DVD's and MacBooks

[XP Defector]

Well I live in the UK, I saw a boxset on ebay that I've been searching for now for a while. However, it's region 1, so will my MacBook (seeing as it does most other things!) be able to play Region 1 DVD's, despite my place of residence? If not, is there any software that can get round this needless problem?

Many Thanks.

 

[displaced]

Well I live in the UK, I saw a boxset on ebay that I've been searching for now for a while. However, it's region 1, so will my MacBook (seeing as it does most other things!) be able to play Region 1 DVD's, despite my place of residence? If not, is there any software that can get round this needless problem?

Many Thanks.

I'm afraid not

The Matsushita drives are really quite severely region locked. Not only are they (at present) impossible to make region-free, but they flat out refuse to even correctly read DVDs that don't match their region. There's apps out there such as the excellent MacTheRipper that will rip DVDs and remove the region coding. However, the Matsushita drives do not even read the encrypted data of a non-matching DVD correctly, so MTR can't produce a playable image.

I had this problem with my Mac Mini. I eventually bought a replacement Pioneer KR-05 (if I remember rightly) dual-layer drive and fitted it in the mini. That works a charm with MacTheRipper, even though the drive itself is set to Region 2.

 

[crazycat]

Try this:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/22715

Or this:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/21117

I ripped a DVD i own onto my Mac Pro (they have sony drives) and was able to play it in VLC. I have not tryed playing a different region DVD on my MBP but to the best of my knowlage it should work.

I think that all DVD's should be reigon free, if i buy it i have the right to watch it no matter where i live. The movie companies would learn when people finding the easy way would rather download an illegal version then buying/ripping the DVD in order to watch it.

 

[XP Defector]

Hmm, anyone else have any luck?

It's a OAV boxset of Neon Evangelis, so we're talking many many episodes, ripping them all just to watch them sounds painful. The thing is Region 2's of those DVD's are difficult to come by, I think I'll just download them all for free but I'd like to have the boxset in my collection... Regional DVD dosn't make sense, they've just lost my 70.00 quid... Daft C*nts