I little searching around should find you a software hack for most DVD's, if not, you might need a small hardware update.
My Arcam (top British make) DVD is software encoded and so I've just set it up to play all regions 
A quick google will usually find the hack codes.
I found a model at Radio Shack (an Aspire).
This model was listed on the videohelp - hack site!
The hack code worked and the player was a great buy @ $39.00! I had to adjust the NTSC TV mode and enter in the hack sequence...
IT WORKS!
Got mine yesterday via Multihulls World - very cool. Plays fine on my Dell laptop.
But I have a question...There is a segment in the section on Sailing Upwind (Advanced Technique - Beating), where Emmanuel Boulogne (or at least the English voice-over) uses a word that I just don't recognize.
For example, starting from about 7:50 :
"The less wind there is the more speed you need because ____ing when there is no wind is very, very bad".
To my ear, the word sounds like "capping", and it is used repeatedly over the next minute or so.
Maybe it's the accent that's tripping me up, or maybe it's just a term I haven't run into before. Can someone tell me what this is?
Mark.
I can guess at what it 'should' say. "Pinching" or "Feathering" when there is no wind is very, very bad. Other possible words to fill in the blank:
crapp
flapp
napp
clapp
pitch pol
stall
gass
suck
blow
eat
drink
stall
float
bobb
paddl
breath
inflat
stopp
luff
eat
dismast
starv
drink
fish
barf
GARY
Yeah - I am pretty sure he is saying "capping". I too have been wondering exactly what they mean by this. I kind of think that he means "jumping" the wave...but then that definition sort of falls through with some of their use of the term.
The word used is 'capping' and I've heard the French use the word before. It means pinching as in pointing too high.