I'm one of those technologically obsolete old duffers who would really like to replace one or more of my DVD/VCR player combos with something new that would not only play (and maybe record) DVDs from all regions and convert PAL to NTSC (the VCR really only needs to play and record in the NTSC format). Here are my reasons: 1. My wife and I are both in our late 60s and our TVs are our primary source of entertainment. We never go to the theaters and haven't since 1988. 2. We currently have 2 TVs connected to cable TV. Attached to each TV are 2 DVD/VCR combos. We use the VCRs for schedule shifting, but all our purchased or downloaded multimedia is now DVD only. We sometimes need to have all 4 VCRs going at one time when several different channels are showing worthwhile programs at the same time, especially during sweeps periods. 3. We are fans of many European TV shows and films (my wife is Belgian) and I download many Britcoms and other items from the news groups. 4. We would like to buy several films and other shows that are currently available only in Europe in the PAL format, but currently have no way to play them. 5. My current PC is really too old and too slow to convert multimedia from one format to another in any reasonable length of time, so we really could use a player that would allow me to just burn whatever format multimedia I buy or download and watch it on at least one of our TVs. 6. We will NOT be going to HDTV until we are forced into it by the broadcasters, but still would like something that might be compatible when and if we do go modern. And that's about it, any suggestions as to what players and/or recorders are available here in the U.S. at this time. Price isn't much of a consideration, since we want something reliable and versatile. The price will still be a lot cheaper than theater tickets!
For PVR purposes, any one of the Panasonic dvd recorders will work fine. Use DVDRW's, so you can use them over and over like vhs tapes. Have you tried? Many standalone dvd players will easily play a PAL disk, and output the correct NTSC signal for your TV. If none of your current models do this, take the PAL disk to the local (insert big box store here) where they have 20 or more players hooked up to TV's, and test the disk in every single one If your current PC has a DVD burner, you can easily rip, shrink, and burn PAL dvd's to NTSC. With a hardware mpeg-2 encoder card, you would be able to capture live TV, and burn it directly to DVDR (or RW). Even a P3 750 will do it, with a decent hard drive. Although this option is more expensive than a standalone dvd recorder.
rebootjim - Thanks for your reply. I don't know where in the world you live, but what I have found here in the US at places like Best Buy and Circuit City are players that will play VCD at best (only one of my 4 DVD players will even do that, although all will play mp3s and show jpeg images). And, since US law mandates that players work for Region 1 only, trying to play a region 2 or higher DVD or tape is right out of the question. I have seen a couple of brands advertised in various places that will play divx as well as vcd, but that's all I have seen in the shops locally available to me. My pc is in a different room from either of my two tvs, so it would be a bit of a hassle to run yet another feed off my already overburdened cable tv feed (Bright House recently had to give me an amplifier to get the signal strength up to the point that ANY of my vcrs would receive the higher channels without a LOT of snow!). So . . . I may just have to go to one of those outfits that offer players modified with a chip that makes them region free and that have a PAL-NTSC converter built in. But I don't know anyone around here who has experience with any of them.
