DVD Question

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone! First time posting- mods, let me know if there's an issue.

Quick question; I live in America and I'm planning on buying the All the Best! PV collection DVD that Arashi is releasing late October. I recently realized, however, the implications of the Region 2 code. America, as you probably know, is Region 1.

My two questions are:
A) If I randomly pop the DVD into a player, and it turns out the player does not support Region 2, will that wreck up my DVD in any way?
B) If I don't have a region-free DVD player or DVD drive on my laptop (A Toshiba Satellite with Windows Vista), is there some way I can still watch the DVD? Preferably a way that doesn't involve spending hundreds of bucks on software? I'm willing to download (reliable) programs though.

I'm sure there are loads of Region 1 Arashi fans out there who have dealt with the same problem and can help me out. Thanks! 

Comments

[a-monchan.livejournal.com]

as far as i know, it doesn't wreck the player at all. if it's not compatible, then it'll probably just say "disk error" or something like that on the screen thing...

there are some laptops that are compatible with all regions. my sister also has a toshiba (not sure which model, though) and it worked fine on it =] toshiba's a japan-based company, so i'm guessing you'll have no problems playing it on your laptop.

hope this helps~

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

My Toshiba has this thing where you can switch the region DVD player up to 5 times but the last time is permanent. Which is doable for a while, but not optimal over the long run. Thanks for the advice though!

[kari-rika-dm.livejournal.com]

The easiest solution I can think of involves just downloading VLC media player. It's removes pretty much all restricting codecs on any kind of video so whether it's a weird region coded DVD or a weird video file format, it should be able to play it anyway. VLC media player is free, so you don't have to worry about spending a fortune.

And no, if you pop the DVD in, the player won't hurt the DVD. It just won't play, that's all. :)

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the help! m(_ _)m I'll look into it.

[(Anonymous)]

VLC won't resolve the issue since we're talking about hardware here, not video format.

I agree though that it's good to download VLC since it accepts almost all video formats.

[kari-rika-dm.livejournal.com]

VLC accepts all region codes. That's all I'm talking about. My laptop is encoded to region 2 but because of VLC, I can still watch my region 1 stuff.

[ladynakuru.livejournal.com]

Wait, so, you just left your laptop on region 2 but popped in like American DVDs, and ignore the prompt to change it to Region 1, and just watch it on VLC?

[kari-rika-dm.livejournal.com]

Nah, I never get the prompt. I just close all the windows that popped up and opened VLC and VLC worked its magic.

[ladynakuru.livejournal.com]

Ah that is SWEET!
I will try that, thanks! :D

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this little bit of info! ^_^

[godsgirl7.livejournal.com]

I second this! I use VLC player to watch dvds in different region codes. :D I was gonna say this if no one else did!

[miroku-luv.livejournal.com]

Me too!! VLC rocks!!! And if you wanna get rid of the pop ups from windows, just set VLC as the default player for DVDs on your computer.
:[)

[(Anonymous)]

1. No it will not cause harm because-- see #2
2. Once you put a region 2 dvd and you're laptop's dvd drive is set to region 1, pc/laptop will ask you if you want to switch to a different region. You can switch and watch region 2 dvd's BUT you can only switch 4 or 6 times, can't remember.. If you're using your laptop solely for region 2 then that is fine. If not, better option is to buy a cheap region-free dvd.

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

Can I even buy cheap Arashi region-free DVDs? I've heard even if you can buy them, they're sold by 3rd party vendors and aren't really legit...

[(Anonymous)]

I meant region-free DVD player, not the disc (sorry). Arashi dvd's are made in Japan thus the region=2 code. I'm not sure of those released in Korea/HK/Taiwan though.

[sephi0-0.livejournal.com]

I believe that those released in Korea is region-3, so it wouldn't work if you have a region-1 laptop/DVD player.

[aikyo16.livejournal.com]

Hey!

A) If you try to play an incompatible-region DVD in your player, it won't wreck your DVD nor your player, cos your player can't even play it in the first place.

B) I used to watch my region2 DVDs on my previous laptops before I got myself a region-free DVD player. So I'm assuming that laptops are region-free, cos both my previous laptops are region-free? Pardon me if I'm wrong here. Have you tried playing any region other than region1 on your laptop?

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

Not yet; but I didn't want to buy the DVD and only be able to watch it a couple of times before it switches permanently to Region 1 (because that's what I usually use for regular American movie-viewing).

So I was asking because if I couldn't come up with a good solution I would just cancel my pre-order. But it sounds like people above have given me some options. (^_^)v

[apple1881.livejournal.com]

vlc player works for me. ^_^

[dw9lives.livejournal.com]

nope, no damage to your dvd! as for getting it to play on a region 1 player, hack it. I did that to this portable dvd player I have, it worked perfectly! look up the model name and number of your dvd player, look it up online, 'region hack code' or something. it'll suggest a code which is just a combination of buttons to push on the remote, some menu pops up giving you the option of what region you want, put '0' that'll make it region free. i'm not sure if it'll work like that for the newer dvd players, though... I have a blue ray dvd player out in the living room, i keep meaning to go hack it but i always forget so I can't tell you if it works for those... but i'm sure it does!

hope that helps! :)

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Hacking sounds fun. XD
As long as little JE ninjas don't come and arrest me or something when I try it.

[dw9lives.livejournal.com]

haha, nah, you're safe. hope it works for you! :)

[ghol88.livejournal.com]

thanks for the info on hacking. It works for me.^__^
Now I can watch my AAA2008 in Tokyo DVD.♥♥♥

[beach-bum1303.livejournal.com]

I did this to the DVD player I had in my room. I think all I did was google the model number and "regionless" after it, or something of the sort.

[strawberryq.livejournal.com]

OK I have the same problem with watching all my Asian-bought dramas and such. My suggestion? Buy those really really cheap DVD players that play ANYTHING. The catch is, if you're going to play the DVD a lot, it might scratch it slightly. Don't worry -- it won't eat your DVD XD ..

But, i haven't had any major problem. trust me, those DVD players play anything. I have a more advanced one that recognizes coding and it wont play them.

[mae-ai.livejournal.com]

Lol well the answer to "will is hurt your DVD" is answered so...

For the region, I hacked my dvd player and nothing bad happened to me or anything at all. Here (http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks) is the site that I used to hack it ^_____^; it's the first one google puts up. lol Just put the type of DVD player it is at the top and there should be a list of a few of the same kind, Pick the one that is yours and there should be a few hacks for it. :DD

Hope that helped some way. ^__________^;

[kittyinabeaker.livejournal.com]

*now that her email Inbox is being spammed with everyone's reponses* And here I was, worried that no one would answer me.

Thanks for the help, everyone! m(_ _)m
This community is fabulous. =D

[criyu.livejournal.com]

I had the same problem (but I had region 2 and the dvd was region 3)!>_<
I searched in internet brand of DVD player and I wrote "region free" and I managed to make it to region free. So now I can watch DVDs on the player (because if I bought a DVD, I don't want to watch it on computer;__;).
Then search on internet your specific brand of player^-^

[ll13jl.livejournal.com]

Like the lovely person above me ^^

I modified my DVD player so as it would play DVDs from any region.. As I'm in Canada, it used to play just Region 2 DVDs but I looked it up the internet and there's as site I found that just gives you 4 numbers as a code and you just put it in and it will unlock your DVD and let you play DVDs from any region. You just have to know the specific model number of your DVD and I'm pretty sure you'd find a hack for it. It totally works 100%.. Now I play my concert DVDs all the time ^^

[kohanu.livejournal.com]

Ehh... you could always buy a bootleg DVD made for Region 1 on ebay or something. :)

I'm pretty sure everyone already answered your question, so I'm just going to offer that option. XD I bought the AAA 2008 DVD on ebay for about 16 bucks (that's w/ shipping and handling) and it plays great :)

[crazytammu.livejournal.com]

I recommend checking online sites that have DVD player hack codes. Often times, the hack is just pressing a certain combination of buttons on your remote, and your DVD player magically plays all region DVDs. You can check out which players have "proven" hack codes, and then you can go out and buy a DVD player. (Or go to your local store, write down the brand and models of the players available, and do your research online before buying). Most of the players that are super easy to hack are cheap ones...so you'll probably spend about $30, and you get to watch Arashi PVs on a large screen! <333

[urbanattic.livejournal.com]

I think DVD Region+CSS Free allows you to watch dvds of any region on your laptop/computer. Just run the program before you pop the DVD in. Works for me :)

[mirryness.livejournal.com]

http://www.dvd43.com/

For playing dvds on computer, I use DVD43. It's as easy as anything! (I know the site looks a little blank with no images of the program, but honestly I've been using it for many years now and it works just fine :D) Once you install it, you should get this little 'sad' smiley face popup on your taskbar thing (like around where your clock/time is).

Then everytime you insert a dvd into your computer, you just wait for the smiley to process the dvd (it turns into a little devil face lol) and when it turns into a green smiling smiley, it's ready to play your dvd on any video player you want. ^^ It doesn't do damnage to your DVD, either of course.

As for playing the dvd on the actual dvd player, there are definitely ways to hack, and I think people have mentioned methods already, so good luck with that! :)

Hope you enjoy your dvd and good luck in playing it! <3

[mikimousey.livejournal.com]

Man I'm worrying about this too! I had asked my friend who lives in Japan if she can buy me anything Arashi if she can (she doesn't know Arashi by the way, but then again she lives in an American base), you know thinking she'll get me like a poster or something, and I got an email saying she bought the Arashi tokyo concert DVD and asked if that was fine. I was like hell yeah! but I don't know if it'll work her in the states :( So thanks alot for the suggestions, I already have the VLC media player downloaded, so if it doesn't work on my DVD player, I can still atleast watch it on my computer :)

[mylani.livejournal.com]

definitely use DVD CSS Region free if you want to run it on your laptop but don't want to keep messing with the region settings. also, most dvd players can be unlocked by feeding it a bunch of numbers through the remote control. look at what type of dvd player you have and google "region free" on it. its usually very easy and you won't mess up your dvd player by doing so. i use DVD CSS Region Free and also unlocked my dvd player. on 32 bit Vista machines you might need to use AnyDVD instead of DVD CSS Free.

[ninosuki.livejournal.com]

OMG this info will seriously break my bank because this region code restriction is the only reason stopping me from buying Arashi DVD's! But thanks a lot, I now can buy freely! XD

[musosuru.livejournal.com]

I know that you can find codes to change DVD region codes, depending on your DVD player...theres a certain method and sequence of numbers you can press to change to any region code (possibly make it region-free)

although i haven't tried yet cuz i dont own my own DVD player ^^;

also, I got Ashita no Kioku LE A and attempted to play it in VLC m\but it was choppy and pixally and plain did not play O_o however, when I ripped it to my computer it played fine ^^; Although, persoanlly, I'd wanna play it on a tv...

[icedragontmr.livejournal.com]

I bought the AAA08 DVD and I didn't have a region free player so I hacked my player with a code and changed it to region free, so that works.

I have VLC player on my computer (I have 64-bit Vista) and that didn't work for me. Yes it does play region free but my drive wouldn't read the disc. I asked my friend and she told me to go out and get AnyDVD. It works perfectly now.

[sage30.livejournal.com]

I know that they already gave answers to your questions. I personally would like to watch them (ARASHI) on a bigger screen than my laptop/pc so I ripped/burned my region 2 dvd. You can download a software for free (http://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-ripper/), if you don't have one yet. Once you copied/burned it on a dvd-r disc, you can now play it on any dvd player and computer/laptop since it's now region-free. Hope this helps. Good luck! *_*

If VLC doesn't work

[squints63.livejournal.com]

If push comes to shove or you are just too wary you can buy a portal dvd drive and play the dvd through there. The region codes are specific by drive so you can have that one play all your region 2 stuff...

I have the drive attached to my mac set to region 2 (since i buy a lot of japanese things) and then i have a portable dvd drive to play american DVDs since VLC doesn't work like that for my mac, so i can vouch for my own silly suggestion.