Playing Region 1 DVD's on my Laptop

[Kit]

What's the most painless method of getting my American DVD's to play on my laptop without changing regions - which is limited to 5 times? I'm currently using Windows 7 64 bit.

I've tried VLC media player (as most people seem to have success just running their region 1 DVDs through that) but it doesn't work, so I'm assuming it's screwing me over at the hardware level?

I don't mind ripping the dvd to my HDD but I've read things like DVD Shrink are incompatible with Win 7? anyone know of any decent alternatives?

Help much appreciated.

[sj33]

Do you know what DVD drive you have? The most painless way would be to install a region free firmware for your DVD drive, then you could just use VLC or MPC-HC to play the discs.

[importaku]

Would something like this be useful?

http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/CD-DVD-Rip-Other-Tools/DVD-Region-Killer.shtml

Might be worth a shot, i tend just to use vlc here though seems to work on my pc ok for region 1 disks.

[smouty]

I've used AnyDVD in the past.

[charlesr]

I still use AnyDVD. It works for blurays too.

[Kit]

Update!

Did a little search on the DVD drive as Shakey suggested. It's some brand called 'MAT****A' - which I've never heard of. Did a search on updating the firmware and it turns out you can brick the drive using the custom firmware available, which I didn't want to risk.

So in short, avoid anything with the MAT****A brand on it.

Would something like this be useful?

http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/CD-DVD-Rip-Other-Tools/DVD-Region-Killer.shtml

Might be worth a shot, i tend just to use vlc here though seems to work on my pc ok for region 1 disks.

Wouldn't work unfortunately.

I ended up going back to my desktop pc (which I haven't turned on in months) installed VLC and it worked right away.

*That has an old LG drive in it.

Is this a real issue with blu ray drives? I have been thinking about upgrading but if it's more region locking shenanigans I'll pass for now.

[sj33]

Do you know if the risk of bricking the drive is specific to that drive? There's always a risk of bricking when you install a new firmware for any device, but the warning on the websites is usually just to cover their backs. The chances of actually bricking a device is slim.

AnyDVD is an excellent application and worth giving a try, though it's expensive and requires constant updating.

With regards to Blu-Ray drives, they're largely the same as regular DVD drives as far as DVD playback goes - custom firmware needed, or something like AnyDVD. Playing Blu-Rays is a whole new minefield, though AnyDVD is also the way to go for this.

[Kit]

Drive is a mat****a dvd ram uj8b0.

This is the guide I was looking at:

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=46246&sid=1d80bff71d5ab13e043bc01710fdf2fe

Think you're right they might just be covering their backs with the bricking statement. Still, I'd rather avoid doing that until it's my last alternative.

AnyDVD has a lot of good feedback from users but it seems expensive considering they are free options out there.

Little disappointed to read this region locking stuff is an issue with blu ray too. Why make this sort of thing troublesome for people buying legit copies? it's going to force people into pirating versions with no copy protection, surely?

[sj33]

You should be fine as long as you're definitely using a firmware designed for your drive specifically (make sure it definitely works with the uj8b0 drive). It's not really any more risky than updating the firmware on a PSP or Vita, and it saves messing around with software. Once you have an RPC1 firmware installed on your drive, then the drive itself is region free. And seeing as VLC, MPC-HC, XBMC etc. ignore region coding, the software barriers are already overcome if you use those apps.

Mind you, don't hold me accountable if the drive does brick! :P

The reason the region coding is more complicated with Blu-Ray is because it's combined with the copy protection as a part of AACS, and every time they release a new revision of AACS, you have to update whatever decrypting software you use (AnyDVD etc.). It's a royal pain.

[Baseley09]

Just get anydvd off the yarrbay.

[smouty]

It's some brand called 'MAT****A' - which I've never heard of.

That's Panasonic