# Help Me Find a New DVD Player!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-new-dvd-player/225519
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 21, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-new-dvd-player/225519 "2004-01-21T22:23:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-new-dvd-player/225519/1 "2004-01-21T22:23:04Z")
I searched the boards for this, but all of threads were kind of old, and a lot of the models listed there have been discontinued.
Anyway, I’m looking to find a fairly cheap (i.e., under $100) that will allow me to play damn near any DVD available. In particular, I want it to be 1) Region free, and 2) Able to play a PAL DVD on my NTSC TV.
First, out of curiosity, is it legal for a US retailer to sell a region free player? If not, then change criterion 1) to “Easy to make region free”. As I understand it, it’s certainly not illegal for an owner to make his/her own personal player region free, so I don’t think I’m breaking any board rules in asking for a specific model that makes this easy. (BTW, I’m not also asking for instructions on HOW to make it region free; if you can point me to a specific model, I think I oughtta be able to find a way). Also, I’ve heard some talk that making a player region free can also cause it to be unable to play certain (newer?) DVDs. How common a problem is that?
Second, I want it to be able to convert PAL to NTSC on the fly. In general, do players that do this also speed up the playback by 4%, or do they adjust for that as well? If it is speeded up, is the 4% particularly noticable?
If anybody can point me in the direction of any specific models that match up, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks for all your help!
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### Author:  [@np\_complete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/np_complete)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-new-dvd-player/225519/2 "2004-01-22T05:20:42Z")
[http://www.dvdrhelp.com](http://www.dvdrhelp.com) provides user reviews for many models and lets you search on features such as “PAL to NTSC/NTSC to PAL”. They also feature user-provided “hacks” for region manipulation and macrovision, though they do not evaluate these for accuracy.
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### Author:  [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-new-dvd-player/225519/3 "2004-01-22T17:27:17Z")
Thanks for the link **np\_complete** , that’s a helpful site!
Anyone else out there have a particular brand/model to recommend?