Info and forum posts by 'chester'

This user hasn't used our main site yet, so has no main account at present.

Joined on: Saturday, 28th October 2000, 15:05, Last used: Saturday, 28th October 2000, 15:05

Access Level: Mostly Harmless

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This user has posted a total of 38 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0 messages a day, or 0.03 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: Best place to get rid of old discs?

www.ringos.co.uk will buy any number of discs from you - just mail them a list and they will make you an offer.

And no, I am not affiliated with this site but happen to think that they run a pretty good business.

Samsung 511 help

Hi all,

I recently hacked my mates 511 using the hack listed on this site.

I set it to multi-region by using code 9.

Can someone tell me if the cold start (holding down play and stop, choosing languages), will completely reset the unit so that it thinks that it is region 2 again?

Any help appreciated.

RE: Can Pioneer DV 525 be made multi-regional via its remote?

Hi,

Unless you are good at soldering then you would have to send it away to a firm like www.techtronics.com or www.upgradeheaven.com maybe.

Cannot remember but it is likely to cost around £80.

I bought mine from techtronics for £198 already chipped.

Hope this helps, shout for more info

Chester

RE: Can Pioneer DV 525 be made multi-regional via its remote?

Hi all,

Sorry to say that the hack posted is for modified players, specifically for the Paragon mod AFAIK.

The only way to make this a multi region player is to have it modded.

Chester

RE: Why do my discs pause ?.

When you say pause, do you mean like always in the same place and half way through? Is the Gladiator pause when the bird is talking to Commodus? If so then that is the layer change on the disc and it`s perfectly normal to experience a slight pause. As a rule the better players have shorter pauses.

HTH
Chester

RE: Is this a good deal?

I have one, bought from Techtronics in November.

Very pleased, plays any disc I chuck at it, including RCE. Picture and sound quality excellent for the price.

Macrovision is also disabled.

The only negative comments I would have are in respect of the remote (small and really fiddly), and the fact that MP3 playback is not supported.

Oh and it is so light that I thought that they had delivered me an empty box!

As regards Techtronics I reckon that you`ll hear plenty of horror stories about them.

Search these or other forums and you will find a number of posts detailing how poor their customer service is.

I haven`t had a problem (player delivered in 5 days) yet but if I do it sounds like a world of s***.

Have a look at upgrade heaven, only £10, £20 more and plenty of positive feedback around the forums.

HTH shout if you want more information.

Chester

Home cinema set up

Had a little bit of an Xmas bonus and hence I have about £3,500 to spend on a home cinema/projector setup

I have a player and w/screen tv in the house but want to start from scratch - I may even try to convince the missus that the garage would be best utilised as a theatre (someone has done this and there was an article in an entertainment magazine about it).

I know very little about buying screens and the like, so if someone can point me in the right direction or give me some pointers I would be grateful

Cheers,

Chester

RE: Need help with region hack for PIONEER DVD 535 !!!!

I have the Pioneer 530 which is identical except that it is silver and has no optical out cable.

No remote hacks exist and it needs to be upgraded professionally.

Unless you know what you are doing with as soldering iron.

I bought mine from www.techtronics.com for £198 including delivery, the player came multiregion enabled and macrovision disabled.

HTH shout for more information if you need it.

RE: A couple of questions from a beginner!

Hi Mark,

The Pioneer 530 does play RCE dvds - I checked this with www.techtronics.com before I purchased their modded model for £198 including delivery. Macrovision is also disabled.

Both the players you are looking at are decent - with little difference between them.

The Aiwa plays mp3 discs, but on the whole picture comparisons lean towards the Pioneer - although my brother has an Aiwa and I cannot really tell any picture difference.

If you want to play mp3 discs get the Aiwa - or if you want a branded player get the Pioneer.

BTW the remote on the Pioneer is a bit crap.

Hope this helps, shout if you need more info

RE: Best Excuse for Alba-Asda Return

How long have you had the player?

If it is less than 28 days then you are legally entitled to a refund as far as I am aware.

I got a refund at ToysRus with my Alba 6 weeks after purchasing it.

Call them up first and say that Alba have admitted to you that the machine has a fault. I actually did this and was told that the region select menu (setup with no disc in preferences selection) does NOT WORK, so technically you are telling the truth. Get someones name before you go into the store.

If they get arsey then shout a bit about it being crap, all retail store managers are programmed to lick your butt at this point and do anything to keep you quiet and other customers in store. (I told two people in ToysRus not to buy any electrical products as some appear to be faulty. The manager suddenly became my best friend!)

Let me know what happens

RE: the answer to the alba 103 region changeing

Take it back.

I did, and bought a Pioneer 530 from Techtronics.

Loads better than the pile of crap Alba.

Where did you buy it from? I got mine from ToysrUs and took it back after owning it for 6 weeks. (shout if you want to know what I said)

As for the tech support - I had to explain to the guy on the helpdesk what RCE was BECAUSE HE DIDN`T EVEN KNOW.

Buy a brand player from an outfit that knows what they are talking about.

RE: Pioneer 530

Ditto Bigfan`s comments.

I initially bought an Alba 103 but took it back, threw an extra £50 in and bought a 530.

Best thing I ever did.

Better players exist, but for the price I am really happy with it.

Service from Techtronics was good, ordered Monday and arrived Friday.

Shout with any more questions.

Chester

RE: ALBA DVD103 - Region hack wanted - Avail from ASDA

It is multiregion out of the box.

But it`s auto selecting which means that RCE discs will not work.

Throw an extra £50 at your budget if you can, and buy a brand name player.

The problems that I had with mine before it went back are too extensive to list here but shout if you want more info.

RE: DO NOT BUY THE ALBA 103 DVD PLAYER!!!!!!

I spoke to the guy at Alba who confessed that he didn`t know what RCE was.

I had one for 5 weeks before taking it back, and buying a Pioneer dv530 from techtronics.

My grannys vcr on her mono telly looks/sounds better.

AVOID

RE: Beginners Choice: Wharfdale 950s or Pioneer DV525?

If you have a look at the www.techtronics.com website they are selling the pioneer dv530 for £198 inc vat and delivery. It is also multi regoin chipped, macrovision disabled and rce proof!

Shout if you want any info `cos I`ve just bought one.

RE: Pioneer DV-535 Help Help!!!!!

The 530 is identical to the 535 except that the 535 has an optical out.

I got mine chipped and delivered from techtronics for £198 inc vat.

This was after returning an evil Alba 103.

Shout if you want any more info

RE: Pioneer DV-535 help me with opening all regional Best regards from Belgrade

Well I didn`t suggest that you send your dvd player anywhere if you read my first post. I suggested that you have a look at www.techtronics.com:

Have you looked at the website?

Have you considered whether a multi-mod will do the trick?

Have you actually emailed them and asked for their advice on what you should do?

Sorry if this doesn`t help you out but at least I have bothered to try and give you a hand. And taken abuse from someone who appears to have no idea that we were trying to help you out. (yes that would be you Satana).

Let me know how you get on.

RE: Gladiator R1 vs R2

R1 is 6 minutes longer due to the difference between NTSC and PAL.

RE: new to dvd what to buy???

Hi there,

I can maybe help cut your list down a little.

I had an Alba 103 for about 5 weeks and took it back. The reasons are as follows:

Poor picture quality compared to other dvds.

Technical support is awful.

After pausing etc soundtrack not in line with video.

Will not play discs that have been coded using RCE (sorry I know that is jargon) - the only discs that are affected thus far are The Patriot and Thomas and the Magic Railroad or something like that.

As far as I am aware Alba and Bush models are identical (I think) - in any case they are part of the same group and thus a number of points above will reapply.

I bought a Pioneer 530 from www.techtronics.com, have a look at their website for some prices and information.

Richer sounds will demo players for you as well, it is worthwhile going along to see them if you have a local store.

Hope this helps

RE: Pioneer DV-535 help me with opening all regional Best regards from Belgrade

If you read my post Satana you will actually note that I have suggested a website for this chap to have a look at. I even sent him an email quoting the same information.

However, more than one person has made comments that every couple of days the same message is appearing on all four of these forums.

My post was a gentle dig at this fact without being rude, as I stated above I have actually tried to help the guy - if he cannot find anything on the website suggested then hopefully he will email them.

It seems to me that your post is of least help to him and has absolutely nothing to do with the topic whatsoever.

RE: Pioneer DV-535 help me with opening all regional Best regards from Belgrade

Look dude - you have posted this like 1 trillion times on all the forums within on this site - its etiquette to post it in the right place and once only.

As Simon says (sorry!) - read the other posts. The bottom line is that no remote hacks exist/work - if you have a soldering iron then have a look at www.techtronics.com and see if they will ship you a multi-mod.

RE: Alba DVD 103

MickeyMCD,

As far as I know the 530 will output pal 50 but don`t quote me on this.

Your best bet is to email the guys at www.techtronics.com - they answer emails within an hour or two and know their stuff. By the way I bought my 530 from them for £198 - multi region chipped and macrovision disabled - so that you can record to VHS. Even delivery was free and it only took 5 days.

Hope this helps shout if you want more info.

RE: What is this anamorphic?

Have a look at this link - hope this clears the carrots from your keyboard

http://www.dvdweb.co.uk/information/anamorphic.htm

RE: Alba DVD 103

Take it back! Alba 103s are evil!

Seriously, I bought one from ToysRUs in September and took it back last week. (it has been replaced by a Pioneer 530 from Techtronics for £198 already chipped). Initial impressions were similar to yours, but the shortcomings of the player as follows became too much to handle.

The player will not play RCE discs, and as I had to explain to THE WORST TECH SUPPORT CABBAGES ON THE PLANET what RCE is I doubt very much that they will solve the problem if RCE ever makes an appearance on r2 discs.

On the above point the guy I spoke to said `we are not supposed to discuss multi-region issues`. That is like my local garage saying ` We can talk about any aspect of your vehicle except for the engine`

Picture and sound quality are good compared to my Granny`s VHS on her black and white mono portable television. I thought that it was good until I saw other DVD players being demonstrated. Several discs that I watched; Drop Dead Gorgeous, Aliens, Arlington Road all had horribly pixellated backgrounds at one stage or another. Sound quality is only average.

Alba admits that it has a problem with Columbia Tristar discs in that it will not access menus correctly.

They also admitted to me that the preferences menu accessed when no disc is present `does not work`

Other discs like T2 UE and Stuart Little don`t work properly.

Take the player back, throw an extra £50 onto your refund and buy a player with a renowned brand from a company who knows what they are doing.

RE: Pioneer DV535

I bought a Pioneer 530 from Techtronics for £198 inc vat. I ordered it Sunday 5th November and it arrived Friday 10th November. Service was very good, they responded quickly to my emails and were always polite, to the point etc. I would certainly buy from them again.

RE: Hacks for Alba 103

Hi Marshy,

I had an Alba 103 but took it back - however accidentally kept the manual!

Page 21 does have some info on the preferences menu, as follows:

Country/Region>> China
France
Hong Kong
Japan
Taiwan
GBR
USA

I spoke to Alba tech and they admitted to me on the telephone that this menu does not work properly. Hope this helps

RE: PLEASE HELP....NEWBIE...CHEAP PLAYER ??

I only have knowledge of the Alba 103. At first I thought that it was a bargain, however it has soooo many problems that I took it back five weeks later.

RCE incompatability.
Below average level of sound quality.
Columbia Tristar discs don`t work properly.
Tech support know less than me (I had to explain what RCE is!)
Pixelated picture - in Aliens the smoke looks utter crap.
Other discs such as Stuart Little, T2 UE et al don`t work properly.

RE: Studios Find Way To Defeat DVD Modification

Shan,

I`m not having a go or anything but where have you been?

RE: Alba DVD 103 - Not playing certain disks

Hi Rich,

I bought an Alba 103 four weeks ago and have just taken it back. I too was new to dvd and thought bargain £140 and bought it. Problems encountered are as follows:

Reported T2, Stuart Little discs not playing.

RCE discs do not work as its multi out of the box, not region selectable.

Columbia Tristar discs ie :Go? don`t work ie: cannot access menus properly (so bye bye to extras and press resume to watch film). - Alba have admitted apparently.

Picture quality is good against VHS on my grannys telly but against branded players it is really awful. Films such as Arlington Road (backgrounds), Aliens (smoke effects) and Drop Dead Gorgeous (most of film) suffer from pixellation horribly.

Technical support are worse than terrible. Very friendly but DVD knowledge = zero. Big time. To illustrate how little knowledge - I had to explain what RCE is.

Alba have admitted that the preferences menu you can only select when no disc is present has a fault.

One for the future - if RCE extends to region 2 you will have bought a nice silver doorstop.

Sorry to go on and to all you Alba peeps out there but in my view the player went from hero to zero in three and a half weeks. From oooh multi out of the box and mp3 to ooops RCE problem and general world of s***.

Just to confirm that i am not associated with Alba in case anyone thought I endorsed there products.

Final thought - where did you get your player from?

Hope this helps

RE: Encore DV450

Thanks for the help guys