Ebay from Global Electronics and the seller said that the HD ICONS chip they put inside the players is independent from the firmware. Sure enough, I went ahead a updated the player's firmware and it did not affected the region free capabilities.

If you're talking about the BD-P5100 there's a good reason for this-the hardware as is does not support PAL to NTSC conversion so if you're watching a UK dvd it won't work. The conversion is done with custom firmware so if you "upgrade" it you'll lose the conversion capability. The hardware mode which makes the player able to do region A, B, & C blurays and region 1-6 dvds is unaffected by a firmware update, though. My 5100 isn't and never will be connected to the internet. I used Rattlebyte's mod chip in my player.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Moonrunner

No, you could just buy a player from a manufacturer with a more tolerant attitude towards these "hardware modifications".

I wanted the S5100 for it's truly great upconversion of standard DVD for a modest price. Hardware solution or not what I have now is a working region free S5100 for a bargain price, so throwing a hissy-fit and trying to get a refund would just harm me in the end.

When I get a new player next time I'll buy something more expensive from another brand, probably.

[nightcrawler]

I'm thinking of getting a US PS3 to use here in the UK. I know power is no problem as it has a universal supply, I just have to get an adaptor for the plug. Only thing I'm worried about is firmware updates - will it still do these ok?