Oppo going exclusively Blu-ray?

It's great that companies are now seeing enough demand for Blu-ray that they can make these investment decisions! Based on the quality of the audio from the BD concert video's I have picked up, I hope all this leads to a better 2 ch and multi-channel audio format, or at least an option that works with the Blu-ray format and doesn't require an SACD player.

It's been headed toward this for a while now.

With Blu-ray players dropping in price, it's inevitable. If you shop around for a deal, you can get a basic Blu-ray player for less than $100 now. With prices like that, it wouldn't make sense for them to produce both, especially with a smaller company like Oppo.

As the technology advances, you'll be able to get a lot more features in a lower priced player too. Think back to when DVD players first came out...if you wanted a good one, you had to shell out some coin for it. The cheap ones were still there, but they lacked in quite a few areas.

Look at DVD players now though...what would have cost 600-700 dollars 5-7 years ago, can now be had for $150. The same will be true of Blu-ray once they get more established.

I am happy to see that they expand their market share. Oneday, we may see an OPPO AVR that beats the pant off Pio, Denon , Yamaha, Onkyo AVR and all. Good job, OPPO.

buymesome wrote: »

If oppo would have offerd a stand alone bdp for less cash thenI would have chosen it ofver my recently purchased denon2500btci

Choice is always a good thing in this game

I'm sure they'll have one coming along soon enough. Oppo as a company is only 3-4 years old IIRC, so they're still new to the game.

Eventually they'll come out with a better BR player too, and the BDP-83 will drop substantially in price.

I can see them adding a standalone BD player at a lower price point with similar audio features in line with the 980. I can see them coming out with a high end audio player down the road too, but I doubt they can improve the video performance. Maybe to include netstreaming and wireless. Can't see that happening for awhile though...don't want to dilute the 83 marketshare yet.

buymesome wrote: »

If oppo would have offerd a stand alone bdp for less cash thenI would have chosen it ofver my recently purchased denon2500btci

Choice is always a good thing in this game

You have made a very good choice. Just remember your 2500 BTCI MSRP was $899.00 that one heck of a savings you've got.

I have learned to save and keep my money and wait for the incredible deal on NIB closed-out deals.

Mmmm...kay. I dunno about that. Oppo players have never been bargain priced. Actually quite the opposite. Kind of expensive (as DVD players go) but worth it. They have never been what I would call economy priced. They have always been considered a great value.

There are some fair upscalers in the $200-$300 range. Blu-Ray perfomance is par with Oppo. There is competition at lower price points. None so far can hang with the -83 much less exceed. But it will soon happen.

If they do come out with a lower price point BD player, I will be surprised.

billbillw wrote: »

Sure, their current BluRay player is outperforming most of the competition (regardless of price), but the average consumer is still not going to spend $500 on a player.

Glad I'm not average.

This player saved me $1500.

billbillw wrote: »

I never said economy priced. I said affordable. At the time Oppo first came out, their price was around $200-$250. Their picture quality equaled or bettered some of the Denon, Pioneer, Yamaha units that were selling for $600-$1000. To me, that's affordable. In the last couple years, Oppo had the 980 selling for $170 and it competed pretty well with the high end units that were still selling for significantly more.

What are the fair scaling Bluray players you are referring to? I haven't seen any.

I think we basically agree here Bill. But I have heard the same argument over and over again.

$250 was steep for a DVD player when Oppo introduced their player. Players could be had for next to nothing by then. Granted, the only similarity is that they played DVD's. Oppo's product was clearly superior to anyone in the know. But most people just want to watch a freaking movie.

Same sort of thing applies here except BD performance is pretty equal across many players. It's the up-converting capabilities of this player plus the DVD-A/SACD capabilities that set it apart and make it a value buy.

There are some good performers out there coming to market now that lack SACD, etc. but upscale pretty well. LG, Sony and JVC all have models that do pretty good. Not stellar, but acceptable to the average user looking for a 2-300 dollar player. The Oppo stuff has never appealed to the average user I don't think. And just as well, we get a better player for it if we are willing to pay Oppo's price. Which I agree, is a true value and a bargain at the asking price.

I should add that it wouldn't make much marketing sense to price a player to compete with the -83 when it is their only offering and selling like hotcakes. I think this player may well launch Oppo past the niche status they have held previously. I only hope they maintain their QC and CS. I am a fanboi