Highstreet multi-region player

[ginuwineke]

Hi everybody,

it's been a while since I've posted here (so long actually I had to create a new account due to the change in forum platform). Have been living abroad for almost a decade and finally returning to the UK soon so I could do with some "local" advice.

I will be looking to buy a new Blu-ray player when I'm back in London. Ideally I want a dual HDMI model as my AVR is stuck with HDMI 1.3 and by no means in need of replacement. I know this will immediately take me into higher tier model territory, but after the relocation won't have money laying around for an Oppo so currently looking at Pioneer, Sony or Panasonic. (Bad experiences with Samsung and never buying a player of them again.)

My main question is for any tips on where I could buy a region free player (regardless of which model I end up going for - though any advise on twin HDMI models is welcome too!) in the London highstreet? Minimum requirement is region free DVD playback as about 50% of my collection is non-R2. Multizone BD playback would be a bonus but not a necessity as I've been careful picking those up while abroad and most I own are A/B/C encoded.

Thanks for your time and advice.

 

[bigboss]

Few Richer Sounds outlets in London still have this in stock:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/blu-ray/panasonic/dmpbdt460/pana-dmpbdt460

Ask them about multiregion for DVDs, otherwise use this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-DVD-Blu-ray-player-multi-region-hack-remote-/110602620681?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19c06e0f09

Your alternative is this:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/blu-ray/pioneer/bdp450/pion-bdp450

Again, you can use this to make it multiregion:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pioneer-DVD-Blu-ray-player-multi-region-hack-remote-/120651207588?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c175f53a4

 

[bigboss]

Few Richer Sounds outlets in London still have this in stock:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/blu-ray/panasonic/dmpbdt460/pana-dmp...

Ask them about multiregion for DVDs, otherwise use this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-DVD-Blu-ray-player-multi-region-hack...

Your alternative is this:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/blu-ray/pioneer/bdp450/pion-bdp450

Again, you can use this to make it multiregion:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pioneer-DVD-Blu-ray-player-multi-region-hack-r...

Links now active for you.

 

[bigboss]

If you can go to Peterborough, you can get players multiregion for DVDs as well as blu rays:

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=159

 

[bigboss]

If you can go to Peterborough, you can get players multiregion for DVDs as well as blu rays:

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=159

Link now active.

 

[ginuwineke]

Thanks BigBoss!

Have read quite a few opinions of Panasonic users that find it very noisy (sadly enough something that is almost never mentioned in "pro" reviews), so might look at the Pioneer instead (despite it having its own issues).

Thank you for the links to region free solutions. Much appreciated.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Hello ginuwineke,

You won't go wrong if you follow bigboss's pretty detailed advice. And good on you for acknowledging his help, so many new people to the forum ask for advice but after getting advice, never reply to say "Thank you".

Have fun with your new blu-ray purchase, whatever it is! I myself have, in the last three months, bought two 3D Blu-Ray players on eBay - the Sony BDP-S570 for £66, and the Denon BDP-2012 (after a bidding war in the last thirty seconds) for £147.

 

[bigboss]

My previous Panasonic BD60 wasn't that noisy. Panasonic 460 is better built than the budget ones. This reviewer says that the tray mechanism is quiet:

https://www.avforums.com/review/panasonic-bdt460-dmp-bdt460-blu-ray-player-review.10421

Pioneer users have reported playback issues and now Pioneer has completely left AV business.

Personally, I would trust Oppo, Sony and Panasonic with regular firmware updates compared to other manufacturers. I don't think Sony has any model with twin HDMI.

 

[ginuwineke]

Mmm, might have to reconsider that Panasonic then. It was my first choice until I came across a thread (can't find it now, of course) with people having some issues with the player even after having swapped it for a new one at the shop. Problems (apart from the noisy fan/operation during playback) were inconsistent disc loading: the navigational video that leads to the menu would play, but then the menu options would not appear at all. I recall there were quite a number of different big titles listed (including The Hobbit and True Detective) and the general consensus was the only "cure" was unplugging it and turning it back on and hope for the best (as the same disc would render menus on different occasions).

That's what put me off the Pana to begin with. Everything else looks great.

Thank you for pointing out Pioneer has left the AV business. I had no idea?! So they are just selling off stock now? Or is it like Yamaha players that's just third party housed in branded exterior?

Sony used to have the BDP-S790 that had dual HDMI and got rave reviews, but I've found it impossible to come across any leftover stock (and not keen on getting it secondhand).

 

[bigboss]

Pioneer has sold its AV business to Onkyo. So you will still see Pioneer brand, although made by Onkyo. The 450 is made by Pioneer.

Sony S790 is a 3-year old model, so you're unlikely to find any in the shops.

 

[ginuwineke]

I pulled the trigger on the Panasonic DMP-BDT460 and couldn't be happier with it. Excellent, detailed picture and 3D as well as punchy, well controlled sound. Player did act up a little with Iron Man 3 3D, doing something weird on the Panasonic home screen when the disc was inserted and read, but on problems playing back the disc after that. Maybe it was the player switching from 2D to 3D mode.

Haven't sat through an entire movie yet, but sampled some scenes and so far the player is nice and quiet during operation as well.

I have a OneForAll remote laying round and tried the Panasonic hack to make it DVD region free but to no avail. Does anybody know if this model can be hacked with a universal remote? Or do I need to purchase one of those service remotes like the one BB linked to before? (Just making sure I can't hack it with what I've got at hand.)

Thanks again for your input.

 

[bigboss]

Did you ask your retailer if they could make it multiregion for you?

 

[ginuwineke]

I did but they couldn't/don't do that.

It's okay, I can just buy the service remote off of eBay and be done with it Was just hoping the OneForAll hack would work with this Panasonic too as I've that remote at hand so I could get everything sorted out over the weekend. No worries.

 

[bigboss]

If you return that ebay remote to the seller after making your player multiregion, you'll get £3 back. So the cost of multiregion will be less than £10. I would, however, suggest you keep the remote, just in case a firmware update disables its multiregion capability.

 

[ginuwineke]

Yes, ordered and planning on keeping the remote. Already received a new firmware on the Panasonic (dated 2 April) so they're on the money with those and like you said one of them might remove the RF in the future.