DVD Regions - Any Workaround?

The British are always talking about multi-region mods in their magazines. It seems that the British do not think that buying a single region DVD player is a good idea. Some players have chips that are replaceable, others have sets of switches or leads that can be cut. You need someone who knows how to modify your specific DVD player.

Since modifying DVD players is so popular in the U.K., there may be some resources on the internet that tell you how to do it for your player. Try this search:
Go to google.com and click on the advanced search
Restrict the domain to co.uk
Search for DVD hacks

It would probably be easier to buy a multi-region or U.K. region DVD player from a U.K. source than to modify your existing player. Amazon.co.uk sells multi-region players but they are restricted to shipping them the U.K. or Ireland. They may sell and ship a U.K. region player to you though. You may want to pick up a magazine like What Hi-Fi and call some of the big electronics mail order advertisers. I don't think you'll find it too difficult to find one who will ship you a multi-region player, or maybe a U.K. player that is easy to modify. If the only foreign DVD's you want to play are from the U.K., then I think a U.K. region player would be the cheapest and easiest route.

Search "region free"under home audio dvd players on E Bay for a player.Cheap!Click descriptions also.

The chipping of a DVD player is a pretty simple process-I would imagine it could be done by any knowledgeable tech in the States for not much more than $60.
It's not that the Brits don't fancy a single region machine-it's just that it gives you a limited option when buying software-it's actually just as cheap or even cheaper to import an American disc,usually the American discs have more features,certainly a bigger back catalogue and usually less edits by the censor.
It's not as common but you still get some movies released officially on DVD in the States before they hit the cinema in the UK!
We are catching up though....

There are many companies that sell and modify DVD players and some mods are as simple as just flashing the EPROM with a CDR. I have an inexpensive Sampo codefree PAL/NTSC player because there are a lot of DVD music videos that aren't available in the US. I recently purchased from New Zealand The Millenium Bell and Tubular Bells II and III in concert. Both are exceptional. It looked as though there must have been close to a million people at the Millenium Bell show in Berlin. Try these sites; http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/index.html
http://www.codefreedvd.com/
http://www.area450.com/

Robt.

Thanks guys for the advice. I'll look into the above options. Cheers,
John.