Philips DVD727 Progressive-Scan DVD Player
If you have PAL DVDs and an NTSC TV, this is your Player
I bought this player from Amazon based on information that it would convert PAL-encoded DVDs to work with US-based NTSC TVs.  It does exactly that - I connected it to my Sony NTSC-only widescreen TV and I've played a bunch of German PAL DVDs on it.  The conversion quality is excellent, with no signficant artifacts or noticeable distortion of the picture, and there is no lag between the audio and the picture.  Plus, the price made it an easy decision.<br />The region-free code listed below works perfectly too.  I searched the web and found lots of code-free DVD players advertised, all at high prices (including this one).  They all implied a hardware modification was done, but I don't believe it's true.  Why pay someone $200 for this same player just because they pulled it out of the box and entered the code for you?<br />The downsides:  The player is made to its pricepoint - it's a cheap player, and it looks and feels that way.  I don't expect it to last forever.  I only gave it 4 stars, because even though it works fine the remote is cheap, filled with small buttons, and is extremely difficult to use in a dim or dark room.