I bought my mum the Phillips MultiRegion DVD advertised on Amazon.com for Christmas. It comes from a dealer who has opened it up and modified it. The picture is fantastic and at less than $100 including shipping it can't be beat.
Finally my mum can watch all those "Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" and "Good Neighbors" DVDs I bring her back from the UK...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...onics&n=507846
(if this link doesn't work go to Amazon and search "Phillips region free")
I have hacked a Mintek 7" portable DVD and a Cyberhome 300 DVD player with remote control codes only. My husband updated his Compaq EVO laptop with firmware and made that region free as well.
Regions are a scam to make the rest of the world pay more for DVDs. I hate them.