I posted some questions about this a while back, but thought I'd revisit the subject. Is anyone currently usuing a hacked or chipped dvd unit to play region free. I've seen several gray market units on the web that are completely region free with PAL to NTSC/NTSC to PAL auto conversion but somehow Codefree is just not a brandname I can trust. My friends over in Blighty have a chipped unit they bought directly from a reputable store, but haven't played in reg.1 dvd's on it There's a whole shiteload of reg.2 dvds that I'm fairly confident will never see the light of day in the US ("Spaced" being #1 on the list) that I'd like to get a hold of. Anyhoo, anyone actually usuing one of these renegade units?"
Yeah, I'm using an Audiovox portable player, that can also be plugged in on my home TV's. I converted it using a remote control code off of one of those hack-sites in about 30 seconds, and it works perfectly on all discs from all regions. I have a friend who converts Apex players that you can buy in supermarkets and odd-lot stores for $39 the same way and gives them to friends who now think he's a high-roller/superhack. My conversion was worth it just so I can play the 2 disc set of "24 Hour Party People" that's only available in Europe. Having a region free player makes HMV kiosks in European airports like amusement parks for me.
I use a Phillips DVD 724. http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdhacks.php?dvdplayer=Philips+DVD+724&listall=List+All+Alphabetical It's a great machine that plays every disc I've ever tried in it. I have probably 15 DVDs from England and have viewed several other regions but I don't own them. Never had a problem. This thing is designed to play any kind of playable disc out there, so once I made it region free, it's unstopable. All I had to do was set the hack one time (press 1 four times) and I have been region free permanantly ever since. When I want to watch a disc from another region, I sometimes have to adjust the PAL setting, but not always. As soon as I see the disc not playing right, I just switch from one to the other on the remore. It's extremely easy to use.