First off, HD DVD is dead so it is not too swift to buy one of these now. Of course they are cheap on eBay, so are Clinton/Spitzer bumper stickers. (on second thought, that’s a bad example maybe I should print some up and se what I can get! ) :S Second, If you have a large collection of DVDs, this newest Oppo has the best playback quality of any player to date, tested at Secrets of Home Theater. “Introduction The DV-983H from Oppo Digital represents a lot of firsts. It is the first flagship design from Oppo, it is the first DVD player on the market to use the ABT-102 chip from Anchor Bay Technology(DVDO), and it is the first player to ever score a perfect 100 in the Secrets DVD Benchmarkâ„¢. Oppo has continually impressed us with their attention to detail and their ability to continue to push the envelope of price/performance with their DVD players and universal transports.” http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-dvd-player-product-reviews/dvd-players/oppo-digital-dv-983h-dvd-player---a-secrets-dvd-benchmark-review.html So, it may be nice to have one whilst you wait and see what happens with Blu-ray. There is a very good possibility that this format will tank as well, partially due to being ahead of its time, expensive to produce, DRM out the *ss that is hard to crack, more DRM waiting in the wings for an install base, e.g. ICT. Couple that with the falling dollar, in the US, that makes it even harder to offer a player at an attractive, price point and Americans (who are a significant part of the potential market) are passing on these things like they are Kryptonite. Not to mention the movies for DVD and Blu-ray are the same except one is “clearer” and costs double. Finally, if you have sprung for a PS3, you have found out that they do a great job with Blu-ray, but they don’t handle DVDs very well. Also, although I am not into these formats, the Oppo handles DVD-Audio and SACD. If you can’t tell, I am a big fan of Oppo and their products. they give grewat support and good firmware updates. I think $399 is a lot of money too, but oddly, I would buy an Oppo before I would buy an HD-DVD player, or any other upconversion DVD player either as far as that goes, so I am a bit biased.
:o
This message was edited at: 15-03-2008 02:25