Dvd Recorder / Hard/ Drive/ Blu Ray/ Multi Region

[pantonsteve]

hi i'm not sure if this is best place to post but i thought i'd give it a go

as description above says i'm afer a dvd recorder and hard drive combined but would also like it to play bluray and be multi region as well . does such a machine exist. already had a look on various websites such as currys, argos and amazon but from descriptions give , hard to ascertain if the various machines on offer will do all of the above

if not appropriate to post in technology could you advise as to which category would be most appropriate to post in - regards

[bhg481]

Any machine which plays BluRay will also play DVDs and CDs. If you want to record DVDs I think you will have to get a machine which also records BluRay. I only record my own DVDs and BluRays, so I have no interest or knowledge of multi-region.
Panasonic make machines which will play discs and record to hard disc. They also make machines which will record discs and also record to hard disc.
Check-out Richer Sounds website - good for service and prices. If you do buy from them buy their warranty which you get your full money back for if you don't make a claim - I've done it several times and it's completely hassle-free.

[pantonsteve]

cheers bhg - 481 - never thought about richer sounds

[Buenchico]

Technology would seem to be the perfect place to post!

It's getting harder and harder to get hold of multi-region DVD players (with or without all the other features you're seeking) these days.

The licensing arrangements that manufacturers and distributors have to enter into have always prohibited the sale of multi-region players in order to ensure that film companies can maximise their profits by selling the distribution rights separately in different parts of the world.

In the early days of DVD players though, manufacturers made all of their machines as 'multi-region' and then just applied a bit of coding to them at the end of the process to restrict them to use in a particular region. That coding could usually be easily removed by following widely-available instructions on the internet. (Companies such as Richer Sounds would advertise multi-region players but then supply them as Region 2 only, in order to comply with the rules, but include the instructions for removing the region-coding inside the box).

However the movie companies got wise to that and have forced manufacturers to 'hard code' their players, so that the region-coding can no longer be removed by applying a simple hack. So it's becoming almost impossible to get hold of multi-region machines.

DVD recorders are also getting harder to come by these days, as recording DVDs to time-shift TV programmes has become 'old technology' since PVRs (with hard drives) have become available.

So you'll struggle to find something to match your exact requirements. The closest match might be the Panasonic DMR-BWT850EB though. It's not multi-region (which I think would be an 'impossible ask for such a machine anyway) but it can record to a massive 1TB hard drive, as well as to DVDs and to Blu-ray discs:
Amazon.com User Recommendation

[Buenchico]

PS: Richer Sounds are offering the machine I've just mentioned at the same price as Amazon. (Indeed, it was Richer Sounds website that I searched to find it). However they're currently showing 'Stock erratic', which is why I used the Amazon link instead.

[Buenchico]

PPS: As I've indicated above, getting hold of multi-region DVD players isn't that easy these days. When they are offered for sale, they're often older machines that only have Scart outputs, rather than HDMI ones. However there are a few HDMI-capable machines available.

In your position, I'd consider buying the Panasonic DMR-BWT850EB to fulfil most of my needs and then topping-up the requirement for multi-region capability by adding on one of these:
Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

[237SJ]

Try this company. I bought my multi region Blu Ray from them. Not sure if they have any with a hard drive but you could phone up and tell them what you want. http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/

[pantonsteve]

thanks everybody - that'sgiven me food for though. tbh multi region bottom of list. blu ray, dvd recorder and hard drive more important - i had an inkling that panasonic produced sth like that so will investigate further - cheers