Portable DVD player

[Stuartpaul]

I've done a quick search but can't find anything on this subject.

We're thinking of buying a portable DVD player on our next trip, - they are quite a lot cheaper over there at the moment.

Question is will they play UK DVD's? I'm aware of this regional thing but don't really know how it operates if I'm honest.

Any help or tips appreciated.

Thanks

PS - keeps answers techy free please, - I'm a bit of a thicko at this sort of stuff!!!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

US portable DVd players will not play UK (Region 2) discs, the same way that Uk portable dvd players will not play US (Region 1 )
However, some can be "hacked" to play all regions and a few are already multi region.
You need to check on a dedicated web site before you buy the unit.
Try this site
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

 

[Aceman88888]

There are few portable dvd players around with hacks at the moment. I bought one from Tesco for an unbelievable price last month but I spend a few hours searching in vain for a region free hack.

as Obi said, do your research first as a region 1 player is virtually useless to you unless you copy and convert your dvd collection to region 0 which is another topic entirely!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Wonderful thing Google

Try here
http://www.theelectroniccompany.com/SearchResult~CategoryID~43.html

Or here
http://www.dvdcity.com/

 

[tink too]

We were shopping around for a portable DVD player in Orlando last December and found a few shops sold UK versions (region 2) as well as multi-regional (doesn't matter what "region" is on the DVD box - it'll play them!) We didn't buy one though as the prices for these were about the same as home.

Decided to save the space in our luggage for more Souvenirs!

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Be careful that the US players have the capability to decode PAL video (this is different to being multi regional and the ability of the display to cope).
My first DVD player was a US Magnavox player, which I bought because DVD players werent actualy available in the UK at the time (except for silly money from specialist retailers).....Once I had chipped it to make it multi-regional, and hooked it up to a decent TV, the player, although it got past the region 2 issue once chipped, it couldnt physicaly cope with any PAL encoding and wouldnt play the disks....Similarly, my uncle bought a Samsung 709, which was one of the first popular easily hacked (ie non chipped) machines. He bought the US model for use in his Orlando home, but once he remote hacked it, that too would not play PAL disks, again, not a problem with the region.

I looked last trip at the prices of the portable dvd players over there, and found them to be more expensive than here. If you check money saving expert regularly, you can find some good deals...there was some 7" models at Somerfields recently for about 60 quid.

 

[wicket2005]

Another idea is to get the Sony PSP. If you bought one in America it would only play Region 1 UMD discs.

The advantage the PSP is that it is a lot smaller than other portable players. A disadvantage for playing movies though is you have to buy special UMD discs to play on it. You can use programmes to copy your own dvds on the computer then transfer them to a memory stick but you need a large memory stick to get the best quality picture.

The PSP is also a games machine, music player, photo displayer and you can browse the net on it wirelessly.

 

[rpbert1]

try
www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk
remote hacks available on this site but i have found there are not to many available for portable dvds