Anybody got a recommendation for a good 3D Region A player that can be ordered from the USA (or UK although that seems unlikely) and which won't need a transformer to run on a UK power supply?
Some background to my question....
My "multi-region" Panasonic DMP-BD80 player is pretty much useless after not much more than a year's usage. With the benefit of hindsight I made a couple of bad decisions when buying this player:
(a) I didn't check that this was an upgrade that would survive firmware upgrades. It may be a coincidence but since I had problems with the "Star Trek:TNG" sampler Blu-Ray on advice here I updated the firmware and it's only since then it seems to be broken with most new Blu-rays (either displays "Stop" or "Can't read disk" or with some new Region 2 typically plays 10 mins then freezes or goes pixelated or audio disappears) For me this player is now pretty much toast although there are a few hardy perennial Region 0 and Region 1 discs it plays perfectly which is what makes me think this isn't just the laser head packing up. The region switch is through a rather annoying "Power it down and select the region on the remote while powered down" selection process which is time consuming and never feels 100% certain (if it's powered down how's it receiving the infrared code change request?)
(b) I ordered the player from the USA. This meant it came with an ugly and often noisy 120v/240v step-up transformer.
My preferred replacement deck is the Panasonic DMP BDT-500 but none of the usual sources that guarantee something that's firmware upgrade -proof do a multi-region version (yet) and I can't wait in the hope that one day they'll get their act together.
I've therefore decided to go for the UK DMP BDT-500 now and buy a separate player for my Region 1 discs. Hopefully that will avoid any nasty firmware upgrade issues. It seems to be the best "hassle free" option now that I've got quite a library of Region 1 only discs.
On another forum thread someone's mentioned getting a Region 1 player from Richer Sounds for £50 - that seems ridiculously cheap and on the basis of "you get what you pay for" I'm not sure I want to consider that as an option. This is a relatively high-end set-up. I'd also like the player to be 3D if possible - but I don't want an ugly step-up transformer.
I had a quick look on Amazon but of course they just say they can't ship any Region 1 items to your destination.
Some background to my question....
My "multi-region" Panasonic DMP-BD80 player is pretty much useless after not much more than a year's usage. With the benefit of hindsight I made a couple of bad decisions when buying this player:
(a) I didn't check that this was an upgrade that would survive firmware upgrades. It may be a coincidence but since I had problems with the "Star Trek:TNG" sampler Blu-Ray on advice here I updated the firmware and it's only since then it seems to be broken with most new Blu-rays (either displays "Stop" or "Can't read disk" or with some new Region 2 typically plays 10 mins then freezes or goes pixelated or audio disappears) For me this player is now pretty much toast although there are a few hardy perennial Region 0 and Region 1 discs it plays perfectly which is what makes me think this isn't just the laser head packing up. The region switch is through a rather annoying "Power it down and select the region on the remote while powered down" selection process which is time consuming and never feels 100% certain (if it's powered down how's it receiving the infrared code change request?)
(b) I ordered the player from the USA. This meant it came with an ugly and often noisy 120v/240v step-up transformer.
My preferred replacement deck is the Panasonic DMP BDT-500 but none of the usual sources that guarantee something that's firmware upgrade -proof do a multi-region version (yet) and I can't wait in the hope that one day they'll get their act together.
I've therefore decided to go for the UK DMP BDT-500 now and buy a separate player for my Region 1 discs. Hopefully that will avoid any nasty firmware upgrade issues. It seems to be the best "hassle free" option now that I've got quite a library of Region 1 only discs.
On another forum thread someone's mentioned getting a Region 1 player from Richer Sounds for £50 - that seems ridiculously cheap and on the basis of "you get what you pay for" I'm not sure I want to consider that as an option. This is a relatively high-end set-up. I'd also like the player to be 3D if possible - but I don't want an ugly step-up transformer.
I had a quick look on Amazon but of course they just say they can't ship any Region 1 items to your destination.