>From: arromdee@inetnow.net
>Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1999 17:50:56 -0500 (EST)
>To: tenchi@ML.usagi.org
>Subject: Re: finall watched american STM...
>Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.4.05L.9901011741290.22359-100000@www.inetnow.net>
>Reply-To: tenchi@ML.usagi.org
>X-ML-archive: http://www.win.ne.jp/~doi/ML/
>
>On Fri, 1 Jan 1999, David D. Rogers wrote:
>> I can't speak from experience how simple or easy it is to mod a DVD
 player,
>> but it's not very expensive. A chip from England costs less than US$50
 for
>> most players. (I've no idea what customs charges are, but it's probably
>> pretty minimal.) Techtronics sells chips for many players
>> (http://www.techtronics.com/ttn/shop/51-dvd-multimod-table.htm), and
>> they'll also install it for you for extra (plus shipment to the U.K.).
>> (Though my DVD-A300U isn't modable. ;( ) Another source of info is
>> http://www.aeug.org/~chip/dvdchip.html , or you can just do a search in
>> HotBot.
>
>This really doesn't help fans in the US.  There are so few European region
>videos in Europe that even non-fans have a good reason to buy foreign
 disks.
>This means that shops which do modifications are plentiful there.

I saw one vendor selling modified Pioneer players at AX last year.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take note of their name or phone number.

>In the US, only a few niche markets like anime fans need to get their
 players
>modified, so you can't find shops to modify your player here.  You can
 order
>the chip, of course (providing you're lucky enough to have a player that
 can
>be modified), but good luck finding someone to install it.  (Never mind
customs
>charges; what about _shipping_ charges?  That can add on quite a bit,
>especially if you get insurance.)

Like I said, they do sell kits so you don't have to ship it to England.
Some of them are sold only to dealers (more complex), but many are simple
enough for anyone skilled with a soldering iron. If you're not, you can
find a friend who is, or pay someone at an electronics repair shop to
follow the directions. Of course, this naturally voids your warranty. (I
also found it interesting that the mod on the Pioneer DVD-505, for example,
is only UK=A342, not including shipping to them! But it looks like the
Pioneer mods aren't done by adding a chip--I don't know how it's done.)

One thing I found interesting about the Techtronics mods is that all of
them will not only play Region 1, but Region 2 (Japan) as well. This
company also has an office specifically to do foreign orders, so they've
got some experience. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's done
business with them.


Peace,


<> David

http://www.lightlink.com/drogers/
-------------
"People, who eat people, are the loneliest people in the world!"
=96Barbara Streisand, slightly skewed