# Which DVD players unlock these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dvd-players-unlock-these-days/217425 "2003-12-06T20:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dvd-players-unlock-these-days/217425/1 "2003-12-06T20:24:11Z")
For Christmas I’d like a DVD player, but I have 2 movies from Germany (and I plan on getting some more), so I will need it to be region unlockable. Does anyone know, off the top of their heads, any players that are on sale now are unlockable? Please don’t do any research!!! That is my responsibility. I’m just wondering if anyone has a quick answer. And to anyone who’s interested in unlocking their DVD player, this site is great. My problem is that it takes a while for someone to find and post a crack. [www.regionfreedvd.net](http://www.regionfreedvd.net) ---
**Author:** ![ubermensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bcef8e/32.png) [@ubermensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ubermensch)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dvd-players-unlock-these-days/217425/2 "2003-12-06T23:31:14Z")
try [www.vcdhelp.com](http://www.vcdhelp.com) they’ve got great reviews of most dvd players, IIRC ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dvd-players-unlock-these-days/217425/3 "2003-12-07T11:34:13Z")
Most of the inexpensive Chinese players (Apex, Cyberhome, etc) can be hacked for region-free DVD viewing. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dvd-players-unlock-these-days/217425/4 "2003-12-07T12:54:33Z")
I recently read up about this and I might not remember everything clearly, but there are dvd players that are not regional specific. The problem is, dvd manufacturers have rigged dvds to NOT work on these machines - sort of like copy protection. European TV uses a different standard which is incompatible with U.S. TV. DVD players use a specific standard. Go to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and look at any DVD, scroll down to product details and there should be a clicky for dvd formats. ---
**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dvd-players-unlock-these-days/217425/5 "2003-12-07T14:19:17Z")
There’s a player that Walmart has been carrying up here, the Norcent DP215, which is very inexpensive and completely region-free. It even has a switch right on it so that you don’t have to have a special TV to play other regions-- the player does the conversion. A number of my friends have them and say they work very well (they’re about six months old now, and have had no problems). I’ve been trying to get my hands on one for a while, but Walmart actually having stock has never coincided with me having money.