Episode #0007 (01 January 2006)

[Socar15]

Ah ok, I thought you meant that the actual idea of fusion/patara was inspired by the movie.

Toriyama had probably already been planning for a while to have Goku and Vegeta fuse, but when TOEI took the idea of them using the fusion dance for the movie, he realized that he needed to come up with something original.

[VegettoEX]

patara

Potara.

TOEI

Toei (it's not an acronym for anything).

[lost in thought]

Okay, after having listened to the cast all the way through, I definitely enjoyed it.

To add some helpful information to LaserKid's question:
And to those of you looking to play foreign DVDs on your American players, or to buy a dvd player that you can easily "hack" (as Mike put it in the cast) you can visit this helpful place: VideoHelp.com

VideoHelp is a great resource for not just Player "Hacks", but other information, as well as known availability. I myself used them when I purchased my new player, so I could easily 'zero-out' the region.

Suggested player: CyberHome CH-DVD 300, this particular model isn't the greatest available, but it is not only the easiest to zero, but cheap as well (around $40.00). I have had some issues with it, that it burns out my audio/video cables, but being the high geek-i-tude that I am, I have a bunch lying around just for this sort of occassion. (And what with the ability to get those cords for about $2.00 each at most electronics stores, they pose little problems of use.)
Note: It is suggested that users unplug the player, after use, to prevent the a/v cables from burning out; unless the player has already shown to not suffer this particular bug.

[I've posted all this before, so hopefully Mike wont attack me for posting it now, in response to LK's question. ]

[Socar15]

TOEI

Toei (it's not an acronym for anything).

Yep, you're right, I'm just used to seeing them always capitalizing their own name, so I just sort of got in a habit of doing it.

[The S]

Was anything mentioned of characters like Janemba? I've always wondered where that came from...

[M-Vegeta]

Okay, after having listened to the cast all the way through, I definitely enjoyed it.

To add some helpful information to LaserKid's question:
And to those of you looking to play foreign DVDs on your American players, or to buy a dvd player that you can easily "hack" (as Mike put it in the cast) you can visit this helpful place: VideoHelp.com

VideoHelp is a great resource for not just Player "Hacks", but other information, as well as known availability. I myself used them when I purchased my new player, so I could easily 'zero-out' the region.

Suggested player: CyberHome CH-DVD 300, this particular model isn't the greatest available, but it is not only the easiest to zero, but cheap as well (around $40.00). I have had some issues with it, that it burns out my audio/video cables, but being the high geek-i-tude that I am, I have a bunch lying around just for this sort of occassion. (And what with the ability to get those cords for about $2.00 each at most electronics stores, they pose little problems of use.)
Note: It is suggested that users unplug the player, after use, to prevent the a/v cables from burning out; unless the player has already shown to not suffer this particular bug.

[I've posted all this before, so hopefully Mike wont attack me for posting it now, in response to LK's question. ]

Getting past region coding is pretty easy, but I thought the problem with ordering the PAL version had something to do with compatibility, as far as our televisions screwing up trying to play a PAL disc. Maybe it's different now with HDTV technology?

Any help?

[lost in thought]

Getting past region coding is pretty easy, but I thought the problem with ordering the PAL version had something to do with compatibility, as far as our televisions screwing up trying to play a PAL disc. Maybe it's different now with HDTV technology?

Any help?

Well, the Pal thing is due to Macrovision (as it has been called by the 'player hackers', I am not sure what the official term is) on some players (which I believe the CH-DVD300 is among) don't usually have a problem with this, and will display it crisp and clear. However, there are quite a few players from what I've seen that specificly need to have you tweak the Macrovision settings; which is also capable of being done with a few button presses on some machines.

If you need to find out more, you should make a listing of available DVD players at your local store (brand, model number, etc) and then take that list and load up Video Help and compare those players with the player information they offer. This way you could pin-point the model you want exactly.
You also could order a player online, through Bestbuy(/Futureshop) or any other online store, if that player matches your wanted specifications.

Hopefully that helps, and if you have anymore questions I'll do my best to answer them.

[M-Vegeta]

You can disable Macrovision protection using a program like DVDShrink.

You think that would work?

I'm all about just reburning it, as other people might want to play the actual disc.

[VegettoEX]

It has less to do with Macrovision and more to do with the fact that NTSC and PAL are two entirely different standards.

NTSC:
29.97 fps
480 horizontal lines
60 Hz

PAL:
25 fps
625 horizontal lines
50 Hz

Most DVD players sold in the US are strictly-NTSC-playback systems. They just can't handle PAL. Most DVD players sold in Europe are what are typically called "multi-playback" systems, which can output both their own native PAL and also NTSC.

[laserkid]

Yeah that was totally my bad for not remembering that the disc was PAL format. I guess I'm stuck waiting for FUNimation to give a damn. Untill then I'll live with the cut dub VHS tapes I bough yeeeears ago.

[lost in thought]

Most DVD players sold in the US are strictly-NTSC-playback systems. They just can't handle PAL. Most DVD players sold in Europe are what are typically called "multi-playback" systems, which can output both their own native PAL and also NTSC.

That's what's good about some models of Cyberhome players, since while they are being distributed with region locks, some models are of the sort like you mentioned 'multi-playback', which makes it a cheap (although possibly a little too cheap) investment for the import dvd viewer.

I am pretty sure the models CH-DVD300, and CH-DVD400 (which are the same player, save aesthetic and some minor programming differences) are the only two CyberHome models that are in fact multi-playback units, as they are the only two that I know of that are distributed (virtually untouched, save the region lock) exactly the same in the distributed areas.

Now I myself haven't played Pal discs on the unit (since I don't own any) but all the information I read from various weblocations (most of which I can't remember of else I would link to) would suggest that these models are capable of playing all regions, when unlocked with limited, and no difficulty in most all cases (as opposed to the CH-DVD400 I believe the model is, which is incapable of being unlocked at all. [Note: I could be wrong about that model number, so don't quote me on it.])

Also note: The CH-DVD Models 300, and 800 have been said in a few cases to burn out quickly (I myself posted earlier on that I have A/V problems when I don't unplug the unit) and while I've seen far too few reported occurances to take a whole lot of stock in it, I will say that based on my own experiences that this unit may not be a great long term unit, and that you shouldn't really depend on it as one.

[the_abberration]

Hello,

Although I may be new, I thought I may be helpful on this.

If you decide to purchase the DVD from Madman, may I suggest using the Daewoo DVD - 5800.

As stated in a previous post, it is easy to reprogram using a certain website's instructions and has a PAL to NTSC converter already built in.

[lost in thought]

Hello,

Although I may be new, I thought I may be helpful on this.

If you decide to purchase the DVD from Madman, may I suggest using the Daewoo DVD - 5800.

As stated in a previous post, it is easy to reprogram using a certain website's instructions and has a PAL to NTSC converter already built in.

Ah great point Abberation. I had completely forgotten about the Daewoo 5800, before now.

I've heard a lot of good things about that model, so anyone looking for a stand-alone PAL/NTSC player would probably do no better than that.

I am glad you participated in this discussion Abbaration.

[laserkid]

Yes, thank you for that bit of information. I'll have to save up for it I suppose.

My dream of watching all of DB/Z consecutively back to back in Japanese (with english subtitled) is no longer just a pipe dream. xD

[Gamingdevil]

Well my comment won't be relevant at all anymore with the PAL discussion, but I just listened to the last 3 episodes in a row (Hey, I'm sorry, I just didn't find the time to listen to them prior to this ) So as usual, they rock and if you do get question about the meaning of life, then might I suggest "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life", that should be hilarious .