This is a true blue ray player that plays ALL regions! I bought my husband a DVD from Germany..well that was the most expensive idea I ever had! But it was also one of the best! We looked for a while (2 months in stores) searching for a "all region blue ray player". When Best Buy told us "they dont exist" we turned to Amazon. We spent time going through reviews and data but in the end this was the ONLY all region blue ray player at a decent price! It works perfect! Dont cave and buy the cheap ones you will be wasting your time. My husband finally got to watch his birthday gift and now I can go looking for DVDs from anywhere I want! Its a high quality machine that I absolutely love!
Racer Hex
5
This player is awesome. I have several different disc players and they all have SOME good playback functions but none of them have ALL the features this has. Plus, it effortlessly plays any region DVD without special inputs (I have several from Europe while I was in my touring years and they all play perfectly well) and it also plays my Blu-ray discs from other regions as well (press "setup" and then press 1 3 6 9 to open the interface for changing regions, and yes the player came with the full instructions for switching Blu-ray regions as well as a normal owners manual, plus the remote of course and an extra AV cable with audio and composite video I think... the power cable is attached at the back, it does not separate from the player). But the playback functions are complete - theres a "slow" button for scanning (if you are paused it frames forward, if you are playing it selects between 1/16 - 1/2 speeds), theres an "angle" button (yes I have a DVD with multiple angles you can select), theres a repeat button and a separate "A-B" button (press once to set point A, press again to set point B and then it will loop; and these can be set while paused so you can get a precise clip), and theres a "zoom" button that toggles between x2, x3, x4, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 and of course you use the direction buttons to adjust the frame. Alas, there are some Blu-rays that disable the A-B and often the zoom as well which is pretty annoying (Im looking at you, Dressed to Kill, The Counselor and Porkys). But just think of all the fun you can have with all those features to play with. The one thing I wish it would do is - when you have an A-B loop going, it doesnt keep the speed you set (e.g. 1/2 speed), so when it repeats it goes back to normal playback speed, and I wish it would just loop at the speed I tell it to (the loop does keep the same zoom level you have set though). The player does start up somewhat fast and the disc tray sure pops out with urgency (but smoothly). And while most discs still force you to sit through the legal warnings, most of the other fluff (previews, etc) can be skipped and go right to the top menu. Pretty nice user friendliness there - though I dont know why those of us who OWN Blu-rays and REPEAT WATCH them arent considered when discs have those screens locked, forcing us good law-abiding customers to sit through it again and again. The only weird thing is, they put the play/pause/stop buttons among a bunch of playback features at the bottom (angle, A-B, etc) and then stuck some of the other buttons like scan and skip up in the middle with other playback buttons like repeat and menu and such... no sizing priority for any of these buttons so they are hard to find by touch along with being spread all over the place. I waited a while to buy this player but considering everything it does, I can definitely say BUY BUY BUY now! And hell, this thing cost $100 less than my first DVD player ha ha
Brendan D. J. Murphy
5
I very rarely post reviews on my purchases, but so far, this ICOM BD780 BluRay player blew me away. At an affordable price, it produces great HD picture and sound. I originally purchased the OREI BDP-M2 which died (burning-smell). I bought this ICOM BD780 to replace it. But what make me so impressed with the ICOM? Well... 1) It is multi-region. Plays all my UK (region 2) and USA (region 1) DVDs. 2) This player has Component video-outputs on the back (Y,Pb/Cb,Pr/Cr). Those are those red, green and blue RCA outputs. Ive tested these outputs using the testcard patterns (1-pixel stripes and squares) on Disneys WOW calibration disc . I can confirm that this analogue component output is of High Definition quality. Unlike the OREI BDP-M2 which boasts component video out but only in Standard Definition. Why am I so interested in HD Component Video Out? Well, when connected to a Denon AVR3312, I can listen to Pandora or Internet radio through my speakers and have an HD picture from the Blu Ray displayed on the screen (eg: Bluscenes Scenic Moods HD ). Even the higher end BluRay players on the market do not offer Component Video Out. 3) I have a Harmony Smart Remote-Control to control all my devices (digibox, Blu Ray, AVR and screen). The only way you can turn on the OREI model is by pressing the toggle power-button. A major pain for those with programmable smart remote controls. (ie: If its already on, the macro in my remote turns it off) This ICOM BD780 can be turned on by pressing the Play button! Much better for me :-) 4) As an added bonus, a feature I rarely use, this player can play 3D Blu Ray discs. This player does everything I need, and for about $130, I am delighted with this purchase.
S. BRYANT
5
Good solid picture. Played every type of disc I had. It will auto detect whether or not your dvd is in 4:3 (square) or widescreen so you dont have to adjust it yourself. Plays DIVX dvds. For those who use Harmony Universal remotes this device is in the database under the name Icom BD-780, apparently they are the same thing. If you cant use HDMI then at least use component video cables, they can be bought here on Amazon and they are cheap. I dont have standard blu ray dvds but I have a BD-R disc and it played with the component cables and it never prompted me to use HDMI cables. When it comes to Dolby Digital 5.1 it only plays sound properly with HDMI cable. Lucky for me most of my dvds have more than 1 option for sound only a few were Dolby 5.1 only. I bought this instead of a all region dvd player because I wanted to have the option of standard blu ray disc or BD-R disc player. My early opinion is this was a good purchase. I would buy again.
Amazon reader
5
Player arrived 2 days ago. Set it up last night and watch a region B blu-ray disc. Machine goes thru my receiver to my HDTV so sound comes through 5.1 speaker system. Just used a HDMI cable to connect. Sound was perfect. Have not tried 3D feature yet, but blu-ray was perfect. Easy set up for blu-ray which has to be set manually for proper zone. Instruction on how to do this was simple and clear. DVD disc zone is set for all zones, so plays them without any prior set-up procedure. Have not tried DVD yet, so cannot comment further on that subject. Did have problem finding stop, pause and play buttons on remote. They are the colored buttons toward the bottom. Remote is similar enough to my zone 1 players remote, that I will have a learning curve for the differences. Early yet for evaluation, but first impression and experience gives this a 5 star.
Frogger
5
I have an Oppo DVD player that plays anything. The kids were monopolizing the living room TV so we decided to turn a spare bedroom into a rec room for them, with TV and DVD. I first got a $10 DVD player from HHGregg and, yeah, you get what you pay for. Some discs would play fine but some things with higher bitrate (like just when you get into the action scenes) would just stutter, making movies unwatchable. Blu-Ray players werent much more than DVD players so I ended up getting a Panasonic 3D Blu-Ray player, figuring I could hack it to make it play DVDs region free. Shoulda done the research before I bought it! Naturally, it would only play NTSC Region 1 and I couldnt find a hack for the North American version. That left out my wifes European collection of DVDs and PAL home videos. There were clues that the international version could be hacked - if you had or could find a 3rd party compatible remote ($$). There was a site that offered alternate firmware, but the operator seemed no-nonsense-nasty rather than helpful, even though he charged for the fw. Plus, I could never get used to the touchpad remote. The kids were constantly having to watch in the living room because the player in the rec room couldnt play the disc they wanted to watch. So I went looking for a new region-free DVD player. I found this one and it truly has played everything Ive thrown at it. I have my living room back! I havent tried Blu-Rays on it, but my collection is limited and strictly North American, so I dont anticipate any problems. And the remote is a normal remote and a joy to use. It has bookmarks and remembers where they were for when the kids cant finish something in one sitting. I have no complaints and I would definitely buy it again.
Richard M.
5
This machine is everything it claims to be. It comes from a reputable communication electronics company and features a more complex and comprehensive set of features and options than any other DVD player I have ever owned. The reviews that claimed that it doesnt play region B BDs must not have been aware of the need to manually change DVD and BD settings. For you, simply hit the set up key and enter the code 1369 and the menu will appear. I highly recommend this unit in that it out performs much higher priced name brand units.
Theresa Greco
5
I wanted a blu-ray player that simply did a good job playing media. I did not want any of the extraneous wifi; my television provides me with all of the connectivity that I need. I will say that I had to return the first one that shipped, as it would not play regular DVDs. It was my first experience with Amazons return process, and I have to say it was smooth, effortless, and completely painless. That said, the replacement model is a very fine piece of electronics. It takes a few minutes to set up, but once thats done, youre ready to go. All you need to do is load the disk and the unit does the rest. Press "play" and youre in business. The picture is incredible. Theres no sifting through menus, and no other nonsense to dance around. It does what you want it to do: play media disks. I would definitely purchase another one from this company.
Wolfman
5
Well, add me to the list of delighted customers. At first I ordered a name brand player, but turns out is wasnt really multi-region capable. So, I took a chance on this one, with the only downside being no Wi-Fi. Oh, happy day! What a nice player. An instruction sheet explained how to quickly change Blu-Ray region. I was up and playing a PAL region 2 Blu-Ray on my NTSC TV in no time. The menu system is nice, the remote has lots of buttons (albeit some in strange positions) and it functions just like something from a major brand. Good selection of analog and digital connections on the back, too. Id purchase again.
old engineer
5
I had an older multi-region Toshiba SD-590KA2 that was starting to get flaky so I was looking for another multi-region replacement. The price was reasonable and in addition I get BluRay playing capability (although I dont have any BluRay disks to test that capability at this point.) The new ICOM seems to deliver a better quality picture with the HDMI cable capability vs. the old L-R-Video cable of the Toshiba. Additionally, the Toshiba always seemed to take an extraordinary long time to boot a disk after loading it -- although perhaps this is a bit of "the watching and waiting for water to boil" syndrome. Nonetheless, the ICOM player loads much faster and there doesnt seem to be any difference in what the disk region code is. Ive had this unit for a couple of weeks and so far Im very happy with it.
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