Possibly Dumb Questions...

[jacknation]

1. Will Bluray players support any region DVDs? I'm talking of bog-standard DVDs (Region 1, 2, 3, etc)?

2. What's the best deal on a Bluray player at the moment? And where?

Thanks.

[Chris]

1. Some can be made multi region for dvd. If you have a Harmony remote it can be setup to make certain players multi region for dvd: http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-ray-dvd-players/972343-harmony-remote-multiregion-dvd-hack-panasonic-pioneer-sony-blu-rays-part-4-a.html

[Alan b]

Moving to Playback Forum

[rwniel]

As Chris mentioned, some standalone blu ray players can be made multi-region for dvd using a learning style remote. Otherwise they will be limited to region 2 playback only. In terms of a 'best deal' it depends what particular features you require. The Sony BDP-S350 has recently been discontinued, but because of that there are some good deals around abeit without the free disc offers that were once available. It can't decode DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks and isn't profile 2.0 out of the box, but regardless is still a solid choice as a budget priced model (i.e. well under £200 from Amazon.co.uk (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=8) or slightly less from Richer Sounds if your local store still has any). In the case of the former, it may not be too critical as the regular core DTS soundtrack should still sound pretty good (- dependant obviously on your home theatre surround system if you are hooking it up to one via hdmi). The quality of BD-Live internet content isn't that great, so that this model is profile 1.1 isn't that significant either - otherwise just requires the additional of an inexpensive usb flash memory stick (plus a suitable internet connection of course).

Alternatively, you might wish to consider the Panasonic DMP-BD35 which Richer Sounds (http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PANA-DMPBD35-MRDVD) are supplying as a multi-region dvd version for £179.95.

Robert