daveh Posted January 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2003 The portable players are way too expensive. Walmart offering 4 inch Initial player $197, 6 inch player $299. These likely play only region 1 U.S. discs (if disc is encoded) and have Macrovision, to prevent copying dvd's. However since Initial brand is made in China with other names such as Mintek, Shinsonic, there might be firmware available on the internet to remove the "undesirable" features. Since these dvd players are sold in many countries, sometimes all that's needed is a secret remote control code. How nice of the Chinese manufacturers to put in a hidden way of fixing the problem. Just need to find the factory page code. I recently bought a Cyberhome 500 DVD table model player for $50 that can turn off these features using its remote. See http://www.nerd-out.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarisin Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 I thought the prices were outrageous too. If you find a portable that can be purchased and then monkeyed with to play anything, please let me know. I guess I will have to wait until next year when I am in the US to buy one. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 Phantip had a few for around 5700bht before haggling, just for a DVD player. The separate Casio monitor was another 5000bht++ depending on size. Sort of klunky, but a decent picture. Was told it would only play Asia region DVDs. Did hear about a downloadable program that you can burn onto a disc and then play in your DVD that is supposed to remove the region code. Not sure if it will work or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh Posted January 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 In U.S. you can get several table model DVD players that are made in China that can be made region free and VCR friendly (Macrovision can be turned off). Can get such players now for as low as $50. For "update" they use secret code on remote or by downloading firmware off internet and burning a CD. Most of these players conveniently are 120-220V, NTSC/PAL. Alot of these being bought by European visitors and carried back with them. As far as the portables with screen, so far I have not found any that can be updated as yet. Possible with some of the portables without screen, but to be more useful, you would need to add a battery pack and monitor. I think sooner or later we will see portable players with screen getting cheaper, better and hopefully with the update possibility. Another portable possibility is to get a laptop computer with DVD player installed. Maybe you can find a used one somwwhere at a good price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 Interested in what you said about DVD's. Did you mean that all DVD's have Thai subtitles on them? If so can this be turned off in the menu? Taipan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 I saw a portable DVD player in the Uk prior to Christmas for under STG £500.00 it was the size of a paperback book with an excellent screen, from memory the screen size was about 4" x 6". The shop was Dixons but I have been unable to find it on their web site, I think it was made by Sharp. Quite expensive but cheaper than Panasonic and a very neat size. Taipan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarisin Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 OH, I have a pretty good DVD player now that plays everything hooked up to my TV. I was looking for a portable DVD player with a built-in screen for travel that would not cost an arm and a leg. Having dual voltage or 220v would be a plus. Based on the information provided by dave and my personal research, I have concluded the LOS is not the place to buy one of these. It sounds like the US is the best bet. However, dave, I like your idea about just getting a better laptop - I need to upgrade anyway. But, what about the picture/sound quality on a laptop vs. one of those portable DVD players? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 The only thing about buying it in the USA might be that it will onlt have 110 volts not dual. How about Singapore or HK if you are travellein as they will have all the latest Panasonic gear. I would love to have one for travelling but I shudder at the thought of lashing out close to STG £900.00 for some thing I will only use while flying. I think you will find exactly what you are looking for on this link: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/product/portabledvd/ Taipan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh Posted January 11, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 Panasonic and the other big Japanese brands make good stuff but unfortunately they are difficult to make region free and for North American markets, to get rid of Macrovision, which prevents running video thru a VCR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh Posted January 11, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 Subtitling depends on the type of DVD that you buy. If the disc supports it, you can select a subtitle language on the player or delete it. As most of my DVD's are from Philippines, I don't know if Thai language can be turned on and off in Thai DVD's. Often DVD's are modified to have actors "speaking" in Thai or else they put Thai script into the bottom of the picture. This probably can't be eliminated when playing the disc. When I buy VCD's, on the bottom of the packaging there is usually a marking that says if video has Thai script. This means that the actors are speaking original language with subtitle in Thai. So to get English speaking etc, you are stuck with a Thai subtitle. Good for learning Thai script though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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