I Wanna New DVD Player ...

[pmenasce]

Good evening all,

I seem to have come down with a touch of upgraditis in the DVD player

I've got a very basic Pioneer DV-363 connected by component cable to an LG Plasma (42" 1080i).

Here's my quandry: do I wait for a winner in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war or go with an upconverting regular DVD player (a high-end Marantz/Denon/Integra/Rotel/etc...). I'm kinda leaning towards the upconverting regular player for two reasons:

1. my tv is 1080i and at less than a year old, won't be upgraded any time soon.

2. the "format wars" give me a headache and with my luck, I'd end up with this generation's BetaMAX if try to pick between Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.

I'll probably make my purchase early next year after the budget recovers from Christmas, so I have plenty of time to shop and decide.

Any advice offered here will be greatly appreciated.

[riceaterslc]

if i were in your shoes, i would wait to see some test results of the new oppo. if they are as good or better than the 971, pick one up. i think msrp is around $230. it is not that expensive so when br/hd settles you can pick up one of these units down the road and not blow your wallet now.

[technimac]

:agree: With what he said about the Oppo. I just ordered a 971 because it has tons of features, the ability to play almost any DVD, and DVI that is a perfect match for my Optoma H27.
With HDMI, it might be worth waiting for the 981 that is supposed to be released any time soon, then see what the reviews look like.

[technimac]

Just checked the Oppo site and the 981 is here.

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/index.html

[peterS]

1080i lg? they are all 720p as far as i know
the only ploasma that claims "1080i" is hitachi?

also recomend the oppo
my 970 is as good as my denon 2910 was as far as my eyes can tell

[pmenasce]

Interesting ideas ...

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I looked at the Oppo web site and the players you suggest are certainly interesting. Perhaps a dumb question though: Are the Oppo players available over the web only or can they be had at B&M retailers? If yes to B&M, are they available in eastern Canada/Quebec?

How does the Oppo stack up against Denon/Marantz/Integra/etc... in terms of build, reliability and all the other stuff a paranoid consumer like me worries about.

PeterS: My TV's an LG 42PX5D and according to the manual it does do 1080i and 720p. Perhaps you're thinking of some other models.

Looking forward to more advice/ideas...

[peterS]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I looked at the Oppo web site and the players you suggest are certainly interesting. Perhaps a dumb question though: Are the Oppo players available over the web only or can they be had at B&M retailers? If yes to B&M, are they available in eastern Canada/Quebec?

How does the Oppo stack up against Denon/Marantz/Integra/etc... in terms of build, reliability and all the other stuff a paranoid consumer like me worries about.

PeterS: My TV's an LG 42PX5D and according to the manual it does do 1080i and 720p. Perhaps you're thinking of some other models.

Looking forward to more advice/ideas...

oppo is factory dirrect
build quality id going to be similar to a dvd player that retails for 200- 300
most dont care since dvd's may be on the way out soon anyways
they do have the best customer service i have delt with in a long time though

and to clarify your plasma (as 99.8% of them are) has a native resolution of 720p. it can of course accept 1080i but rescales it to 720p

[technimac]

Peter,
It seems like there are two Oppo distributors in Canada.

I ordered my Oppo 971 from:
COMPLETE IT PRESENTATION AND NETWORK SOLUTION
2025 Guelph Line
Suite 219
Burlington ON
L7P 4X4

They're a lot closer to you than to me, probably about one day shipping.

Total cost with shipping to me was just under $260 CDN, and it should be here within the next couple of days. :B
Cheers, Bruce