DVD/Hollywood/Protection! consider this

[djmorgan]

I decided I needed a second DVD for my study already having a top of the line Philips which I had to hack to make region free I expected that I would need to do the same to the new player but NO.

DVD'd now coming out of China are ALL region free and have no macrovission implemented not only that they are 1/3 the price of traditional DVD's and have added features like MP3 playback etc.

Let's see if Hollywood can tweak the nose of china, I live in a country (Australia) that supports copyright protection yet is wanting to do away with regions, so don't really know if the macrovission thing fell through the cracks of the Government in taking it as a package.. However, these DVD's "Conia" are great, been running mine now for 3 weeks and have to tell ya, it's just as good if not better than the Phillips, yes DD/DTS of course.

I did research before I bought being very wary in that you only get what you pay for OR maybe I've been paying too much from the start!!!!

But a lot of electronics are starting to come out of china, all cheap as chips and good quality, this maybe the start of how Japan started.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

I bought a conia a few months ago. As you mentioned it plays all regions. It also has a vidoe out feature & if you copy the dvd to tape you cannot see the difference. When we bought it the salesman said that both these features were illegal & that in China they shut down one factory & another pops up elsewhere. Doesn't seem to stop them selling them though.

 

[Gnu]

From what I understand, region locks are illegal in NZ. The Aussies are nearly as lucky ... the Philips player my fiancee purchased retail in Oz -- the very same model as one of my NTSC players purchased in America -- is not only region-free, but PAL/NTSC, as well. You can't buy that sort of stuff off the shelf here. Paid roughly the same for it, too, even post-GST.

 

[djmorgan]

I don't think they are illigal here as they are sold by major retailers and given our over zealous customs department they would not have got off the docks if they contravened some law or regulation.