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Post by mgbpuff on Apr 23, 2018 9:12:25 GMT -5
I got caught up in the crowd psychology and panicked and bought a 203. I already had a Samsung UDP-K8500 which does every thing the OPPO does except SACD. Actually the fact that the 203 plays SACD did figure into my decision to buy because a recent SACD player of mine failed and SACD players are disappearing from the market. So I bought it for a legacy feature, certainly not a future one.
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bootman
Emo VIPs 
Typing useless posts on internet forums....
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Post by bootman on Apr 23, 2018 9:20:02 GMT -5
Looks like the Panasonic can nearly do it all. However, it appears that it won't play SACDs, important for some of us. Not surprising since Panny supported the rival to SACD, DVD-A.  Panasonic knows what they are doing when it comes to Bluray Video processing. Can't go wrong with that player. |
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Post by doc1963 on Apr 23, 2018 11:00:01 GMT -5
Having owned Sony Blu-ray players as well as an Oppo 103 and now a 203, there really is no comparison between Sony and Oppo in terms of build quality, regular firmware updates, and customer support.Yes they are priced higher, but I have no regrets. The issue here is how long can we expect future support. Otherwise it’s a no brainer to me, Buy the Oppo. To quote cawgijoe, these are the biggest reasons most of us buy (or should I say "bought") Oppo players. Their legacy speaks for itself. The Sony player (X800, which I owned) is a good player, but not without its own faults and failed promises. I'm not a Samsung fan, so I don't have a fair and unbiased opinion of their recent offerings. The upcoming Panasonic players show promise, but will they be available in the U.S. since Panasonic has been a recent absentee in the North American market...? What makes the Oppo players unique is the fact that they are "universal" disc players. If SACD and Dolby Vision are important to you, the Oppo is an obvious choice. No promised "future update" is required as it can do both "out of the box". Although production of hardware will end in June, support has been promised to continue and software developement to be ongoing. Considering their history, I have no reason to doubt that this will happen. To be fair (and to not sound naive), I'm sure that at some point, support will also come to an end. But by then, we may be on to the next big thing. So, no worries. As for the lack of built-in streaming apps, I'm okay with that too. To me, these are better left to the dedicated streaming boxes or Smart TVs where apps are abundant and updates are "regular". VUDU, for example, is the biggest supporter of UHD content streaming. But, how many devices are actually supported by a VUDU UHD app...? My X800 wasn't. Nor is my TiVo Bolt. To the VUDU software development team, both are "small fish" and unworthy of their time. I understand that some people would like to have a "one box" solution, but does one exist...? For me, I have found that the combination of my UDP-203 and ATV-4K is as close to perfection as I'm going to get. In the end, you only need to choose what makes sense to "you". Good luck... |
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KeithL
Administrator 
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Post by KeithL on Apr 23, 2018 11:36:51 GMT -5
The only possible "catch" there is continuing Blu-Ray support. Some Blu-Ray discs have a sort of algorithmic protection. Without going into technical details, what that means is that, if you are unable to update your Blu-Ray player, it will be UNABLE to play some Blu-Ray discs that are produced after its last update. This won't be true for ALL discs..... but, if you stop being able to get updates, you'll find that at least some discs sold later will not play on your player - and there's no way around it. Oppo has announced that another company will be taking over updating Oppo players. Having owned Sony Blu-ray players as well as an Oppo 103 and now a 203, there really is no comparison between Sony and Oppo in terms of build quality, regular firmware updates, and customer support.Yes they are priced higher, but I have no regrets. The issue here is how long can we expect future support. Otherwise it’s a no brainer to me, Buy the Oppo. To quote cawgijoe, these are the biggest reasons most of us buy (or should I say "bought") Oppo players. Their legacy speaks for itself. The Sony player (X800, which I owned) is a good player, but not without its own faults and failed promises. I'm not a Samsung fan, so I don't have a fair and unbiased opinion of their recent offerings. The upcoming Panasonic players show promise, but will they be available in the U.S. since Panasonic has been a recent absentee in the North American market...? What makes the Oppo players unique is the fact that they are "universal" disc players. If SACD and Dolby Vision are important to you, the Oppo is an obvious choice. No promised "future update" is required as it can do both "out of the box". Although production of hardware will end in June, support has been promised to continue and software developement to be ongoing. Considering their history, I have no reason to doubt that this will happen. To be fair (and to not sound naive), I'm sure that at some point, support will also come to an end. But by then, we may be on to the next big thing. So, no worries. As for the lack of built-in streaming apps, I'm okay with that too. To me, these are better left to the dedicated streaming boxes or Smart TVs where apps are abundant and updates are "regular". VUDU, for example, is the biggest supporter of UHD content streaming. But, how many devices are actually supported by a VUDU UHD app...? My X800 wasn't. Nor is my TiVo Bolt. To the VUDU software development team, both are "small fish" and unworthy of their time. I understand that some people would like to have a "one box" solution, but does one exist...? For me, I have found that the combination of my UDP-203 and ATV-4K is as close to perfection as I'm going to get. In the end, you only need to choose what makes sense to "you". Good luck... |
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Post by tchaik on Apr 23, 2018 11:53:57 GMT -5
The only possible "catch" there is continuing Blu-Ray support. Some Blu-Ray discs have a sort of algorithmic protection. Without going into technical details, what that means is that, if you are unable to update your Blu-Ray player, it will be UNABLE to play some Blu-Ray discs that are produced after its last update. This won't be true for ALL discs..... but, if you stop being able to get updates, you'll find that at least some discs sold later will not play on your player - and there's no way around it. Oppo has announced that another company will be taking over updating Oppo players. To quote cawgijoe, these are the biggest reasons most of us buy (or should I say "bought") Oppo players. Their legacy speaks for itself. The Sony player (X800, which I owned) is a good player, but not without its own faults and failed promises. I'm not a Samsung fan, so I don't have a fair and unbiased opinion of their recent offerings. The upcoming Panasonic players show promise, but will they be available in the U.S. since Panasonic has been a recent absentee in the North American market...? What makes the Oppo players unique is the fact that they are "universal" disc players. If SACD and Dolby Vision are important to you, the Oppo is an obvious choice. No promised "future update" is required as it can do both "out of the box". Although production of hardware will end in June, support has been promised to continue and software developement to be ongoing. Considering their history, I have no reason to doubt that this will happen. To be fair (and to not sound naive), I'm sure that at some point, support will also come to an end. But by then, we may be on to the next big thing. So, no worries. As for the lack of built-in streaming apps, I'm okay with that too. To me, these are better left to the dedicated streaming boxes or Smart TVs where apps are abundant and updates are "regular". VUDU, for example, is the biggest supporter of UHD content streaming. But, how many devices are actually supported by a VUDU UHD app...? My X800 wasn't. Nor is my TiVo Bolt. To the VUDU software development team, both are "small fish" and unworthy of their time. I understand that some people would like to have a "one box" solution, but does one exist...? For me, I have found that the combination of my UDP-203 and ATV-4K is as close to perfection as I'm going to get. In the end, you only need to choose what makes sense to "you". Good luck... that is the part that concerns me. this may cause me to reconsider and wait on the new panasonic players that may or may not arrive in the states. i don't really need it right now and am only taking it seriously when the RMC/XMC (4k) become available. so i am a little gun shy to drop 550 dollars when a year or two from now i might not be able to get updates. i owned my first oppo for 5 years before replacing with the 103 which i had expected to own for another 5 years. oh well...... sigh........ tchaik,,,,,,, |
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 23, 2018 15:48:32 GMT -5
Having owned Sony Blu-ray players as well as an Oppo 103 and now a 203, there really is no comparison between Sony and Oppo in terms of build quality, regular firmware updates, and customer support. I don't dispute any of the above, but they simply aren't important for my usage patterns. My player sits in a rack from the day I buy it until the day I move it out, I have no real physical contact so its build quality is invisible. In the short time that players are current firmware updates are not a pre requisite, however if there is an issue (a bug) I have found Sony and Panasonic to be responsive enough for me in providing firmware updates. Perhaps it's that they have less bugs and therefore need less updates. In the 3 year periods that players last before they go out of date I have no need for customer support. If we were talking about, for example, power amplifiers then build quality and customer support would be considerations as they last years, decades even. But for a digital device like a BD player, where its useable life is measured in months, they are next to irrelevant. Cheers Gary |
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 23, 2018 15:54:33 GMT -5
The only possible "catch" there is continuing Blu-Ray support. Some Blu-Ray discs have a sort of algorithmic protection. Without going into technical details, what that means is that, if you are unable to update your Blu-Ray player, it will be UNABLE to play some Blu-Ray discs that are produced after its last update. This won't be true for ALL discs..... but, if you stop being able to get updates, you'll find that at least some discs sold later will not play on your player - and there's no way around it. Oppo has announced that another company will be taking over updating Oppo players. Exactly, a player to me is just another digital device, it will go out of date of that there is no doubt. The question is how long will it last or more appropriately how long will I be able to tolerate it? Is the company that takes over Oppo support going to provide it for free? Somehow I don't think so. Cheers Gary |
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cawgijoe
Emo VIPs
"We made too many of the wrong mistakes." - Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,896
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Post by cawgijoe on Apr 23, 2018 16:43:53 GMT -5
Gary......to each his own.
It’s all in your priorities. That’s why we have cheap electronics and not so cheap.
I understand both sides.
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 23, 2018 19:27:04 GMT -5
Gary......to each his own. Absolutely Cheers Gary |
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Post by tchaik on Apr 23, 2018 19:42:36 GMT -5
WELL GUYS, I HAVE MADE MY DECISION.
I talked to oppo and listened to all of your sage advice and I am confident that support for the bdp-203 will be around for a good while. I am going to order my 203 tomorrow. oppo told me they probably have about a month or two of stock left on the 203 and ordering tomorrow will not be a problem. although Gary's comments are well founded, none of the other players out their are floating my boat and I have been very happy with all my previous oppo players. so again thanks for the input guys.........
tchaik.........
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KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,928
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Post by KeithL on Apr 24, 2018 8:53:36 GMT -5
Gary, I read your comment below about "firmware updates not being important because a Blu-Ray player is likely to be obsolete in a few years anyway". You may not be aware that "firmware updates" have a different significance for Blu-Ray players than other devices. On most devices, firmware updates exist to fix bugs, and occasionally to add new features - in which case I agree; you can live without them. However, with Blu-Ray discs, there are certain aspects of the copy protection and licensing that require updates.... Basically, if you buy a disc, and your player hasn't specifically received the update that enables it to play THAT PARTICULAR DISC, it may refuse to play it. I'm oversimplifying; it's not individual discs but versions of specific DRM systems; different discs have different types of DRM; only some of which require periodic updates; and so on. However, it is a very real fact that, if your player ceases to receive updates, you may find it unable to play certain new Blu-Ray releases in as little as a few months. Having owned Sony Blu-ray players as well as an Oppo 103 and now a 203, there really is no comparison between Sony and Oppo in terms of build quality, regular firmware updates, and customer support. I don't dispute any of the above, but they simply aren't important for my usage patterns. My player sits in a rack from the day I buy it until the day I move it out, I have no real physical contact so its build quality is invisible. In the short time that players are current firmware updates are not a pre requisite, however if there is an issue (a bug) I have found Sony and Panasonic to be responsive enough for me in providing firmware updates. Perhaps it's that they have less bugs and therefore need less updates. In the 3 year periods that players last before they go out of date I have no need for customer support. If we were talking about, for example, power amplifiers then build quality and customer support would be considerations as they last years, decades even. But for a digital device like a BD player, where its useable life is measured in months, they are next to irrelevant. Cheers Gary |
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Post by jmilton on Apr 24, 2018 11:30:31 GMT -5
Pioneer just announced they will be releasing new players to fill the Oppo vacancy.
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,222 
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Post by novisnick on Apr 24, 2018 11:32:41 GMT -5
Pioneer just announced they will be releasing new players to fill the Oppo vacancy. Id make the same announcement if I were in that business! Bet their pricing structure will change too! |
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Post by jmilton on Apr 24, 2018 11:35:38 GMT -5
It seems it will be based on the LX88, so it’ll play everything. Dolby Vision, too, is likely.
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Post by AudioHTIT on Apr 24, 2018 12:27:52 GMT -5
I went with the UDP-203 and just watched my first movie on it (2001); it’s just as smooth and enjoyable as the BRP-93 it replaced. My wife is even happy because the 93 will move to the bedroom system to replace a Sony she hates, win-win. You’ve already made a decision, but there’s this thread as well. emotivalounge.proboards.com/post/937134/thread |
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Post by tchaik on Apr 24, 2018 22:14:52 GMT -5
I ORDERED IT. AND I AM GLAD I DID. 
tchaik...........
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,222
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Post by novisnick on Apr 24, 2018 22:37:29 GMT -5
Why order “IT” when you could just pick it up at Best Buy?  Ok, seriously, you bought the Oppo 203?  |
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Post by tchaik on Apr 25, 2018 11:14:45 GMT -5
yes, novisnick.... i ordered the Oppo BDP-203. and..... i am glad i did. tchaik.......... |
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Post by thrillcat on Apr 25, 2018 11:23:44 GMT -5
I also just ordered a UDP-203 this morning. I'll need it eventually, but I'll swap it out for my 103 immediately, and list the 103 on ebay. Resale value on those has also surged a bit, so I'm going to take advantage of that and recoup about 70% of the cost of the 203.
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Post by cwt on May 1, 2018 5:33:05 GMT -5
Pioneer just announced they will be releasing new players to fill the Oppo vacancy. Yes ' now the oppo elephant has left the room ;we can maybe expect some competition from the likes of Denon and others who made some upmarket universals  Had a pio 51hd once and it was a solid weighty piece  Now the way is clear for an emo UHD player with an output for a RMC1 expansion bay [not necessarily hdmi]. Something with Panasonics top notch Hollywood labs oem chipset .One can dream .. The nice thing about the coming Panasonics is they cover all the HDR bases ;standard hdr10;10+;dolby vision and HLG so that chipset is peace of mind |
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Had a pio 51hd once and it was a solid weighty piece 
