One interesting though is - do you really need the drive itself region free? How about this? The dvd software itself keeps track of how many times [3] you've changed the region. If you simply reinstall your system, you should be able to do 3 more times. [correct me if I'm wrong] I've heard there are patches for the apple dvd player software to allow unlimited region changes. Thus, you effectively get the same thing as a region-free dvd without the problems with the hardware. True, you would have to change settings for each odd dvd you played but thats not too much trouble. thanks, Ian