Looking to get or make an external drive region free

[james438]

I recently purchased a pre-built computer, however, it does not have an optical drive. I do enjoy watching foreign movies on occasion, so I'm thinking of purchasing an external blu-ray player. Can or should I purchase an optical drive and make it region free with some software like vlc (I'm not sure if that is possible).

Another option is to try to purchase an external region free player for my pc. If that is an option, can anyone point me to where I can buy one? From what I have found, that would be a fair amount more expensive route.

[keyboard]

My understanding is that the blu-ray drive itself isn't usually region locked, it's the software that imposes the region restrictions. Can't confirm sorry, as I've never actually used a Blu-Ray disk . From some brief reading online, it may be the case that VLC can't play region locked disks. You may need to get another player, which could end up costing money as well. Speaking of expensive, I had no idea that Blu-Ray disk drives cost so much. Wow.
Let me know what you figure out; I'd be interested to learn more!

[james438]

Thanks. I'll get a blu-ray drive and try the VLC software. Even if I can't get it unlocked with VLC, I figure it will still be a useful drive for most movies. I'll keep you posted.

[jos_b]

Another option is to try to purchase an external region free player for my pc. If that is an option, can anyone point me to where I can buy one? From what I have found, that would be a fair amount more expensive route.

Just passing by, James.
But as far as I know, all blu-ray players are region locked by the original manufacturer. So a player that can play movies from every region should have been modified by someone since it's breaking the warranty.
Perhaps you could have a look at 220-electronics (not an AD, just a recommendation since several communities dedicated to DVD's and blu-ray's mention it) if you need a player. Or just use MakeMKV on your blu-ray disc and then play it with VLC.
Good luck!

[james438]

Thank you. I have purchased the blu ray player and have it set up to play blu ray movies although without menus. I still need to find a good region 2, etc. movie to purchase to test. The one I was originally wanting to test out, Dave Made a Maze, I was able to find in region 1, so it is no longer an issue, but I still want to try this out.

I will post a follow up after I get a region 2 disc to try.

[jos_b]

Thank you. I have purchased the blu ray player and have it set up to play blu ray movies although without menus. I still need to find a good region 2, etc. movie to purchase to test. The one I was originally wanting to test out, Dave Made a Maze, I was able to find in region 1, so it is no longer an issue, but I still want to try this out.

I will post a follow up after I get a region 2 disc to try.

Thanks for keeping us updated, James.
Which one did you get?

[james438]

Pioneer USB 3.0 Slim Portable BD/DVD/CD Burner

I do plan on responding more thoroughly with my findings, but I have not yet ordered the region 2 blu-ray yet. Due to getting this internationally, it will probably be a couple weeks before I receive it and respond.

[james438]

Minor update.

I recently received The Name of the Rose in the mail. I chose it because it is considered a classic, and it is normally quite expensive in Region 1, but not in Region 2, and it is a movie I have not seen.

On my Windows 10 OS, the movie did not play at all with WMP 12, but played quite well with VLC after I followed the instructions in the following two articles:

Required: Fix: This Blu-ray Disc Needs a Library for AACS Decoding to get VLC to play blu-ray movies.
Optional: Viewing Blu-ray discs with VLC explains how to get the blu-ray menus to work.

There does not appear to be any necessary steps to viewing discs in different regions.

I call this a minor update because I have not fully tested different discs or how things could go wrong, but so far I am rather happy with the results.