Forum - View topicConsidering Importing Titles
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3886 Location: New York state. |
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In my search to acquire more anime, I've come to realize that there are some titles that have been licensed in other English-speaking countries that have yet to hit American shores or are titles currently available in said countries while out of print here in the states. This has me considering the possibility of wanting to import titles and acquiring a region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to be able to get these particular titles, particularly Chihiyafuru and Tatami Galaxy.
So I'm looking for any kind of advice for what I should expect with importing since I've never done it before, any suggestions on a region-free player and looking into other possible titles I may not have considered in looking into. Any help with what I should expect and look into would be greatly appreciated! 
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SpacemanHardy
Posts: 2509 |
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Orei makes pretty good region-free players for very reasonable prices. The model I have is a BDP-A3 which only paid a hundred bucks for, but apparently that model is out of stock and they don't seem to be making any more. You can still get the BDP-M2 model though, which is anywhere from $120 to $160 depending on where you shop. It supports all regions of bluray, DVDs, and even has support for 3D. As far as the best deal goes, you simply can't beat it.
You can find it easily enough on Amazon if you search "Orei region-free bluray". |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2261 |
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Justin Sevakis in one of his Answerman columns mentions using a modified Sony BDP-5100 from 220 Electronics. I've also seen a guide on importing not sure if its in these forums. I may have bookmarked it, if I find it I'll post it.
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potatochobit
 Posts: 1373 Location: TEXAS |
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just watch it on your PC with VLC media player you don't have to change the region code on the DVD drive or connect ur laptop to your TV through HDMI
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Ggultra2764
Subscriber Posts: 3886 Location: New York state. |
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A couple things to note: 1. I've had occasions where VLC won't play certain discs and much of the time this comes from stuff I get from Funimation since they have disc protection built into them which prevent you from skipping through their copyright warnings and series previews in most instances (use Media Player Classic in such instances if I play Funi DVDs via PC). If I run into this with a DVD from another region, then it would make my purchase of a series a complete waste of money without snagging a region-free player. 2. From what I'm looking up, just having VLC won't be enough to play a disc from another region depending on what you have for drivers and a device to play them. Coming off their site FAQ:
3. I'm possibly looking into wanting a region-free player that plays both Blu-Rays and DVDs. With Blu-Ray being increasingly adopted, some titles are now Blu-Ray exclusive and I want to invest in something that can play both disc formats without worry about region code. Right now, I've only got a DVD player for my laptop configured to play Region 1 DVDs and a stand-alone DVD player that only plays Region 1 DVDs. |
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One-Eye
Posts: 2261 |
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I've had some problems with VLC as well and this is for Blu-rays in this region. Some of the problems have been:
-not being able to access the main menu -the show starting on the wrong episode -hitting next chapter button takes you to the first episode (which is the one that VLC thinks is the first episode not the actual one). -no audio on at least one occassion. -Sometimes not being able to play the BD at all. I've had these issues with BDs that go back to 2011 from Sentai, Disney, and live action movies as well. I can't recall if I had problems with Funi. So if I've had problems in my region I don't know how well it will work for other regions. However, I don't recall having problems with DVDs. Of course this is all within my region. I've been considering importing stuff myself and buying a region-free player as well. I just haven't had the chance to make a list to see if its worth my time and investment. I also have questions like: 1- BD/DVD players get updates now thru wi-fi or LAN. Do we need to ignore these updates or will these updates mess with or brick a region-free player? 2- They update protection schemes (DRM) on BDs every couple of years. Will this make newer BDs, say in 3 or 4 years, unplayable on older region-free players (especially if they are not getting firmware updates like I mentioned above)? @Ggultra2764, I found this link on my other computer. Someone had suggested it to me at some point for some tips on importing. I've only glanced at it, but it seems like it might be a decent starting point. It is 3yrs old or so and I'm not sure if its out of date. I do plan to investigate importing more, so I'm in the same boat as you. Hopefully some of the regular importers here on the forum will chime in. |
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potatochobit
Posts: 1373 Location: TEXAS |
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don't you already own a PC?
at least try to play the videos on your PC first before wasting money on any modded all region player DVD drives are less than 15$ and u get used ones for free from friends maybe or junk shops if you change the region on the DVD drive itself, you do not need to use VLC player and can use any video software you want VLC player is not really meant to run blu-rays there is no free blu-ray PC program that I know of, that is because of sony charging licensing fees and the DRM updates as you said |
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Ggultra2764
Subscriber Posts: 3886 Location: New York state. |
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You can only change the region code on a PC DVD drive a limited number of times before it gets locked to that code, which would be a real hassle if I'm switching between Region 1 discs and any imported ones. I believe it's only 4 times I can do the switch with my current drive. |
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One-Eye
Posts: 2261 |
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New DVD drives generally run as cheap as $20, you might be able to get a cheaper used one on Ebay, but with shipping it would come out the same. I have no friends that have spare DVD drives, plus I want to be able to play BDs. BD-ROMS are generally about $50 new and ones that can burn generally run anywhere from $70-$120 depending on manufacturer. Also don't forget that you need software to play the BDs. The ones I've seen run between $80-100. Maybe there are cheaper ones. Also some BD player software now seems to come with region locking. You get the same 5 changes as you do with the drive itself. This means that you could have 2 BD players in your PC set to different region codes (I'm not sure if they have changed this with newer OSs BTW), but your software will play on only one unless you change the coding on the software and again you only get 5 changes. I'm not sure if this is with all player software out there or if this is just recent. Let's also not forget that every couple of years you have to upgrade the player software, because it becomes incompatible with newer BD releases meaning you will put out cash again. I also would rather not lug my PC to the living room to watch stuff on my flat screen. Cost wise and hassle wise it maybe easier to buy a region-free player. I'm not sure yet and I'm still trying to figure things out. The situation maybe different if you are just looking to import DVDs and don't care about BDs. There maybe some free DVD player software without region restrictions that would make everything overall much cheaper, plus if you don't care about watching stuff on a big screen then that might be a way to go. I don't know if Ggultra2764 cares about BDs or if he's fine with DVD only. |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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You don't need anything to change to be able to play Japanese BD, at least not if you're in North America. North America and Japan share a BD region.
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One-Eye
Posts: 2261 |
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Ggultra2764 said he was looking at other English speaking countries and mentioned Chihayafuru and Tatami Galaxy. I assume he means Australia. I'm interested in stuff from there and maybe the UK. I do have one or two things I'm interested in from Japan as well. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7985 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Personally, I chose the "Just play them on your computer" option. I have a freeware program on my laptop called BlazeDVD that works great to play the Australian Siren Visual releases of Black Rock Shooter TV, Denno Coil, Higurashi no Naku Koroni Kai, and Monster. I connect the laptop my TV with HDMI to watch them.
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One-Eye
Posts: 2261 |
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I'd heard about that one before. It definitely looks like it has potential, but is only for DVD which will be enough for some people. Looking at the comparison of features on the website it seems that the version needed to play region free is the pro version which costs $50. Its something to look into and looks to be overall cheaper if DVD only is all you are looking for. |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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An option that should work for most DVDs and BDs (you would still need a software player for the latter if you wanted menus) on Windows is AnyDVD HD. It won't work with every drive though (the Matshita in my old laptop for example).
While I don't actually have any Region A discs I do have a hardware player that I can switch BD region on using the remote (it's also region free for DVDs) - however it is an older Toshiba that is no longer available and it had to be the Australian or European model. |
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OldCharlieStoletheHandle
 Posts: 1288 Location: Mastic Beach, NY |
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I also have had issues with using VLC player to watch other region DVDs on my computer, which is hooked to my HDTV. First, I often find I have to jump through hoops to get it to play with the correct aspect ratio. Also, on some discs I cannot access the extras menu.
Ironically, I finally bought a region-free BD player, but not so much for anime as for other movies I wanted. I also used the purchase to upgrade to a model which has wireless capability (for a while, I was using it to watch YouTube as much as watching discs) and 3D (in case I win the lottery and buy a 3D TV). I got a Sony 5100. I thought it packed up after a few weeks but it just needed a reset (no reset button so I had to unplug it then plug it back in). I have to use the remote to change BD regions but DVDs play automatically regardless of region or whether they are PAL or NTSC. So far all the discs I've bought from other regions have been purchased through Amazon US. I think the main concern about importing anime would be shipping, especially anything coming from Australia. |
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