Hello everyone!
I just recently found out about Laserdiscs and I think about buying a Laserdisc player.

The problem is, I am from Europe and the players for a reasonable price are PAL. I am considering Pioneer CLD-1500 or Pioneer CLD-M5 (same price).

The CLD-M5 is probably better, quite rare and can also read 5 CDs. On the other hand, the much more common CLD-1500 has online instructions how to make a simple switch so it can play both PAL and NTSC.

I really like the extra function of the rare CLD-M5 but is it actually worth it when it only plays PAL laserdiscs? I am not talking only about the smaller catalog and lower quality but also the price. I am just a college student and seeing how much money would an english PAL movie cost compared to the NTSC one... On the other hand, is it safe to modify your player?

So, what would you do if this was your first Laserdisc purchase?
Thanks for any advice!

I've never owned one, but from what others have said about those combination LD Player/CD changers, they're not very reliable and difficult to repair.

So I would go with the CLD-1500 if you can modify it to play NTSC discs as well.

there are lots of them on german ebay, cld-925 is a later model probably the best euro player.

modifying a player to play NTSC discs might be difficult for you, better buy player with PAL/NTSC playback

Agreed with both of the above; those combo multi-CD players would be more complicated to go wrong and then to fix. Modifying a player won't be simple (if possible) and so if you really want NTSC playback a multi-system or cheap 'NTSC only' might be the best way to go.

Thanks for the replies!
I will try to find a cheap NTSC player.

Of the two you mention, I would definitely go with the CLD-1500. If modifying it to output NTSC doesn't work, you'd still be looking for a low-priced dual-system player.