Sony VGP-XL1B2 DVD Changer

Endeavour

Established Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
254
Reaction score
5
Points
112
Location
Chester UK
Sony have made good on their promise to make this 200 DVD changer unit available as a separate item. It costs $799 on their own website. It is a firewire attached device and should work on non-sony MCE devices.

What I am not sure about is how well it would work with a UK MCE machine. For example, what is the situation with regional coding, power supplies etc. Has anyone come across any information about this. Also could the disk library can be accessed over a network by other MCE machines.

It seems an attractive option for those of us who are too old to want to spend our last days creating images of our DVD collection! Sony says you can daisy chain them too but I am not sure whether MCE will cope with this.
 
I don't think this will work too well with Region 2 discs, as MCE and WMP do not retrieve info about region 2 discs only region 1. Therefore you would have to enter all the details about your discs manualy:thumbsdow

Of course that is assuming it will even play region 2 discs.
 
I seriously doubt it'll play any PAL discs.
 
:thumbsup: :clap:

Hi

We have today installed configured and got working a VGP-XL1B with MCE on an Artisan PC it does play UK Region 2 disks.

Took quite a bit of work but with a little help from Microsoft we got there.

Couple of quirks mainly the lack of DVD entries in the AMG database but Microsoft are working on this.

Effectively it will index the disk title but cannot currently retrieve info such as cover art and other media info.

We are looking at a matching database but doubt it will be required as we fully expect AMG/Microsoft to beat us to it.

I hope the following isnt breaching any forum guidelines, if so please let me know or move to appropriate location.

We are importing these and configuring power and offering a service to modify MCE for those not confident with the process.

Will post further details if acceptable/required.

A:thumbsup:
 
Good work! Will it play all regions, or is a case of choosing region 1 or 2 etc?
 
:) Chiswick its either or on the region, the products a little new for an all region although it is mentioned in the manual so who knows what we may discover.

We have another unit on its way and will endeavour to see whether you could stack one up with Region 1 disks and the other with region 2.

You can daisy chain 5 together for a total capacity of 1000 DVD's.

Cant see that happening though !

A
 
adamkent said:
You can daisy chain 5 together for a total capacity of 1000 DVD's.

Cant see that happening though !

Why can't you see that happening?
Is it for some technical reason?
Or is it just that you think 1000 is a lot?

Personally I already have around 600 DVDs so 1000 doesn't sound improbable to me.
 
The Crow

No problem with it working with five changers you will need a very big rack though !!

I have another five on the water look great in the lounge :thumbsup:

Cheers
 
Adamkent;

Did you manage to get any more into the country?
 
Sorry about late reply we have just taken delivery of another 25 units.

A
 
I have 2 VGP-XL1B2 DVD Changers connected to Sony VAIO digital living system w/Pentium D processor 2gb ram. The system worked great w/one changer connected. It worked so well that I purchased another changer & daisy chained them together which Sony states is supported. However, I have had nothing but problems with the changers since I have done this. Sometimes the system only sees one changer, or I reboot and it sees both but will not load any dvd's or dvd's not found or the library info disappears. If i connect either one of them solo they work fine. I am not sure if the problem is with the firmware which I upgraded from Sony or MCE 2005 which already has rollup 2 installed. Anyone have any suggestions? In the meantime, I keep trying to speak to someone at Sony which takes at least 15 minutes of menus without any luck.
 
I recently imported a Sony VGP-XL1B changer/Recorder from the states and got it setup and almost full of standard region 2 DVD's in less than 3 hours. The thing is that I expected a list of DVD titles to choose from as indicated by other post's reviews I had read, which I was willing to put up with until the online database got sorted out. However the system is displaying cover art and data on most of my DVD's.

Out of 175 DVD's the system failed to recognise 2 (Mimic and Mimic2) the rest were OK apart from about 15 where the system comes back with cover data but no cover art.
 
Hi,

Just recently brought the Sony VGP-XL1B2 and when I try and play a DVD using PowerDVD the application plays then stops after a minute (Plays the first title/track)

Has anyone been able to

a) made the Sony device Region Free (Firmware Upgrade???)
b) Made backups using DVD Shrink or something else with both Region 1&2 DVDs
c) Reason for B above is to convert to MPE4 to view on iPod

When ever I use dvd Region free or AnyDVD the Medie Center crashes (Doesnt Respond)


Does anyone know of a company that could maybe make the DVD Organiser DVD Region FREE?

Many Thanks
 
I had been thinking of ripping to Harddisk until I spotted this forum talk about the Sony DVD Changer. It sounds like the perfect solution to the problem of what to do with all my DVDs.

Do you mind if I ask who you imported it from ? a lot of companies don't seem to want to export from the US. Ideally some who will ship to Ireland.
Did you need to do anything to get it to read Region 2 DVDs ?
Do you need a power converter or is it happy with 240v.

Kind Regards

Cynic1
 
cycnic pm me regards

Adam
 
We now have several of these left in stock at circa £200+vat and shipping. Brand unopened but no warranty.
 
:thumbsup: :clap:

Hi

We have today installed configured and got working a VGP-XL1B with MCE on an Artisan PC it does play UK Region 2 disks.

Took quite a bit of work but with a little help from Microsoft we got there.

Couple of quirks mainly the lack of DVD entries in the AMG database but Microsoft are working on this.

Effectively it will index the disk title but cannot currently retrieve info such as cover art and other media info.

We are looking at a matching database but doubt it will be required as we fully expect AMG/Microsoft to beat us to it.

I hope the following isnt breaching any forum guidelines, if so please let me know or move to appropriate location.

We are importing these and configuring power and offering a service to modify MCE for those not confident with the process.

Will post further details if acceptable/required.

A:thumbsup:
Do you still have new units available and can you explain what has to be done to use Region 2discs.
 
The last post in this thread was nearly 2 years ago and if there was/ is any items for sale than you will have to wait for them to appear in the classified foru s as selling out side of the classified forums is not allowed.

Curly
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom