Buying a new DVD Player

[teddymeow]

Hi all,

I've got a Samsung HD850 standard def DVD player which upscales to 1080i. Recently however the thing has started to get all funny taking ages to load, refusing to read, freezing and so on.

My thoughts were just to buy another standard def DVD player to replace it but then I thought "why not buy an HD-DVD player which would upscale standard DVDs and then pick up a load of HD-DVDs on the cheap?"

The issue is that I own a lot of Region 1 & 2 DVDs. I know that the HD-DVDs are region free but is it possible to hack the firmware on an HD-DVD player to allow it to play multi-region DVDs?

Which would be the best HD-DVD player to buy? I've not paid too much attention to the Toshiba format as I instantly sided with teh Blu-ray.

Thanks for any help.

Teddy.

EDIT: Amazon have got the Toshiba HD-EP30 for £120! Is this any good?

[[nothing]]

There is firmware available (downloadable) to make the XE1 and the E1/EP10 region free (including playback of RCE discs). Works very well, I own an E1, very happy with playback and upscaling.

The EP30/35 haven't yet got the firmware hack to make them multi-region. I would have thought it would come eventually though.

Shop around, I think you can get an EP10 for less than £99 these days. Keep an eye on ebay too.

[nonny]

The XE1 is an amazing upscaling DVD player due to the chip in it (REON I think it is). I think the EP10 uses the same but I would check.

I didnt pick one up when they were at run out prices but I've seen a mates in action and it really is a great player, plus of course you get HD DVD playback as well.

Well worth it if the price doesnt outweigh just a standard DVD player on its own.

[charlesr]

Is your TV exact resolution e.g. 1920x1080 or 1280x720 pixels? If so, then an upscaling DVD player that does 720p or 1080p would be useful. If it's another resolution e.g. 768 then just get a 480p dvd player and let the TV do the scaling. Otherwise, you'll be scaling twice. At least this is what I read on avforums. Don't know if it'll make any difference in real life.

[teddymeow]

I've got a Sony Bravia KDL-46W2000U so it is exact 1920 x 1080.

I was thinking o the HD-DVD route so I'd have a great upscaling player and the chance to pick up some cheap HD-DVDs.

Didn't think that the HD-DVD players would be recalled so quick though. The major websites aren't listing them as in stock anymore.