Want to make BACKUPS of your DVDs?? Then this cheap player and a firmware upgrade will let you do just that.

The APEX AD-1500 is a relitively cheap DVD player for around $100. And even though it lacks alot of features it's selling like crazy on ebay. (I wonder why?) You can even get the firmware CD on eBay, but if you spend a little time looking you can download it from the net.

Basically someone has written a firmware upgrade that will disable the Macrovision copy protection that prevents the digital signal from being copied. You can record directly to your VCR! It also dissables the region function that prevents you from playing DVDs from other countries.

The firmware upgrade will only work on the AD-1500 model. APEX has released a newer version of the AD-1500 that will not allow you to upgrade the firmware. But there is a way to tell if the player you own or the one you want will work. Just look a the serial number. If the serial number begins with A,B,C, or D the firmware can be upgraded. If not you're out of luck!

People are buying these things up as fast as possible because they are quickly being replaced by the newer version. You can find players that have already been updated for sale on eBay. I have seen some auctions close out at $80.

The upgrade process is pretty easy. Basically you put in the CD and the version number will show up on your screen. After it updates (around 30 sec. to a minute) it will eject the CD. Then just power down the unit and turn it back on and BAM!!...you have a Macrovision and region free DVD player.

Most people will just back up their DVDs on VHS, but you can rip the movie to your hard drive if you have a Video Capture/PVR card in your computer. Then you can burn the movie using the VCD format (Nero has this option) to a CDR (higher quality rips may require multiple CDRs). Since the APEX AP-1500 plays VCDs, you can play the movie on your DVD player!!

Obviously you will not end up with a copy that has the same quality as the original DVD, but people say it's better quality then VHS.

Kind of makes me wonder why I ever got rid of that damn player to my brother! He found about changing the firmware and said that he was gonna keep all 4 that he bought. Damn him!

first post

Sounds good.

Great Tip!
I might buy one.

Hail Mp3!!!

coolness!!!

I might be in luck to get my hands on one. Just talked to a friend that was getting rid of his so that he can upgrade to one that's better. Little does he know what that player can do...

Already nice that my DVD-ROM is region-free, and with the right software, it's Macro-free as well. Nice having older stuff

I remember a few years back, there was an Apex DVD player on the market that had a secret menu and didn't need a firmware upgrade. By pushing the right keys on the remote, you were taken to a menu that allowed you to disable Macrovision and Region Encoding.

Yeah, I remember that too.

Not really that much of a big deal, since tons of retailers do the region/Macrovision removal for you for almost free if you buy a new DVD player. One of the biggest such retailers is probably this : http://www.techtronics.com/ -- these guys delivered the region free players to ISS

And who wants to make analog copies of DVDs anyway, when making digital copies is easy as 1-2-3 and blank DVD-Rs cost less than blank VHS tapes?

hate to sounds stooooopid.. but this is a player for your computer? or for your tv? *duck* thanks for the tip.. I'll have to get one either way

when you get one of them digital recorder doo dads, just plug the video out on the dvd player to the video in, hit play, hit record, easy, I can change regions on my dvd player when ever I want, no software hardware nuthin, just a simple code to put in with the remote, and i can tape dvds to vhs tape if i want, it's all good!