How can you find out if your Dvd Player pLays Region 1 dvds?

I've always used http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers to research
specific dvd player models to see their compatibility with different
pieces of media. Just type in your specific model number and you'll
get information like whether it can play vcd,svcd,xvcd,xsvcd, and
whether it is capable of a region hack. Most DVD players are locked
into a single region (usually where you bought it). Certain players
such as Apex's have region hacks which are button codes that unlock
the ability to play all regions.

An explanation of this is more clearly explained at
http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.10 . The DVD probably says
somewhere in the documentation what region it is as well. If you live
in the United States, any DVD player bought here will play region 1.
Anyway I hope that helped.