The Coby DVD-233 is a cheaply made DVD player and currently available from Buy.com and several other places for about $30. This DVD player can be set to play DVDs with any region code by turning it into a region free DVD player with a simple hack/procedure. I have several DVDs I’d purchased from visits abroad that I’d never watched in years and the Coby DVD-233 is the perfect solution.
Here’s the hack: (All of the following are to be done using only your remote)
1. Turn on the player and eject the tray using your remote.
2. Press “MENU”, 8, 8, 8, 8 on the remote. You should see 5 asterisks near the top left of your screen.
3. Press DISPLAY. A dialog box will show the current region code.
4. Press 0. A new dialog box shows 0 (region free) and a warning. Ignore the warning and don’t press any keys on the remote.
5. Close tray using the remote control. Turn the device off and on again and the DVD player is now region free.