Oppo Opdv971h?

[Kyle]

So, I have my first HD set on the way (Sony Bravia XBR 40" LCD). I'm still nursing this JVC dvd player from 1998, and I want something more compact, and capable of upscaling.

So, I'm looking at the OPPO OPDV971H. Now my new set will of course have an HDMI input, but I'm a little bummed that it doesn't do upscaling over component.

My gripe is that I have beautiful Cat Cables component cables, my Rotel RSP-1068, and I'm not all that hot on having to do a bunch o' button pressing everytime I want to watch a DVD. Furthermore, if i "settle" for now (until rotel puts out a dsp that has hdmi switching) for non upscaled dvd playback, the Oppo won't even do progressive output over component.

My set is 720p native, and the Oppo does 720p output, whereas the LG upscaling player only outputs 1080i (which my set is capable of, but not native).

Does anyone have any suggestions on a player that isn't going to break the bank and can potentially do upscaling output over component?

I suppose I could also get one of those fancy pants remote controls and just macro-tize everything.

[Azeke]

Kyle,

I found this review:

Oppo DVD review

There is a Toshiba SD4980 at a lower price, but you will have to do the comparison.

Hope this helps,

Azeke

[Kyle]

Yeah, I've read a bunch about it on other sites, which is how i found out some of the caveats about its upscaling. I'm sort of thinking about dealing with the 'switching' for the time being, until that new Harmony 890 remote comes out, which looks pretty sweet.

Although I can't seem to see the difference between the 880 and the 890 aside from the 890 having a RF doohickey.

[Kyle]

Got my oppo today! So far so good. My LCD hasn't arrived yet, so I'm stuck using component in 480i on my tube, but the picture is great.

This player is my first dvd player in probably 7 years, so it's nice to have one that plays burns, divx, hdcd, etc.

It also has the ability to specify your LPCM output bitrate so I could jack it all the way up to 192k to match my RSP-1068.

Can't wait to see what this thing can do with my new set!

[Azeke]

Kyle,

Congratulations, perhaps you can kind enough to provide us a review, once you get settled.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Kyle]

Azeke, i'd be more than happy to whip one up when I'm all settled in

[Markmm]

Secrets has a great DVD review.

DVD Benchmark

[Kyle]

Yup, reading was what put me over the edge! I bought mine last friday, it shipped the same day, and it made the trip from Cali -> NYC 2 days faster than it was slated to! I had it by tuesday afternoon

I am dying to see this thing hooked up to my Bravia (if the Bravia would ever get here!)