i have a korean dvd and a german dvd and i need to know how to buy a
dvd player that will run a german and korean dvd. please do not refer
me to a site that is not in english!!

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Request for Question Clarification by seizer-ga on 04 Dec 2002 09:30 PST

Hi there anonymous!

Could you please provide the following information:

* What country are you located in?
* Do you already have a DVD player? If so, please state the exact type
- it may already be able to do what you wish.
* If you do not already have a player, what kind would you wish to buy
(a standalone unit, or something to place inside your computer?)

Thanks,

--seizer-ga

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Clarification of Question by anonymous777-ga on 04 Dec 2002 10:40 PST

i am in the usa, i do not have one and want a stand alone. nothing
expensive unless it plays american dvds also!! i really want to watch
my german dvd and my korean dvd but my player wont let me??

Hi there anonymous.

Thanks for your clarification!

As you've found out, DVDs are published in six slightly different
formats, depending on where in the world they come from. These six
regions also sell DVD players which do not normally play DVDs from
other regions. The USA is in region 1, Germany is in region 2, and
Korea is in region 3.

However, there are a number of manufacturers who will sell you a DVD
player which will play DVDs from all six regions. They do this by
buying the normal components, and modifying them slightly. These
players are often called region free, or code free. One such company
is CodeFreeDVD.

If you're looking for a portable DVD player, they sell two - but
they're rather highly priced, so you're wise to be looking for a
standalone player:

The Panasonic LVB50, for $899:
http://www.codefreedvd.com/dvd_panasoniclvb50.htm
The Panasonic LA95, for $1499:
http://www.codefreedvd.com/dvd_panasonicla95.htm

They have a wide range of standalone units, starting with the CodeFree
612, at $399: http://www.codefreedvd.com/dvd_codefree612.htm

I still felt this was somewhat too expensive, and tracked down a
better offer at ZoneFreeDVD, who offer similiar deals, including the
very reasonably priced Toshiba SD100X, for $189:

http://zonefreedvd.com/codefreedvd/toshiba-sd100x.html

ZoneFreeDVD also have a useful list of Frequently Asked Questions
about region free DVD players (in English!) which may prove useful
too:

http://www.zonefreedvd.com/codefreedvd/regionfreefaq.html

Please note that if you do end up buying a standalone unit, your
television must be capable of playing PAL as well as NTSC signals -
the German disc will definitely be PAL, though the Korean one will
probably be NTSC. Check in your TV manual to make sure that this is
possible - most modern television sets are capable of playing both.

I hope this answers your question. I've included some additional sites
and resources below - I hope you can find a good player to suit your
needs. If anything's unclear, or you'd like further information on any
of this answer, then please don't hesitate to request clarification
before rating the answer.

Thanks, and good luck!

--seizer-ga

Resources:

CodeFreeDVD (already mentioned): http://www.codefreedvd.com
ZoneFreeDVD (already mentioned): http://www.zonefreedvd.com
Another large region free retailer: http://www.dvdcity.com
Another retailer: http://www.dvdoverseas.com/dvd.htm
A guide to choosing a player: http://www.dvdbuyingguide.com
A map of the world by DVD region:
http://www.dvdadept.com/DVD_Regions.asp

Search strategy:

region free dvd
code free dvd
dvd regions

One way to get around the PAL/NTSC discrepancy is to get a DVD player
for your computer. The drawbacks are that you may need to get a new
computer (depending on what you currently have) and of course the
picture is limited by the size of your monitor. Still, it's worth
considering.

alex_p

That depends how much money you spend:)  Digital projectors are
gorgeous (I wish my dad would lend me his to watch LotR on!) and let
you have arbitrarily large images.  On the plus side, the drive itself
is usually cheaper.

Also, PC DVD-ROM drives are also region-coded (with the usual caveat
that not all manufacturers stick to this) and even if the DVD drive is
region-unlocked, such as by flashing to a hacked firmware revision,
DVD-playing software can still read the region code and refuse to play
the DVD, though there certainly exists software without this
limitation.

For stand-alone units you should check out a manufacturer called Apex.
 They make high-quality, low-price DVD-players with "cheat" codes to
disable Macrovision, region encoding, etc.  Many will also play CDs of
MP3s and the like - if the disc fits in the drive, it will make it do
something.  You can find information online on which model to buy -
they're available at Circuit City and other electronics outlets.  I
have heard that their out-of-box failure rate is something like 30%
which makes me wonder how they stay in business.  If you get a dud,
just return it and get another until one works - then you're good. 
The Apex players were one of the first to handle notoriously
hard-to-play DVDs such as the original Matrix disc, with no issues
whatever.

For a discussion of many multi-format DVD players, see
http://www.nerd-out.com/forum

I have owned 3 Apex DVD players and found that although they can be
made to play discs from many regions, their build quality varies
greatly.  Currently, I own do-everything players from Daewoo and sold
by Sam's Club here in the USA.  Build quality and features are great!!