Gayle

Can anyone tell me if I can buy cheap DVD movies in China or Hong Kong and if so where is the best place? thank you

Andrea

Um . . . cheap ones are usually the pirated copies - is that what you mean? They are only about US $3, and about 50% are from people recording from a video recorder in a movie theater (75% of VCD's). The rest are usually perfect quality, and about half of the movie-theater ones are still acceptable quality and sound. Um, I mean, at least that's what I've HEARD - of course I can't speak from personal experience, since they are illegal, pirated copies, but I have a FRIEND (wink, wink) who buys them regularly in Shanghai. <BR> <BR>I also know people - really - who have had them confiscated at airport control. I've only heard of the customs officials taking them away, I've never heard of any other fine or punishment, but I suppose it is possible. Most people I know who regularly buy pirated DVD's wouldn't travel with them for that reason. They leave collections behind when they relocate. <BR> <BR>The stores that sell the pirated copies are usually little hole-in-the-wall shops or even temporary card tables. I'll check the addresses of the ones my FRIEND goes to and re-post. <BR> <BR>I think the legal copies are around US $30, but due to all the pirating, you'd still want to be careful going through customs - be sure to get a receipt.

Gayle

Thanks Andrea, any additional information from your friend would be appreciated.

Michele

Gayle, where do you live? And where did you get your DVD player? The reason I ask is that there are region codes that will allow you to watch DVD's from only certain areas. For example, the US is region 1 so all DVD's purchased in the US are code 1 and can only be played on players for code 1. There are some players that have been outfitted with chips that allow them to play disks from any region, but they are usually not found outside of Asia. Disks sold in Asia have a different code as well as those from Europe and Australia. This was done to prevent pirating. Most disks that are pirated are VCD's, not DVD's and can not be played on a DVD player bought in the States. If you want cheap DVD's, go to dvdexpress.com You will find them cheaper there than anywhere else.

xxx

We got some DVD's in Silk Alley in Beijing, and they all worked fine in our player in the U.S. We weren't sure if they would be worth the price, which wasn't much, but we were very pleased.

gayle

Thanks everyone. Im from Australia and it's ok our DVD and TV will take the world zones (we got the extra chip) - The inquiry is really for my 19 year old son who is over the moon at the price - pirated or not. Ive warned him that Im not carting dozens of DVD's all over China! ha! - thanks again. - Gayle