Posted by alan truelove on April 25, 2005 at 21:28:56 from 66.239.159.18 user atruelove.
N Americans- You can get the UK DVD's from amazon.co.uk fairly cheaply; make sure to select CAIMAN (US) as the seller - then you only pay a couple of $ for shipping (to the US at any rate).
Get your 'global' DVD player from SAMSTORE - about $90. (DAEWOO or whatever the brand is)
I have bought 2 and they work (almost) perfectly.
You will need some fast action with the red/white/yellow plugs. Matching the color-coded inputs on the back of the DVD work fine some times. Other times, you need to take ONE of the audio plugs and insert it into the bottom, left-hand corner input - let the other audio plug dangle. (There is no mention of this in the manual of course)
Be prepared to do this frequently as you switch between region 2, British, French origin DVD's of different eras. (and of course good old Region 1 or 0)
The only slight 'bug' is that it is impossible to get rid of (English subtitles). Dont bother with the DVD controls (or TV options) they are useless. Sometimes that works for a few seconds, then relapses. You get used to it.
Off-topic, I have gone hog-wild and bought around 40 region 2's so far
-- the complete avail. oeuvre of Frankie Howard, Norman Wisdom, Nathalie Baye(the 54 y.o. French sex kitten), L-shaped room, Lucky Jim, A Canterbury Tale, all the WWII RAF movies, Claude Chabrol, and even Arthur Askey, Sid James, Hattie Jaques, Eric 'Heartthrob' Barker, etc. IMDB.com is a mine of information.
Further suggestions & discussion would be very welcome.