Posted by Franklin Hummel on 10/02/05 00:46

"FAQmeister" <FAQmeister@home.comxx> wrote in message news:dhmta5$9ci$0@pita.alt.net...
> "Franklin Hummel" <hummel@world.std.com> wrote in message
>>
>> I DO NOT WANT TO GET INTO HACKING. I don't want to take the risk I
>> might not be able to do it or it won't work for me and I am then
>> stuck with a piece of electronics that is not what I wanted.
>> As I said, I want something that WORKS. I want a VCR/DVD combo that
>> is region-free, which I can just reasonability easily hook-up to my
>> TV set -- and that is about all I have to do.
>
> You can pay a premium for a player that's been hacked by someone else if you insist.
> There's eBay, and places like this:
> http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/dvdvcdcombo.html


I bought one on eBay and it wouldn't work with my TV. Called the dealer and he was an
major asshole about the whole thing, claiming he had one and it worked fine. When I told
him my problem and asked him how he got his to work (I suspect he had LOTS of extra and
new equipment on his), he would never answer me.

Sorry, I don't want to go through eBay again. I'm trying to figure out what to do with
that combo now. I am thinking of selling it on eBay, with a more detailed and honest one
that the original dealer had in his listing. I'm going to lose a fair amount of the
money I spent doing that, even thought the thing was only "used" for about 5 hours when I
tried to set it up and could never get it to work.

As for the URL provided above, I don't trust them in the fucking slightest. Originally I
was going to buy from them, I had placed an order, and when I didn't hear anything back
after 5-6 days, I called and was told that unit was "out of stock" and they were waiting
to see what they would be getting instead, at which time they would contact me.

So I searched and found another website with a similar deal on the combo I was looking
at, called them about placing an order, only to find they were "out of stock" and were
waiting to see what they would be getting to replace it.

I recognized the voice and it was the same person I had spoken to when I called the first
website!

I searched on the Internet and found they were running at least *4* different websites,
all under different names and using different phone numbers -- but the street and city
address were the same for all of them. And ALL of them were advertising the same special
on the DVD/VCR combo on their front pages -- even though the one place running all these
different websites were "out-of-stock".

To me, the multiple websites, pretending to be different, unconnected ones (even the
design style of each of them are different!) and each prominently advertising the same
device on special sale when they were actually "out of stock" reminded me way too much of
a "bait-and-switch" con. The person I spoke to was none too nice to me when I mentioned
I had found these multiple site all pushing the same combo unit they did not have. I
cancelled my order as quick as I could!

No thank you, I don't trust those folks in the slightest.

(If folks want the names of these websites, I will post them here.)

That is why I asked originally for particular and detailed advice on what to buy when I
started this thread. I've been taken once and almost taken a second time. I don't want
to chance that again, if I can avoid it.

> The alt.video.dvd faq is located at:
> http://aww-faq.org/dvdfaq.html


Thanks, I will look at this. I hope it is of help to me.

-- Franklin Hummel in Boston, Massachusetts

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