HWT Christmas Gift Guide

If you are a fan of British TV shows like Dr. Who, Torchwood, Hex or Life on Mars or if you like European bands like Corvus Corax which haven't deeply penetrated into the American market you will find a regionless DVD player useful.

As we all know DVDs made for the US/Canadian market are not compatable with those made for the European market and vice versa. A regionless DVD player eliminates that problem by simply playing anything you put into it.

My first practical experience with that problem came when I was finally able to locate a copy of Corvus Corax's Cantus Buranus concert DVD. It would play on my computer's DVD drive but not the DVD palyer connected to my television.



PHILIPS DVP5960 - ALL REGION PAL / NTSC DVD PLAYER WITH HDMI, 1080i UPSCALING. DIVX ULTRA USB DIRECT

Description: Progressive Scan for razor-sharp and flicker free images Movies: DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, (S)VCD, DivX Enjoy enhanced DivX 6 features with DivX Ultra player Music: CD, MP3-CD, CD-R/RW & Windows MediaTM Audio Ultra-slim design HDMI, 1080i Upsampling USB Connect, plays flash drive files

This unit is small and has an attractive appearence along with enough features to make it useful as more than just a platform for playing the European versions of American movies (you know how they spice up the European versions with lots of nudity and graphic sex, not that I am into that sort of thing).

And the best part is the price, $89.99. But don't forget that you'll need to order cable for it as well.