Playing PAL DVDs

[GPIV]

I am trying to obtain information on playing a store-bought English PAL DVD with the DVD player in my U.S. bought HP Pavilion Entertainment notebook PC. Can it be done? By the way, my television is an older Panasonic model I bought from an air base in Germany that allows me to switch it from NTSC to PAL.

Thanks...

[lynn98109]

There were a couple of Region 2 PAL DVDs I wanted. I could've asked my friend in Germany to make DVD/Rs of them, but thought I'd be proper about it and get the DVDs.

 

I knew my old DVD-ROM was on change 5, and decided to go ahead and make that final change (it can't be undone). What I hadn't expected was that my software computer player would advise me I was on change #1 (of 5). I'm not sure if putting in a different DVD-capable drive (it'd probably be a burner) and playing a Region 1 DVD would be change #2 but I suspect it would.

 

So for the time being, since I watch the German DVDs (actually, there are 3) from time to time, and the drive can also play Region 0, I've just left it. I can use a different computer - or more likely visit a friend with a DVD player - if I want to watch the handful of Region 1 DVDs I have.

 

NOTE: I read somewhere that the movie companies had decided Region 0 is cheating, and got DVD player makers to refuse to read it. My newest drive, a DVD+- DL 8x burner, didn't seem to recognize the Region 0 discs when I tested it (it is not installed).

 

This isn't any authoritative explanation of the rules, but might offer some guidelines

 

Lynn

[Brendon]

DVD playing software will play PAL or NTSC discs without problems, but you'd likely run into problems with Region protection between the US (region 1) and the UK (region 2).