Import DVDs - Worth it?

[baka]

I've been looking for places to get anime DVDs from in England, and noticed that they get a lot cheaper, as you'd expect, when you get the imports from China rather than the US translated DVDs. But I don't know whether the translation, or even the DVD itself is going to be good quality.

Does anyone have any experience with buying these sorts of DVDs?

[Bean Bandit]

You takes your chances, basically. HK subs can range from downright awful....to mystifying(On the 'One Piece' HK Dub, the Character name is clearly heard and understandable as 'Usopp', but for some reason, the subs call him 'Crook Bu'.) ...to the basically acceptable.

There's really no way to tell...until you actually watch.

[thepanda]

But you have to remember, its usually the Chinese translating Japanese into English.

And here I thought I was the only one to see that horrible sub, Bean. ^^;

[Dracos]

That and the odds of a chinese sub/dub being a pirate version is quite a good deal higher.  Which means you're going through the bother of buying without actually supporting the company.

Dracos

[baka]

Thing is, these ones don't actually have chinese subtitles or audio.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41524&item=6347785836&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41524&item=6348182707&rd=1

Two different versions, neither of which seems to be the Viz one, which is the only official/licensed one I know of. Hrm.

[DB]

Does anyone have any experience with buying these sorts of DVDs?[/quote]

% Yes, I have bought a few over the years, seeing as how I can't afford the ones licensed here. (unless I get a killer deal, like I did on someone's overstock of RahXephon.) You're getting what you pay for. Subtitling will depend on how they came across it. (Chinese translating from Japanese to English tends to be bad.) Sometimes I'm completely mystified by things (in Cheeky Angel, Megumi is, for some reason, translated as Whitney. 0_0)

The other main problem is quality control was sacrificied in the name of low pricing. Don't be surprised if an episode on a disc didn't come out right and the screen is in bad shape. Hell, I once had the subtitling a scene off, meaning I was reading dialogue for an upcoming scene, not the one that's being shown.

And as Drac said, you might not be supporting the company that made the series. Of course, if you wouldn't buy the stuff liecened anyway, they techinically don't lose money, there's stilll a principle involved.

YOu can always consider Ebay. Used copies of series turn up there. I've gotten several that way. YOu can be taking your chances there too, but I've found it more affordable than normal retail.