Home Theater/HDTV/et al...

niko2x wrote:hey anyone, i got a problem concerning my stand-alone dvd player, philip 642. i've always tooted its horn for playing everything under the sun, plus it's kinda cheap too.

I'm now in the market for a new dvd player, however, because it now just flashes 'ERASE' in the display panel and doesn't do anything. won't eject, play, nothing. the only thing it does is if you hold on to the power button, it displays the 'ERASE', and if you hold the power button again, it powers off/turns off, and that's it.

i hope not to get another player, because it would be the 3rd philips 642 i'd be getting, so i hope to have this problem solved, but if not i'd have to get another player (hopefully a non-philips 642 model, but does everything that the 642 does).

Another question, what other players out there is similar to the 642 in playing everything, but around 50/60 dollars? I always hated to navigate thru Videohelp.com because its such a non-user friendly site, i figgered i'd ask here first. Thanx in advance for any tidbits.

later,
- niko

What type of features are you looking for, Niko?

If you want one that's Region-hackable, that immediately eliminates the major brands (Sony, Toshiba, Pioneer, etc.)...

bmwracer wrote:
What type of features are you looking for, Niko?

If you want one that's Region-hackable, that immediately eliminates the major brands (Sony, Toshiba, Pioneer, etc.)...

btw, the oppo is all region capable...it's a simple code entered on the remote control..it takes 5 seconds literally.

Tu_triky wrote:btw, the oppo is all region capable...it's a simple code entered on the remote control..it takes 5 seconds literally.

Yeah, my Lite-On is the same way, though I wouldn't recommend it... After a couple of years, it's running rather flakily.

My six-year old Sony still runs like a champ, despite her using it in her apartment and beating the sucker up. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
Yeah, my Lite-On is the same way, though I wouldn't recommend it... After a couple of years, it's running rather flakily.

My six-year old Sony still runs like a champ, despite her using it in her apartment and beating the sucker up. :sweat:

my sony broke down that's why i go the oppo...the cool thing is they release FIRMWARE to update the functionality of the player...now that's cool ^_^


oppo won like a billion awards for their players last year.

Tu_triky wrote:my sony broke down that's why i go the oppo...the cool thing is they release FIRMWARE to update the functionality of the player...now that's cool ^_^

That's another reason to hate the Lite-On: once the player was obsoleted (after a few months :shakehead:) they stopped updating their firmware, despite several known bugs.

Bastards.


Without malice, I'd like to say that I hope the company tanks like a U-boat that's be torpedoed by a half-dozen Allied ships. :beaten:

bmwracer wrote:
That's another reason to hate the Lite-On: once the player was obsoleted (after a few months :shakehead:) they stopped updating their firmware, despite several known bugs.

Bastards.

i feel the love :hehe:

Without malice, I'd like to say that I hope the company tanks like a U-boat that's be torpedoed by a half-dozen Allied ships. :beaten:

now it's wolf pack references.... where the hell is Adm. Durnitz? :beaten:

Tu_triky wrote:now it's wolf pack references.... where the hell is Adm. Durnitz? :beaten:

I'm readying myself for Ken Burns' The War.... :beaten:

bmwracer wrote:
I'm readying myself for Ken Burns' The War.... :beaten:

apparently. :hehe:

niko2x wrote:hey anyone, i got a problem concerning my stand-alone dvd player, philip 642. i've always tooted its horn for playing everything under the sun, plus it's kinda cheap too.

I'm now in the market for a new dvd player, however, because it now just flashes 'ERASE' in the display panel and doesn't do anything. won't eject, play, nothing. the only thing it does is if you hold on to the power button, it displays the 'ERASE', and if you hold the power button again, it powers off/turns off, and that's it.

i hope not to get another player, because it would be the 3rd philips 642 i'd be getting, so i hope to have this problem solved, but if not i'd have to get another player (hopefully a non-philips 642 model, but does everything that the 642 does).

Another question, what other players out there is similar to the 642 in playing everything, but around 50/60 dollars? I always hated to navigate thru Videohelp.com because its such a non-user friendly site, i figgered i'd ask here first. Thanx in advance for any tidbits.

later,
- niko

When my parents' Philips 642 which I purchased for them a couple of years ago began acting up, I got them a Philips 3040 just last month. It's a smaller version of the 642, but it has basically the same functions. I don't know what the all-region hack code for this model is though. Oh, yeah, it cost less than 50 dollars, and I bought it at BestBuy.

thx for all the tips all! :bow:

tricky - you have expensive taste, my friend. since i'll prolly need 2, i don't think i can drop $300 for the 2 oppo's. :sweat:

BM-dub - as far as features goes, i'm looking for region-free, and able to play divx/avi stuff. i've looked into videohelp.com but it seems a lot of the player that have these features are available in europe. Search Result

shin - thanx yo! I'll prolly look into the philips 3040 or it's brother 5960.

- niko

niko2x wrote:thx for all the tips all! :bow:

tricky - you have expensive taste, my friend. since i'll prolly need 2, i don't think i can drop $300 for the 2 oppo's. :sweat:

BM-dub - as far as features goes, i'm looking for region-free, and able to play divx/avi stuff. i've looked into videohelp.com but it seems a lot of the player that have these features are available in europe. Search Result

shin - thanx yo! I'll prolly look into the philips 3040 or it's brother 5960.

- niko

I think dochira has an LG player (or two) that he liked... Not sure, but I think they're Region-hackable as well. :)

Okay, time to dredge up this thread, since my LiteOn is tanking and my Panasonic isn't region free hackable...

New recommendations on a inexpensive, region-free, NTSC/PAL DVD player?

They have some over at yesasia and play-asia, but they're between $100 and $200. If you add shipping, taxes and the rest, it's not cheap. I don't know if they are made region free or they were hacked tho.

Probably simpler to find one flashable or buy one locally. Possibly even one with the same Mfr. Part Number.

I know the LG LDA-730 is not region free, but can play DivX for $60 Can.

tabana wrote:They have some over at yesasia and play-asia, but they're between $100 and $200. If you add shipping, taxes and the rest, it's not cheap. I don't know if they are made region free or they were hacked tho.

Probably simpler to find one flashable or buy one locally. Possibly even one with the same Mfr. Part Number.

I know the LG LDA-730 is not region free, but can play DivX for $60 Can.

I was looking at the Oppo that was mentioned earlier, but it's $150...

I like the region-free (and NTSC/PAL) capability for the many Region 2 discs that I have... Like Swing Girls... :inlove:

Pretty much any of the cheap Chinese ones are region-free or can be made that way. And PAL/NTSC. We can buy them here for $39.00 :) so if anything goes wrong, you throw it away and buy another.

My Samsung DVD/VCR combo wasn't region-free, as I discovered when I tried my new Ai Otsuka DVD in it. But I found the region-code-free hack pretty quickly and it works great now.

Anime Dad wrote:Pretty much any of the cheap Chinese ones are region-free or can be made that way. And PAL/NTSC. We can buy them here for $39.00 :) so if anything goes wrong, you throw it away and buy another.

My Samsung DVD/VCR combo wasn't region-free, as I discovered when I tried my new Ai Otsuka DVD in it. But I found the region-code-free hack pretty quickly and it works great now.

Hmm, Amazon's got a Philips DVP5140 for $50USD... And I'm pretty sure there's a region-free hack for it.

http://www.dvdcodes.net/

I actually couldn't find my model, but I tried a few that were similar and one worked :)

Anime Dad wrote:http://www.dvdcodes.net/

I actually couldn't find my model, but I tried a few that were similar and one worked :)

Great! I'll keep that link in mind... :victory:

Crap. Mine needs a chipped remote. :shamefulcry:

tabana wrote:Crap. Mine needs a chipped remote. :shamefulcry:

Seriously? That's bizarre. Cheaper to buy a new cheapie :)