region-free dvd drive-burner

[portogaio]

i just bought a MBP 15" and need to watch and copy both region 1 and 2 DVDs. have been following discussions on the forum but got confused about the optimal (and easiest) solution:
1) install windows and enable Region Free CSS to read all regions DVDs
or
2) buy a region-free mac-compatible external drive / burner?

if 2, can anyone suggest a specific manifacturer and model?

[balamw]

Since all you want is region 1 and 2 why not set the internal drive to one region and the external to the other and be done with it? Stick w/the cheapest external you can get...

B

[dops7107]

Originally Posted by portogaio

2) buy a region-free mac-compatible external drive / burner?

if 2, can anyone suggest a specific manifacturer and model?

That's what I did. I got the Lacie d2 16x DVD burner (fiwewire). It's very good, and fast, though pretty bulky - not recommended for portability. It is available with Toast 7 Titanium, for a bit extra, but a much better deal than buying Toast separately. I have internal drive on my mini set to region 2, and the external to region 1. Having two drives makes disc copying a breeze.

[risc]

LaCie Slim FireWire DVD±RW with LightScribe - http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10517

1 purchased 1 of these recently they are fantastic.

[Abstract]

What sort of DVD burners are Mac compatible? I didn't know it had to be Mac compatible in order for you to use it, but I guess it does make sense. Never thought about it.

I was thinking about buying an internal DVD burner and a separate casing for it. Wonder if I'll have to rethink my plans now...

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Just set System Preferences -> CDs & DVDs -> When you insert a video DVD to Ignore and watch all your DVDs using VLC, which ignores regions...

[Faraday]

If you are going the external DVD drive route, buy a Liteon DVD drive - whatever the latest version is at present. They are cheap and fast. I've personally found them reliable, but YMMV.

This little Liteon utility (windows only) lets you turn DVD region coding on/off entirely, set the region code, and reset the number of region changes remaining counter. Very useful. Works with all Liteon drives I've ever tried.

http://dhc014.rpc1.org/LtnRPC/LtnRPC.zip

[YS2003]

Originally Posted by balamw

Since all you want is region 1 and 2 why not set the internal drive to one region and the external to the other and be done with it? Stick w/the cheapest external you can get...

Can someone confirm that setting up the external FW or USB2 DVD RW unit as a different region (say, region 2) does not interfere nor affect the internal Super Drive (say, region 1)?

If you run one of those "firmware patches" on the external DVD RW unit, does the patch properly go to the external drive instead of internal one? The last thing I want is the patch applies itself on the internal drive instead of the external one.

Also, RCE encoded DVD disks may refuse to run on the region free DVD drive. To get over this, is it the easiest way to just get an external DVD (read only or RW or Dual RW) for each region of your DVD disks you may have?

[mturner8]

So HOW do you set up an external DVD player to run R2 DVD's? That would be GREAT for me as I'm English (now living in the States) and I have LOADS of R2 discs...

Thanks!!!!