Deke Rivers

im looking for a good cheap all region player since my Cyberhome went belly up. Is there a hack for the JVC? I can get this model cheap but wasnt aware that it was a region free

fnordboy

You have to buy a modded version of it. Several places carry it, I recommend jvbdigital.com as that is where I got mine, but I have actually seen it cheaper. It is a costly player when compared to the Toshiba or the Cyberhome, but it is worth it IMO.

If you are looking for cheap go for the Toshiba that has been talked about on these boards.

Deke Rivers

dont see any toshiba listed in the thread..mabe I should just go for another Cyberhome . I got excited when I saw the JVC at Crutchfield for 149 .Didnt realize it had to have a chip put in it to be reg free. Thought it was a hack like the cyberhome

fnordboy

Toshiba SD3900, Region Free OOB thread:
http://dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=292253

If you are serious about region free I would recommend spending the money on a good reliable machine. I own both a Cyberhome and my JVC, I got the cyberhome as a back up and currently it is in my girlfriends apt since I turned her on to the region free world The JVC is costly but I have not had one problem with any of the discs I have thrown at it. From what I can tell the cheaper players tend to have a fair number of problem discs. (to be fair though I have had no problems with the Cyberhome either.)

Look into the Malata's they are somewhat cheaper than the JVC and are more reliable than a Cyberhome (allegedly ) or look at one of the cheaper JVC models like the 500s instead of the 600s...same exact player except no DVD-Audio support.

JVB doesnt seem to carry the 500s anymore but they have the N44 for $189. Seems like a decent player with PAL > NTSC: http://www.jvb.nl/jvb.asp?cur=2&sect...itle&title=153

Just shop around, you should find something decent.

Deke Rivers

actually the Cyberhome played all my import dvd's fine. It started having problems after it fell a short distance from the table onto its face plate. I suspect the drive itself got screwed up but since I only paid 40 bucks i would rather buy a new one than get it fixed.
I just lucke doput and found a place right near me that sells modified jvc units. The NK500 was 189 and the NK44 was 165.

fnordboy

Better luck with your next player

I love my JVC and don't think I would change to another brand anytime soon. So enjoy

Deke Rivers

which JVC do you have. I was looking at the NK44 but I can also get the 500 for 25 bucks more. I think the 500 has better prog scan but it dont matter to me as I dont have HDTV anyway

fnordboy

I have the 602 model.

stingo

I have the 602 also - the picture quality is great on it. However, it does some funky things occasionally. As with subtitles (like not turning them off, as in the case of the Phenomenon DVD) and freezing (in the case of the Mallrats DVD). On the whole though I think it's a very good player.

Deke Rivers

I picked up a code free 500 at lunch..thanks for all the input although I dont liek heariung about these little glitches with subtitles

fnordboy

I do not have either of those two DVDs, and the only one I heard about (as far as glitches) was the Mallrats disc. I don't use my JVC as my main player, only for non region 1 discs. So if the Mallrats is the R1 disc I wouldn't even have that problem.

I was going to get the 500 but then they 602 was available so I went for that instead.

Deke Rivers

yea..i figure I would use it for everything so I dont put my Philips recorder through so much wear and tear. Anyway I looked at the n44 and the I buy these off of mentioned that JVC has gone to cheaper components in the new models so I stuck with the 500. ANyway It could have been a line but for 20 some bucks more I figured what the hell

BobSolo

If your looking for a cheap, reliable multiregion player that does PAL->NTSC with no PQ loss, I bought a Memorex MVD2028 from Sears last year for $80. It works beautifully, just requires a quick region hack using the remote (see www.dvdrhelp.com) . Not sure if Sears still carries it, but you may be able to find it elsewhere.

It's progressive scan, and plays everything I've made (VCD, SVCD, home made DVD, MP3, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R & DVD-RW even DVDs with a bunch of MPEG files dumped in the root folder, you can select and view them from the on screen file system). I know there are better player out there, but it's hard to beat this at the price.

Not sure what MPEG chip it has, but the PQ it excellent.

The only thing it lacks is X-Y scaling.

Note: The box says that DTS was only available on the COAX digital output, but I tried it anyway and DTS is on the OPTICAL digital output.

Sales pitch over.

bjv

Bobsolo,
Can you check and tell me if MVD2028 takes dual power or 100V only ? I posted this question at Memorex web site and got a weird reply from their support center which had nothing to do with my question. Thnx in advance.

BJV

BobSolo

It's 120V only.