Multi Region Blu Player recommendations.

FullerAwesome

Established Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
604
Reaction score
50
Points
200
Location
Gloucester
Hey folks,

With the super awesome editions of both Avengers and Walking Dead on the horizon and available only in the states, I'm considering getting a multi region blu ray player. Can anyone recommend one? Not looking to spend too much.

Also, is there any downfalls with owning one? 3D etc work the same?

Cheers.
 
More expensive than the Toshiba, but you could look here.
 
If I buy a Panasonic 220 or 320 in the US and bring it back here is it relatively easy to convert to MR (BR and DVD) or am I asking for trouble? I just don't understand why the retail cost (from Amazon) is double here than in the US for the same product!
 
I just don't understand why the retail cost (from Amazon) is double here than in the US for the same product!
UK Amazon prices includes sales tax (VAT) and presumably take into account the costs of better consumer protection laws over here. Also, another website deals in useful firmwares. That said, BD players can be so inexpensive these days that importing a mid-range player surprises me.
 
Thanks. Irrespective of VAT the Panasonic 220 is around £160 in the UK and only $114 in the US ! I'm actually going to the US which is the only reason I'd consider importing one. I actually think £160 is hugely expensive for a mid range player - the fact they can sell it for £70 approx and still make money makes me feel I'm being ripped off.
 
Yes, but the UK price includes extras I presume: FWIW I bought a 220 from Richer Sounds at the weekend for £165 including their 5 years warranty and the MR (but not the MZ) mod.
 
Thanks - strange on Amazon now the 320 is cheaper than the 220 or nearly the same price.
I guess a 5 year warranty is worth quite a lot.
 
Hey folks,

With the super awesome editions of both Avengers and Walking Dead on the horizon and available only in the states, I'm considering getting a multi region blu ray player. Can anyone recommend one? Not looking to spend too much.

Also, is there any downfalls with owning one? 3D etc work the same?

Cheers.

just a quick word of warning when shopping around so you don't get caught out like I (almost) did.

For multi-region Blu-Ray the various vendors tend almost invariably use the term "Multi-zone". If they list a player as "Multi-region" that just means it plays region 1 and region 2 DVDs which is much easier to do and much cheaper and is available on a lot more models than multi-zone Blu-Ray is. I nearly got caught out a couple of times by not reading the wording and small print VERY carefully.
 
For multi-region Blu-Ray the various vendors tend almost invariably use the term "Multi-zone".
Which is how it should be given that BDs are divided by zone and DVDs by region coding.
 
So buying a BD in the US would likely mean I could only play US zone or what they confusingly call Region free blue rays and region 1 dvds. Getting it converted to MR would mean any dvds, getting it converted to MZ as well (assume more expensive) would mean it would play any zone Blue rays as well as any region dvds.........
I think.
 
Which is how it should be given that BDs are divided by zone and DVDs by region coding.

Agreed, but the very title of this thread (and numerous others like it) show that as far as most are concerned the subtle difference hasn't been noted - which is why I brought it up :)
 
Hi Guys

Think you may be missing a trick here, while DVD's are nearly all region coded, most (but not all) BluRay discs are not, no matter what it says on the box. I've many BluRays from the States which all happily play on my Oppo (only region de-coded for DVD's).
Sods law though says that the one film you want is coded as region A........
 
There is another factor which may (I say may because I don't know the specs for any particular machine) come into play here, as regards importing a machine from the USA - aside from any warranty and/or customs duties and/or voltage issues...and that is the good old PAL vs. NTSC question.

It's quite possible that a US sourced machine will have no support for SD PAL video. That would render any European DVD unplayable. And, some European BDs have PAL (SD) material on them; they too might be either wholly or partly unplayable. That's all, of course, entirely divorced from the Region and Zone compatibility question.
 
Also, some US players can't reproduce 1080i50 BD content including popular BBC titles, again irrespective of zone coding. Given that perfectly good UK spec players with warranty are available for <<£100, importing a US player to save money strikes me as little return for the effort.
 
Well I think I have my answer, many thanks for your help. To clarify I was only referring to Panasonic players re the price differential, no idea if this is an anomaly or if other makes have the same price differences.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom