Oppo Dv-981hd...

[JCKitchens]

I was looking around eBay recently and found the factory offering factory refurbished units, and I bought one. This thing is everything they say it is. So far, it has played everything just fine. One thing that I had not seen in any review is that it displays the full filename of files such as MP3s and DiVX or XVID. It does it by scrolling it, but it works!!! I have yet to take advantage of all of its features, but so far, I have to say it is the best I've seen, and I've tried a Sony, JVC, Philips and a Toshiba. One other feature that I really appreciate is the seamless layer change. I put a bunch of videos on a dual-layer disc and payed particular attention to which file got split across the layers. I then played it back and it played the file perfectly!!! I never saw any indication of the layer change. Now to get myself a HDTV to go with it...

[shadowhaze]

I debated on getting the 981, but decided to save some money and get the 970. I figure I'll end up getting a good Blu-Ray player at some point. Besides, I don't have a 1080p TV yet :(. Like you, I'm very happy with the performance. I also tried a Sony (DVP-NS75H) as well as the Samsung DVD-1080P7, and the Panasonic DVD-S53K before deciding to get the Oppo. The upscaling is the better than the other ones I tried and the audio output is outstanding.

One nice thing about the 970HD, is that if your TV or a/v receiver upscales very well (or if you upgraded later), you can set the output to 480i and use the tv's/receiver's upscaling instead.

My only complaint about the unit is that it's hard to use the remote in low lighting. There' a lot of buttons, some quite small, and they don't "glow in the dark" as intended. Even in good lighting, the labels can be a little hard to read.

That's really it. I strongly suggest that anyone looking at a $100 "major brand" upscalling DVD consider the Oppo 970HD as well. I never heard of Oppo until I started doing some research. All the great reveiws/comments were right, and IMO, it's well worth the extra $50.

[JCKitchens]

Did you see the new 980 they just posted. Will be shipping soon. Sounds like another winner...

[Surf]

Model #980H, to be precise.

Finally!!

This one has USB 2.0 !!! Been waiting for ages for the v2.0.

Think of a 500gb hd stuck to that.....

The 981 model has a "better" faroudja decoder chip tho..