Is BDP-S350 region free?

[av_bond]

Hi Everyone

1.
just wanted to know from owners of sony BDP-S350 who bought the player in India if this is region free and is able to play Blu ray discs from all regions.

I called up sony center shop in delhi and he said "sabki chala dega" .....Is this true.. or do they do some hardware/software modification to work or its just a gimmick to bring me to the store...

2.
Also would like to know if anyone has made this player region free (after buying from Europe i.e. region B) to play blu-rays discs from other regions.


Thanks

 

[mahiruha]

No its not region free. It is locked to region C for blu ray.

 

[ashishkesarwani]

Hi Everyone

1.
just wanted to know from owners of sony BDP-S350 who bought the player in India if this is region free and is able to play Blu ray discs from all regions.

I called up sony center shop in delhi and he said "sabki chala dega" .....Is this true.. or do they do some hardware/software modification to work or its just a gimmick to bring me to the store...

2.
Also would like to know if anyone has made this player region free (after buying from Europe i.e. region B) to play blu-rays discs from other regions.


Thanks

No, Its not region free and these Sony guys don't know anything about it, it can be made region free for the Sd DVD playback part with the help of a universal remote but for BLU RAY multiregion there is a hardware mod to make it work for region A and B but there is no Mod Avaliable to region hack the Indian region C for this player as of now.

 

[av_bond]

ok... even if its not region free...i would like to ask the guys who already own a blu ray player... which types of blu ray movies do they normally get to watch... are those region free? or region locked?....


Because my brother lives in europe and is coming next month and he is getting a good deal for Sony BD S350 one at 210 Euros ~ Rs 14000 but i assume its going to be locked to region B.

I was wondering if most of the movies released are region free ... even if i am not able to make it region free... it shd be ok really. even the bollywood movies which have been release on bluray till now have mostly been region free.

 

[ashishkesarwani]

ok... even if its not region free...i would like to ask the guys who already own a blu ray player... which types of blu ray movies do they normally get to watch... are those region free? or region locked?....


Because my brother lives in europe and is coming next month and he is getting a good deal for Sony BD S350 one at 210 Euros ~ Rs 14000 but i assume its going to be locked to region B.

I was wondering if most of the movies released are region free ... even if i am not able to make it region free... it shd be ok really. even the bollywood movies which have been release on bluray till now have mostly been region free.

Right now the scene is quite different and liberal, with most of the BDs being region free except from the Excel(locked to C) but as the medium matures the region code restrictions would come into play.

 

[av_bond]

then guys which BD player will u suggest less than 30K which is/can be regoin free.....

Also, if given a choice is it better to get a region B or region C player?

thanks

 

[ashishkesarwani]

then guys which BD player will u suggest less than 30K which is/can be regoin free.....

Also, if given a choice is it better to get a region B or region C player?

thanks

If you budget is limited to this amount then I would suggest you to go with Panasonic 2009 model like BDP BD60 or if you have an older AVR for multichannel analogue output go for BDP BD80. Panasonic are easily modable with the Mod Chip which is soldered on the main board of the player through 5 wires and it makes the player region free for BLU RAY as well as Standard DVDs.
The link for buying Mod Chip: Panasonic DMP-BD60 modification kit

The link which shows how to apply the mod: How to make your Panasonic BD60 or BD80 Blu-ray Player Multiregion - AVForums.com

If you asking someone to bring a player for you from states then the best would be Oppo BDP 83 which is avaliable for 500$ and is modable through a soft as well as a hard mod. For more details see my review of the same here:
http://www.hifivision.com/dvd-playe...ssions-reviews-oppo-bdp83-blu-ray-player.html

 

[Sindhu]

I have been following the B-Ray dscussions in several forums and recently on a trip to singapore had an opportunity to have a long discussion with one of the dealers. At this time no BD player is region free. A majority of the B-R discs available are in the region A cetegory. The hardware mods is some cases are not reliable and often causes booting problems and hangs.
It is a strict no no from the OEM side. My recommendation will be do not go for a B-R player yet as the problems with the player technology (essentially the data handling issues) are not resolved yet accross the board. Better willl be to get a good HD display and if your AVR can upconvert to 1080P or even 1080i then stay away from B-R for some more time. At this time B-R is on the Hype part of the product life cycle.

The singapore guy also mentioned that if you consider the B-R discs, they are typically movies which have been shot with technology which is not HD (yet) so the B-R discs are essentially studo upscaled to 1080P. He demonstrated this by playing a DVD on an excellent HD display (Panasonic) thru a Denon AVR 4608 / DVD 3930 with upscaling and then a B-R disc thru a B-R player - may have been a Pana BD60. Really no difference to write home about.

Conclusion - hold on if your life does not depend on it. If yo have money to spend - then spend it on a excellent display. You will need it later when you buy the B-R player anyway.

Regards

Sindhu

 

[phantom76]

The singapore guy also mentioned that if you consider the B-R discs, they are typically movies which have been shot with technology which is not HD (yet) so the B-R discs are essentially studo upscaled to 1080P. He demonstrated this by playing a DVD on an excellent HD display (Panasonic) thru a Denon AVR 4608 / DVD 3930 with upscaling and then a B-R disc thru a B-R player - may have been a Pana BD60. Really no difference to write home about.

This is true for older movies which are now getting released on blu ray. But most modern movies are shot with hd capable equipment, so you will see a remarkable difference in BR vs DVD.

 

[micjak77]

One suggestion for anybody going for a Blu ray player would be to go for region A, as one can get plethora of titles from Amazon USA. I just picked up Sony BDP-S 360 from Singapore which is region A.

 

[shuv]

One suggestion for anybody going for a Blu ray player would be to go for region A, as one can get plethora of titles from Amazon USA. I just picked up Sony BDP-S 360 from Singapore which is region A.

+ 1.

Region A is the way to go IMHO unless, you get a hard mod chip.

@ Micjak77 - How much did you pay for the S 360?

 

[sud98]

How permanent is the DVD all region mod and still keeping BD region A?

Will it not have an impact on firmware updates?

 

[ashishkesarwani]

How permanent is the DVD all region mod and still keeping BD region A?

Will it not have an impact on firmware updates?

Yes with the firmware update the multi region hack with the universal remote would go away and we would have to do it again.