Alot of fans here have not yet discovered the wonder and glory of DVD players that can playback PAL DVD's on standard NTSC TV/HD Monitors. SO they make a million requests to have the PAL native DVD's converted into NTSC. IMHO there REALLY is no reason for this (unless quality & menu loss are your bag) as most newer DVD players can play both NTSC & PAL DVD's (I'm not talking about region coding but the broadcast standard) and MOST can be had for about $30-$600 depending what it is your after.
The fact is most people with DVD players from Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City and Best Buy (Cyberhome, Apex, Mintek, Philips, ILO and other cheapies) can already play PAL DVD's, just check your remote for a "P/N" button if you got one you MAY be able to play PAL already on there players as long as the disc[s] are region free (also google your make & model). Sadly MOST folks seem to confuse REGION CODING and PAL Format so they never even try. The DVD players listed here may not all be "High-End" units or the best DVD players on the market BUT THAT IS NOT the point of this thread so try not to get hung up on what's the best or not the best player on the list. The whole point here is to list AFFORDABLE DVD players that are not intended to replace your current high dollar, brand named units but only to supplement your current set-up.
So, I'm going to try to add as many US Market PAL Compatible DVD Players to this list that I can and with other forum members help I'm sure that this list will grow! So if you have a DVD player that can covert to PAL to NTSC on the fly please post here (PAL folks seem to have no issues with NTSC as I've NEVER been asked to convert to PAL)
I'll keep an eye on this thread and add players to the main list when I see a new one added (I've had a bunch of players that could play PAL but the KEY word is HAD so I no longer have the model #'s)
ENJOY!
Rikter
THE "PAL to NTSC" Conversion DVD PLAYER LIST
NEWER PLAYERS
OPPO OPDV971H
- Can be had for between $25 and $40 (USD)
- Can be found online (amazon)
- A cool feature is that it plays most Divx/MPEG4, HDCD, WMA and upconverts to 1080i
CyberHome CH-DVD 300S
- Can be had for between $175 and $240 (USD)
- Can be found online (amazon)
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3's
LITE-ON LVW-5005
- Can be had for between $150 and $200 (USD)
- Can be found at you're local CompUSA and online
- A cool feature is that it is a multi format DVD/SVCD/VCD/CD Audio recorder
PHILIPS DVP642
- Can be had for between $48 and $70 (USD)
- Can be found at you're local Wal-Marts and online
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3/AVI/DIVX/XVID's
OLDER PLAYERS
APEX AD-1500
- Can be had for between $20 and $70 (USD)
- Can be found on online auctions such as eBay and Yahoo
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3's
MINTEK 1600
- Can be had for between $20 and $70 (USD)
- Can be found on online auctions such as eBay and Yahoo
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3's