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OPPO BDP-83


Hopstretch

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I guess the main ones would be better DVD upscaling, DVD-A support and potentially better audio player performance overall. Honestly, if it's an either-or I'd get the PS3 considering all the other stuff it brings to the table: games, networking, PC functionality etc. You can work around the IR control issue fairly easily and I can testify that it's a really excellent Blu-ray player.

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The Oppo would be a much better DVD player than the PS3 I expect. I certainly still prefer my old Faroudja-based Skyworth player over the PS3 for DVD playback.

Most of the consensus agrees with you from what I've seen. This is the one standalone player at apparently any price point that finally has comparable speed to the PS3.

All the features you need audio and video wise are of course going to be there. All told, the final product should be very compelling especially if they keep it at $499 MSRP.

For those of you feeling adventurous, there's always something like this to consider as well: http://www.custom-ht.com/oppo.html

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The new Oppo's upscaling capabilities should be much better than the PS3's. The Oppo 983's upscaling certainly is and the BDP-83's upscaling is supposed to be pretty similiar to the 983's. Other than that the only "feature" advantage it is has is dvd-a support.

If you have an upscaling dvd player already or plan to use the PS3's other features then get the PS3. The PS3 is still an excellent blu-ray player and may still be the best. If nothing else it certainly has the fastest load times ;).

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It was in the email, I believe.

EDIT: Incorrect, it was in the AVS Forum thread -- and I remember the phrasing being stronger, so they may have changed it. That'd be nice (if they kept it to $499), and considering the economy, I wouldn't put it past them to do so.

I wasn't doubting your word. :) I just wanted to see if I'd missed something. I've kept tabs on that thread although not very often because there's been so much whining and nonsense. Instead I prefer to PM the experts and ask them directly.

I asked wmcclain just now over PM what he's hearing about final pricing one way or the other. I'll let you know what he says. :)

I think they have a strong product that's probably close to untouchable at $499 if they can keep that price.

EDIT: Here's what Wmcclain just wrote me:

I know nothing about the pricing, although $499-$599 has been the announced target price range for quite a while.

Honestly: interest seems to be high, so I would charge the higher amount. Knocking $100 out of the margin (whatever it is) has to hurt.

On the other hand they have to look past the initial surge of interest to the longer term, and maybe it would be wiser to stick with $499.

I really don't know.

-Bill

My response:

$599 is still decent for what this player offers but I think $499 for all this makes them almost untouchable if they can pull it off.

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I wasn't doubting your word. :) I just wanted to see if I'd missed something. I've kept tabs on that thread although not very often because there's been so much whining and nonsense. Instead I prefer to PM the experts and ask them directly.

I asked wmcclain just now over PM what he's hearing about final pricing one way or the other. I'll let you know what he says. :)

I think they have a strong product that's probably close to untouchable at $499 if they can keep that price.

EDIT: Here's what Wmcclain just wrote me:

My response:

$599 is still decent for what this player offers but I think $499 for all this makes them almost untouchable if they can pull it off.

Can't edit so I have to add:

I wrote Neuromancer, the other Oppo expert, and here's what he told me:

Yes, it is highly likely that the EAP price will also be the final release price. However, OPPO has not settled on a price, so the MSRP is still between $499 and $599.

So basically you're right Dusty. The price is still up in the air.

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Yeah, I have to agree with Wmcclain's premise, but on the other hand, the usual scenario is to charge the early adopters the higher price -- not the nicest thing to do, but certainly most early adopters allow for the possibility for the price to eventually tumble.

Heck, they should call it $549 and be done with it.

EDIT: And: no probs, I didn't think you were doubting me, I just tend to talk brusquely most of the time. The "incorrect" was directed at the line above, "I thought it was in the email". It was, of course, a reference to my many other uses of the word "incorrect", usually directed at others. Brusquely. But meant with humor. I guess you have to know me to get it.

Edited by Dusty Chalk
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The early adopter units will also lack RS-232 hardware, so that's one difference other than, potentially, price.

It's hard to tell how much demand there really is for that and I have no idea how much extra RS232 really would add to the cost of manufactering the player. I would think RS232 is about as common as dirt from a tech standpoint so maybe Oppo will consider swallowing that cost and keep their player at $499, which I hope they do.

Yeah, I have to agree with Wmcclain's premise, but on the other hand, the usual scenario is to charge the early adopters the higher price -- not the nicest thing to do, but certainly most early adopters allow for the possibility for the price to eventually tumble.

Heck, they should call it $549 and be done with it.

That's not a bad price but there's an obvious marketing psychology involved if you get that thing out there and there's a 4 instead of a 5 in front of that price.

EDIT: And: no probs, I didn't think you were doubting me, I just tend to talk brusquely most of the time. The "incorrect" was directed at the line above, "I thought it was in the email". It was, of course, a reference to my many other uses of the word "incorrect", usually directed at others. Brusquely. But meant with humor. I guess you have to know me to get it.

I remember you well enough. :)

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It's more than just upscaling quality that's lacking on the PS3 for DVD playback. These results are a little out of date given some features have been added via firmware updates (i.e. upscaling), but the PS3 certainly leaves a lot to be desired as a DVD player. The de-interlacing problems are my biggest gripe with it.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=133#SonyPlayStation%203%20(HDMI)

If the OPPO BDP-83 is up with their 981HD on the other hand it could be very promising. Hopefully the new ABT 2010 video processor in there lives up to it's reputation.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=133#Oppo%20DigitalDV-981HD

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I'm quite keen on a Region A Blu-ray player (my PS3 is Region B), so importing one of these seems like a good way to go. They're even 230V/50Hz ready. I could live with $499 although at $599 I'd be thinking twice. I just hope the DVD player itself is or can be made region free. My DVD collection is quite a mix of Region 1,2,3 and 4 discs so locked players are a no-go.

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BD-ROM drives must be getting down there. I picked up a Blu-ray burner some time ago for the equivalent of about US$220 and that's with extra tax and shipping costs factored in.

I'd need quite a few terabytes of hard drive space to rip my collection, but then again I'd want to manually post-process/de-interlace all my DVD rips through avisynth/decomb/TDeint if I went that way so it probably isn't going to happen. :(

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Every other Oppo player is easily made region-free, IIRC. I don't see why this one would be any different.

It's going to be more difficult because one of the conditions the BDA laid down upfront was no region free. It's dumb that even DVD should be affected this time out but it is. I'm not sure why the BDA would care if even DVD was region free but the law was laid down and it was take it or leave it.

It's not going to be the old "punch in the quick code" anymore. If it happens at all, it's probably going to be some hardware modification and some such.

I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Oppo's "trademark" in the past had been super easy region free for DVD. This thing would be a no brainer for even considerably more than $499 if it offered easy DVD and BD region free out of the box.

Alas, not to be.

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