Shall I buy in the US or in Europe...

[Noua]

Hi there,

I have a question that it’s bugging me for a while. I’ve also tried to look for the answer but so far I haven’t got any luck, so if anyone can help me…
Here she goes… I live in Portugal, and you probably don’t know, but most of electronic stuff it’s a lot more expensive here (taxes, gross margins…). I’ve the possibility to buy a dvd in the US and then ship it back (free of charge) to Portugal. Now the problem is that a DVD Recorder bought in the US is a region 1 locked DVD. The drive I’m thinking it’s a Sony DRU-510 and in Portugal I’ve seen it in the market for 450€. I’ve looked and in the us I’ll probably get it for 350$ witch makes a big difference… The Sony as most of the 2nd generation drive is a RLC 2 drive (region lock) and US belongs to region 1 while Portugal belongs to Region 2. Here lies my problem… I won’t be able to see or backup DVDs from Europe… The question I have is can I upgrade a Sony bought in US with the latest firmware from Europe offices? Will it make it a region 2 drive? If anyone can help me I would appreciate it…

Thanks

My Stuff: AMD Duron 900 (overcloked to 1100), Plextor 48x24x48x, Maxtor 60GB, 512 MB SDRam, Asus A7V-133, Gainword 64MB….

[TheWizard]

Olá Noua, como vai?

There is software that will unlock all regions for DVD drives, thus making them region-free. Since the DRU-510 is a new drive, I'm not sure if such software exists yet, but I bet it will soon. My advice, order the drive in the US and have it shipped to you for free. There are ways of getting around the locked region.

[Ian]

You can change the region up to 5 times. Even if you buy it in the US, you should be able to change it to the region you want.

It's not like Sony is manufacturing different drives for different parts of the world. They're all the same.

[Noua]

Hello everyone... Wizard como vais? Ja vi que falamos a mesma lingua...

I know that there's a software that makes the drive region free. It's called DVD Region Free. I’m not sure if it works with the Sony DRU-510. I've read somewhere that work with the 500 series so it is very likely that will work with the 510. I've also read that new write speeds are coming up at the end of the summer. Something like 8x. This changes everything on one way, cause maybe it's worth to wait a little more. On the other hand where will i get affordable compatible list. Yes... this troubles me... Has you all know, the Sony has some troubles recording at 4x with 4x media, and in Portugal (this is for you Wizard), the more affordable media are the Princo dvds but the 500 seems to have some problems with it. My free shipment should arrive on late July (last week of the month probably) so I have a little bit of time to decide witch drive should I get if I choose the US version...
Can we reverse the firmware update on the Sony? Does anyone knows how to do this? Cause If I get there, I’ll just probably flash it with the firmware from Europe when an update is released.

[TheWizard]

Actually, I'm American, Noua, born and raised here. Never been to Portugal, although, I am of Portuguese descent. I should visit some time.

The Sony DRU-500 had some problems recording at 4X on some 4X media, hopefully the DRU-510 will have better recording at 4X on a variety of 4X media.

When you get the drive, you can back up the existing firmware then flash to whichever firmware you wish. Therefore, if something goes wrong, you can try flashing to the backed up firmware you have.

[Dartman]

While your buying your new toy why don't you see if whoever is helping you will get you a LiteOn 166s dvd rom drive to go with it? It can be made region free and can be bought fairly cheaply, also the DVD ripping is faster then the Sony by a long ways. You can do you watching and ripping in it and then you shouldn't have tp worry about region on the burner, maybe I'm wrong about this, I haven't ever had to do that kinda thing being in the US and all that. Anyways if I'm right it shouldn't care what comes in to burn, just when you go to play it back.

[dodecahedron]

While your buying your new toy why don't you see if whoever is helping you will get you a LiteOn 166s dvd rom drive to go with it? It can be made region free and can be bought fairly cheaply, also the DVD ripping is faster then the Sony by a long ways. You can do you watching and ripping in it and then you shouldn't have tp worry about region on the burner, ... Anyways if I'm right it shouldn't care what comes in to burn, just when you go to play it back.

good advice.

[jase]

Has you all know, the Sony has some troubles recording at 4x with 4x media, and in Portugal (this is for you Wizard), the more affordable media are the Princo dvds but the 500 seems to have some problems with it.

That could well be a slight problem, for as I understand it 2 in 3 Sonys have problems with cheap 4x media and a firmware upgrade will not fix the problem. Other forums are suggesting that the new drive is just as bad. Bear in mind that the Sony is a +R writer and as such its -R compatibility isn't as good as a native -R machine -- you may be better off waiting a month or so and seeing how the Pioneer A06 (and the NEC 1300A for that matter, although apparently it is picky as well) fare if you wish to use mainly -R media (which, given the price of 4x Princo -R media at the moment is hardly surprising!!!!)

Agree with the idea of buying Stateside though, if you have the option. Much better prices there

[Noua]

Ok so here's the deal. I have family in US that are coming to Portugal in late July, maybe 1st week of August. This gives me sort of 2 months of time to decide witch writer to buy. When I was in US last summer I bought some stuff through buy.com. It was fast and didn't gave me any problems. I don’t recall how long it took to my digital camera arrive but I think it was less than 1 week so i have more or less 1 and half months to decide. Can anyone give a good and credible site to buy dvd writers? The Pioneer seems to be a good choice. I haven’t been able to find any reviews. Does anyone knows some?

Thanks...


AMD Rules!!!!

[Misa]

If you are having the drive shipped to your family in the US you could order it through http://www.newegg.com . They have a high reseller rating and have gotten great service each time I used them. Some other reputable online retailers are http://www.googlegear.com and http://www.mwave.com . I haven't peronally used the last two sites so I don't know if they ship internationaly, but I have friends buy from them a lot. Oh yeah, before I forget, you can check out other peoples ratings of a etailer at http://www.resellerratings.com . Hopefully these sites can help.

Edited to add the international shipping part.

[jase]

If you're going to be buying in the US and using in Europe, bear in mind that your US warranty probably won't apply in the EU. It should, but many companies will refuse to honour it. Also you won't get the full 2yr warranty you're accustomed to in Europe.

But no matter if you're saving stacks of cash For that reason though I wouldn't be too concerned about after-sales ratings, they're very useful if you plan to keep it in the place you're buying it but to be honest all you need to be sure of is whether the company you're buying from will deliver in the first place, so with that in mind I'd just go for whoever is selling the cheapest, maybe if you can get a rebate of some sort a local store there may be the cheapest.

[Noua]

Okie dokie...

I want to thank all the help you're giving to me. I will buy in US, now that’s a certain. All i got to figure out now is witch model to buy... I'm very curious with the pioneer A06... Let's just wait for a review and comments on that...


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