Seiki SR212S & SR4KP1(4K) Region Free BD Players

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by jimjimmyjones85

I have had no luck at all finding this and it's getting frustrating

Is there no other option in the price range for us?

Some older Panasonic models play Region B Blu-rays with a few caveats.

[Roy_Batty]

Unfortunately your only other alternative is the Insignia model players.
Most of the players I have seen online from stores that are region free, go for between 200 to 300 dollars. It is crazy but there is a store chain up here that
carries the Seiki's and no one is going near them, because they do not know they can be made region free. Right now I have three of them!

[kiltymchaggis]

Originally Posted by Roy_Batty

Unfortunately your only other alternative is the Insignia model players.
Most of the players I have seen online from stores that are region free, go for between 200 to 300 dollars. It is crazy but there is a store chain up here that
carries the Seiki's and no one is going near them, because they do not know they can be made region free. Right now I have three of them!

The Seiki's that you speak of: would they happen to be the BD660 models?

[Roy_Batty]

No Unfortunately not, I do own two of those, but they were replaced by the Seiki SR212S, and I purchased one of these. It is a good little machine that is region free, but I feel the 660 is the better player.

[Cbeck]

Originally Posted by jimjimmyjones85

I have had no luck at all finding this and it's getting frustrating

Is there no other option in the price range for us?

This Seiki shows up on ebay ( one used went for only $15 a few weeks ago) and also Amazon at times. I sold one of my extras on Amazon last year, and I noticed others had been listed since for around $50 or so.

[jimjimmyjones85]

I am wary ... I bought my Insignia used and it turned on great but would never play a disc

[Cbeck]

Originally Posted by jimjimmyjones85

I am wary ... I bought my Insignia used and it turned on great but would never play a disc

I have not had an issue with the Seiki in over a year, and I have two of them I use.

Insignia I would be more wary of, plus I have heard the PQ isn't that great. Seiki PQ is quite good. Much better than the region free player I was using before.

[murphywmm]

I was buying some new Blu-Ray's at Future Shop this weekend and spotted XS Cargo across the street, so I decided to go in and have a browse. If I had known XS' reputation before though, I probably wouldn't have stepped in there. Anyhow, I found one of these Seiki players listed as "Refurbished" for $44, but it rung up was $37. Got it home and set it up, and.... no picture. There was a faint power light on the unit, but no picture showed up on my TV at all. So, I brought it back and exchanged it for the other one they had in stock. Brought this one home and it starts up perfectly.... but no remote! Since the defective unit had a remote, I called and asked if they would give me that remote, which they did. So after three visits, I now have a working region free Blu-Ray player. I would like to eventually invest in something better, but I figured this would be a way to get my toes wet first and see if I really do want to go region-free. I've got a copy of "Wild at Heart" (UK Region B) on order from Amazon ($13 shipped!), so I'll give that a try first. I watched two new BD's on it already - "August: Osage County" and "The Swimmer"... both looked fantastic. The unit is also much quieter than the old Samsung I was using on this setup. The remote does kind of suck, but it's no worse than the one on my Philips region-free dvd player.

I think I will just run this thing into the ground first and if it stops working, then I'll upgrade. I probably wouldn't buy anything "refurbished" at XS Cargo again - it's way too much of a crapshoot, and they have a "no refund" policy. I highly doubt any of the units are refurbished... just returns, and some probably work while others don't.

[Roy_Batty]

Funny i had the exact opposite experience, mine worked first time out, came with all the accessories in the box, and has worked perfectly.

[murphywmm]

Mine seems to be working well so far. I did have it lock up once after I stopped a movie and had to unplug it. But other than that, I'm satisfied so far. I also find that the up conversion on DVD's is much better than on my PS3.

[Stealthy]

I bought 2 and both have crapped out. Now they don't play ANY DVDs ("No Disc" error) and ONLY Region A blu-ray ("Unknown Disc" for Region B), despite being hacked to play all region DVDs and Region B blu-rays. This is after very little use (purchased in 2011), being designated for only R2 and RB discs. I tried reinstalling latest firmware and the results were the same. Probably a laser problem. POS, imo. So now I have 2 Region A blu-ray only players. Junk.

[ilovenola2]

Originally Posted by Roy_Batty

Funny i had the exact opposite experience, mine worked first time out, came with all the accessories in the box, and has worked perfectly.

I have had two of this Seiki model-- one for me and one for a gift. And my friend Al has one as well. We both have had nothing but good experiences all around.

[Roy_Batty]

I have experience with both of the models of these players. I own two BD-660's and one sr-212S. All three machines have worked remarkably well, and they are a no brainer for the price, I do believe the 660 model is superior to the SR-212S, larger case better build quality, I have been using the 660's for over two years without issue. Prior to that I owned an insignia
region free player, it was a piece of junk, however many users on this site love it so go figure? Unfortunately there are few options these days to find a
player like the seiki that does not cost an arm and a leg.

[Rhylliam]

Bought my 212S player in early March. Have since given it a decent amount of use. Today I used it almost all day (8-9 hours) and it opted to freeze up. Noticed that one side wasn't getting proper ventilation. Unplugged and plugged back in and had a faint power light come on but its not really getting enough power. Put in on my central air cooling vent for about a half hour. Plugged it in again and the power light came on properly, but couldn't get the TV to recognize it and the tray wouldn't even open. Soooo it might be toast already, but I'm going to keep trying.

EDIT:
Bought a new player today at XS (last one left, beat up box in the back..). Player works a-okay, but was missing the remote. The remote from the older unit works better with the newer one haha, guess the sensor on the old unit was off a bit.

[murphywmm]

I've been using my Seiki player on a regular basis and I've only had it freeze up once after I stopped a DVD. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and it worked fine after that. I've played two Region B discs ("Wild at Heart" and "Lost Highway") and it played both perfectly. I'm happy with it so far, and I'll be even happier if it keeps working for me!

[Akubrick1]

My only regret was I didnt get two of these when I had the chance. The one I got is still working .. the sound you are hearing are my knuckles rapping on pine.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by Akubrick1

My only regret was I didnt get two of these when I had the chance. The one I got is still working .. the sound you are hearing are my knuckles rapping on pine.

Mine still does its job very well. I only use it for region "B" titles as I have other players for everyday use .

[FelixFlankin]

Mine still plays Blus, but it no longer plays DVDs...of any region.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Mine still does its job very well. I only use it for region "B" titles as I have other players for everyday use .

That is how I use it. It's not built for everyday use.

[Roy_Batty]

oh yes it is!