Keep new MBP DVD drive region free

[micol124]

Ok everyone, so.. here I am with my seemingly impossible Q

I am plannig on buying either an MB or MBP when they come out (and yes, the wait has been killing me!!!!). But here's the deal: I currently live in Italy, but I will be buying it in the Us due to price + the fact that I have the italian keyboard. I like to watch DVD, and my previous lovely 12" Powerbook G4 eventually locked the DVD drive to the marican system, thus preventing me to watch italian DVDs. Is there a way to maintain the drive itself region free?

I was hoping when I installed leopard that it would reset this, but apparently it is a hardware issue. Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Nermal]

It depends on the specific drive. Some of them have firmware patches available, and others don't. Personally I use a USB drive for playing imported (R1) movies, but obviously that's not an ideal solution for everyone.

 

[micol124]

Ok... so, how do I find out? go under apple, about this mac and find out?

 

[akm3]

I hope the new MB/MBP don't *have* optical drives.