quick question?.....
 

I REALLY always loved 'only fools and horses',but, as has been mentioned before,the DVD's are formatted for region 2,I know you can mess with a lot of DVD players and change the region setting,but I was wondering if they would play in my DVD port on my computer or in my son's Playstation 2,without having to 'queek' with the settings?
Anyone know?....Thank you all.....Sophia (Illinois)

Re: quick question?.....
 

Not sure about the PS but when you put the DVD into your computer it should pop up a question at some point telling you the disc is from a different region. It will allow you to change the region so you can play the disc. You can make this choice about 5 times before the region choice becomes permanent.

This is all assuming you're running a Windows PC.

Re: quick question?.....
 

THANK YOU!!!!!!....amazon UK here I come! :) :) :)

Re: quick question?.....
 

The PS2 won't work without some major chip modifications. If you've already played US (Region 1) DVDs in your PC, it may already be stuck on R1. Some PCs are already set for it when you buy them.

I recently purchased the Phillips DVP 642, for just $70 at Target. After a few simple key presses, it now plays DVDs from anywhere (UK included) and converts from PAL (the UK TV format) to NTSC (the US format) seamlessly. Plus, then you can watch your shows on the sofa on a real telly, not a tiny PC monitor.

I spent a great weekend watching the best of Have I got News for You, Alan Partridge and Spaced, all ordered from Amazon.co.uk

Re: quick question?.....
 

There are many free software products that will allow you to change the region of PC DVD playback software at will. DVD Genie works well for most software.

Re: quick question?.....
 

My daughter sent me 'Yes Minister' DVD's. They played on my PC ok but not on my DVD player/television. I purchased like a few others on this site a DVD player from Target, reset it to play all regions and have no problems at all.

Make your DVD player, play all regions...
 

Many DVD's players can be simply changed to play all regions. Most DVD players have the ability to play all regions (they are cheaper to make that way). However, to get them to play all or specific regions you need to do simple things like power offf, power on, open tray, press 3 times, close tray and press menu. You get the idea, simple things (simple Hacks) to make a hidden menu appear.

Before you go to a store, check the devices on line for that store and see if it is hackable. Most of them are.

Go here and type the make / model into the search box, print the simple instructions and enjoy British DVD's on the cheap. 4 out of 5 plays in my house have now been "hacked".

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

Re: quick question?.....
 

They only change the windows/software region code, if the dvd drive is region fixed, it won't change regions...need to remove the region coding of the dvd drive, which can be fiddly on some newer drives, getting a hacked firmware is the usual way to remove the region setting on the drive.

Might help if OP said what the drive she had was, doing a right click and check the properties/hardware and write down what it says under the name, could get more help, might get lucky and have an easy one to fix if it's a common chip set.

Re: quick question?.....
 

:) Thank you all for your replies,I'm sure I'll be able to figure things out now,I have to admit,I asked about using the computer for watching my DVDs because (cringe!)I still have no clue how to use the VCR or the DVD players!,so I always have to wait for my husband or son to set them up for me,which is quite a pain,esp. as my husband has changed from nights to the 3-11pm shift,but,I know how to use my computer DVD and my son's PS2,sad,I know!!!! :o :o
Thanks to all again......Sophia

Re: quick question?.....
 

I think bestbuy and costco were selling a $29.95 DVD player that can be hacked. It was reall small.

Hey if you can't work a DVD player, don't mess with the PC, you might regret it if you then find you can't watch region 1 :)

Here's one for $40 at circuit city and the hack codes for it :

Desay DS-501

1 user hacks Add hack December 05, 2004 Click here for DVD Compatibility
Region code hack posted by bugmenot, December 05 2004:
1) open dvd tray
2) press "setup" on remote
3) press left arrow once to highlight "preference"
4) press 1,3,8,9 on remote
5) use up and down arrow to choose desired region

Re: quick question?.....
 

But does it convert PAL to NTSC? And I agree with you 100% - a lot easier to hack a DVD player than start messing around with your PC.

Re: quick question?.....
 

Mmm, interesting because all my TV's in my house seem to work with all my players and they are not specifically PAL - Interesting question ?

I guess for $40, try it and see.

Re: quick question?.....
 

The colby one and the philips ones do....

Re: quick question?.....
 

The Philips DVP-642 is indeed the cheapest and easiest route. The region-free hack is easy to do (search online): it involves opening the disc drawer and pressing (I think) 7-8-9-0 on the remote. That will make it a "region 0" player

I have one and it does indeed play any region's DVDs and do the PAL/NTSC (or reverse) conversion properly. It also plays DIVX/XVID files. If you're a BitTorrent person, that's pretty cool. It also handles recorded media very well.

One potential drawback: the player's video quality in progressive scan mode is terrible, I mean unwatchably jaggy. This is not a problem unless you have an HDTV and want to run it in progressive scan mode (odds are this is not you). Interlaced mode works very well.

You can find the player online for about 60 bucks.

Re: quick question?.....
 

Not that it's a problem...but no one's yet said if the philips or the colby one have the macro removed to when you do the region hack...any ideas?