[Stampax]

Have seen the panasonic model mentioned above for a decent price, but its only region 2 - anyone know if it can be hacked?

[alefsin]

S97 is a very good DVD player. However you can't make it codefree unless you use a special chipped remote controller. If you search a bit, you can find more info in this forum. My suggestion is to forget about doing it yourself and try to look for a shop that has a codefree version of it.

[TopMeTom]

you have to get a multi-region remote mate.

www.dvdchips.co.uk

[Mark_a]

Richer Sounds are selling them multi-region for £160 at the moment. And I've just updated the firmware without mucking up the multi-region hack, so I'm quite pleased.

One thing I'm not pleased is the rigid formatting the player dictates over HDMI. What I mean is if I put in a 4:3 DVD then that's what you get. It forces the TV to 4:3 and if you try switching to a non-linear stretch mode (Superlive on my new Tosh) then all you get it a curt "Operation forbidden". You can muck about with the 4:3 switching settings on the player, but all it allows it full wide, zoom, or 4:3, no Superlive. Guess that means I'll be swapping over to component, 'cos I sure as hell ain't gonna be dictated to by a bloody DVD player how a can or can't watch my TV!

Regards

Mark