Video Asylum

Posted by cfraser (A) on April 15, 2009 at 08:39:51

In Reply to: RE: thanks--that looks like the ticket! posted by bassface on April 14, 2009 at 17:58:35

The only relatively up to date model you're likely to find for $100 used is the 980. It is pretty good for audio *if* you have an HDMI connection on your audio processor. If you don't, I have no idea as I've never used the 7.1 analog or S/PDIF outs...

I use one as a backup for my legacy/"abandoned"-format audio discs, which I don't have a lot of, but the ones I do have I quite like. But really, "good" and $100 don't belong in the same sentence for a DVDP, and this is about as close as you'll get. Video is quite acceptable too, I use it to upscale DVD to a 60" plasma, but there are plenty better upscalers. I have no complaints with it though, and have yet to find a problem that wasn't due to the DVD itself.

It might be better to put that $100 into a BDP as generally they upscale better than DVDPs (but not always) i.e. a $200 BDP will have more video flexibility, but probably won't play SACD.

The 980 is the only Oppo DVDP they still directly sell. I'll probably kick myself in a few years for not picking up a couple of spares. The 980 is a music disc-oriented design BTW, not video, possibly why it's still around, as it does digital music over HDMI better than all the other Oppos (including the 83 so far).