[DarrenH]

Philips DVD963SA from Play.com for £139.99 delivered

Seems like a baragain to me... ordered one, now just looking for a kind soul to lend me a pronto / urc 4300 / 7560 to mod to region free!

See here for the link.

[tulloch2003]

Hi you can make it region free with it's remote m8. Forgot the numbers now.

Regards Tulloch

[DownToTheBone]

Now only £99 ...

[zAndy1]

Holy **** that is the bargain of the year, how the hell can they sell it for that price!

Andy.

So for £99.99 would you say there is anything better out there now? Or should those of us looking to buy a decent value dvd player snap this one up? I'm very interested but want to know what the people in the know think.

[zAndy1]

It's a bloody bargain for £99.99. Seriously, it's audio performance is excellent and it has SACD. It can be tweaked to improve the already good audio side of things and can be SDI modded. Do a google for it and read some of the opinions, check on avsforum. It can be hacked for multiregion and PAL progressive (think you need a pronto for the multi region but don't hold me to that).

Cheers
Andy

[jont]

I've seen conflicting data about dvd-a playback ... play.com says it does - the hcc review says it doesn't ... ???

As my AV8 only has one set of multi-channel inputs I'm looking for a good player that does sacd and dvd-a so I'll retire that part of my DV27a ...

Jon

[zAndy1]

It doesn't do dvd audio

[franc]

Hi. How does the PAL/NTSC progressive/component output compare with that of the pioneer 575?
Better?, worse? or about the same?

regards FRANC

[uretsai]

would you say this is better than the pioneer 575a?

[Parmenion]

I have owned both of these machines, although admittedly, not at the same time.

I don't think there is much in it regarding picture quality from component.

If I was pressed, I would say the pioneer had the edge.

regards

Parmenion

[jont]

Grrrr ... anyone any thoughts on a good player to do both then ?

[DarrenH]

I have to say that since posting this fantastic bargain at £140, I returned it as it was clearly a previously owned unit. But, now it's down to £99.... I have re-ordered - fantastic!

[zAndy1]

Why was it obviously preowned? Play would be on very dodgy ground if they didn't advertise it as such surely!

[Parmenion]

Derrrrrrr...........

Parmenion

[DarrenH]

The box had been re-sealed with a further bit of clear tape over the original clear tape. Also, the mains cable was not secured in the usual twisty tie wrap and was in fact tangled up in a knot. It definately looked as though it had been used to me.

However, in Play's defence, they agreed to take it back at no cost and no arguments. Now there are some who may read something else into that swift response, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt - I have never had a problem with them in the past.

[zAndy1]

hmmmmm

[CosmosD]

Received mine today and although the box appeared to have been re-sealed, all inside was perfect and as originally packaged. Got two user manuals though which is a bit strange!
P-Scan hacked-it although I have no use fo this at present, but who knows what the future holds.
Multi-Region hack to follow when I get my OneForAll remote.
I think it's a great piece of kit for the money and I'm looking forward to my first adventure with SACD.
My Thanks to O.P.

[nealgs]

got mine today in the post - usual quick delivery from play :-)

What's the P-Scan hack for then? and anyone in the Leeds area with a suitable remote that could assist with the multi-region part.

How do you find out current firmware version??

cheers
Gary

[tulloch2003]

@nealgs

Other hack posted by Boogieman, April 29 2003:
1. Regionhack Philip DVD963 SA (made on a German player - region 2 Europe 2003-04-29)
2. PAL progressive hack


1. Regionhack Philip DVD963 SA

You need an alternative remote - I used the Philips Pronto.
Other ways to enter the RCE is found here:
http://reijndert.homelinux.com/
Click "Other ways to RC6" for a list of devices You can use to achieve the same thing as point 1 - 12 in instruction below (the points where I used the pronto)

Philips Pronto as the extra remote:
1. Connect the Pronto to your PC
2. Start the Pronto Edit (I Used ver 4.0.5)
3. From the menu, select Device followed by Add Device. A new device will appear in the list on the left.
4. Go to the Device Properties for the newly added device.
5. Go to the Action tab.
6. Pus set IR
7. Push advanced
8. Click RC5/6. A new window will appear. Select RC6 mode 0.
9. Enter the value 4 at System.
10. At the Command, enter 235.
11. Press OK when you're ready.
12. To transmit the code, do NOT disconnect the Pronto from the PC, start the IR test by clicking: test IR.
13. (Key in 085 on philips remote if dashes do not apperar at once)
14. The DVD player's display will change to the dashes required for entering the region hack.
15. Enter Hack code using philips remote:
Key in the following numbers using Philips' own remote:
22 22 22 00 52 55
16. Press Play.
Your player is now region-free


Regards Tulloch

[zAndy1]

Don't you need to press PLAY after entering the 222222005255 code?

Andy

[tulloch2003]

Yes you do sorry, info all sorted now

Regards Tulloch

[zAndy1]

Ok, I've got a oneforall 7562 and am trying to do the multi region hack. I've set it to code 0539. I press DVD, Magic then enter 085 but the display doesn't change to ----- . Any idea what I might be doing wrong as I'm stumped

Cheers
Andy

[nealgs]

thanks tulloch2003, have seen that, but don't have any of the remotes mentioned in it - hence asking if anyone could assist.

Have done the p-scan hack, not had chance to test anything yet, but MR is important issue.

cheers
Gary

[zAndy1]

It's ok, sussed it out, had to enter 00085 not 085. Can take the oneforall remote I 'borrowed' from Argos back tomorrow now and get a refund!

Cheers
Andy

[tulloch2003]

Glad your all sorted zAndy1 .

Regards Tulloch

[Nic Rhodes]

These are new kit from what I have seen, I suspect that PS PAL might have been eneabled already, hence the box tape.

I think of this player as a £400 that performs well outside it's price bracket. Digital audio is between Arcam (not as good as) and the Denon 3910 / Pioneer 868 for me (better). CD is the same as a quality £300 dedicated CD player (VERY decent for DVD players). SACD is very fine as well. Component output is like good quality (on par with Denon / Pioneer etc) but the MPEG decoding is MUCH better and it is uses the DCDi chip if you like that side of thing. SDI'ed it gives the best picture I have seen from DVD (along with many others....now)

http://www.progressive-av.co.uk/dvd_players/SDI-DVD.htm

http://www.crtprojectors.co.uk/sdi_dvd.htm

This is player bundles with top CRT 9 inch projectos at £30k.

£99!! It is not the best at anything (except SDI video) but it is consistently fine in all the important areas.

[nealgs]

Originally Posted by zAndy1

Ok, I've got a oneforall 7562 and am trying to do the multi region hack. I've set it to code 0539. I press DVD, Magic then enter 085 but the display doesn't change to ----- . Any idea what I might be doing wrong as I'm stumped

Cheers
Andy

can't find that remote model on argos website, they have a one-for-all 4 way digital http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...clickfrom=name and a one-for-all 6 way remote http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...clickfrom=name

is it any of these??

cheers
Gary

[nealgs]

Well, not sure if i'm missing something or what, but for some reason i'm not getting anything on the players display panel - completely blank, no info shown at all, yet it was fine yesterday. DVDs play fine, OSD is shown fine, just display panel is blank

I wonder if they are so cheap as they are recon units??

unless some one knows how the panel can be turned on/off, the player will be going back to Play ASAP

Great start this is

Gary

[tulloch2003]

Have you turn off the display with the remote by mistake. Read the manual for this info ok.

Regards Tulloch