OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio

A little history ... I used to have the OPPO DV-971H feeding my Optoma H31 480p projector over DVI. I was so happy with this setup that I stopped going to movie theaters ...for about 2 years! After upgrading to a Panasonic PT-AX200U 720p projector, I had to use a DVI/HDMI adapter and didn't like the way the assembly was "pulling" on the HDMI input of the projector, and also felt the picture wasn't was it used to be. So I went to a local store and bought the "highly reviewed and recommended" $ony DVPNS700H with HDMI out. The picture and sound quality were ok, by I didn't feel that my 720p upgrade was justified. During the past 4 months, I barely used the projector and started going to the theater more often! I bought a Blu-ray drive for my computer and must admit that the picture and sound were phenomenal, I just don't like to use a full size computer to watch movies ... and I'm not paying $400 for a standalone given today's movie selection.

Long story short ... enters the DV-980H. I got it 2 days ago, and I've already watched 6 full movies. If I didn't have to go to work during the day, I would have watched movies all night! Now I felt the 720p upgrade was justified! The picture is awesome (colors, dynamic, etc ...) and the sound is excellent! I had to turn down the volume on my receiver (and sub) and was still able to hear the dialogue (I had issues with the $ony were the dialogue would be muffled and I had to crank up the volume to hear anything!). Last night, I watched Apollo 13 and Transformers and realized that I won't be going back to movie theaters for a while!

How does it compare to Blu-ray? I watched the 1st Pirates of the Caribbean on BD and DVD back to back; there is definitely a difference. BD offers uncompressed audio and a 1080p/24 picture that is encoded more efficiently ... and DVD is just an older format! Nevertheless, the DV-980H gives me about 75% of the BD experience for less than 1/2 the admission price ... and I can still enjoy my full movie collection. Life is good again!

If it helps anyone, here's my setup: DV-980H (digital coax audio + HDMI video), D-link DSM-510 network media player (digital optical audio + HDMI video), Denon 787 receiver, Klipsch B3 / C2 / S2 / Sub-10, 92" gray Elite screen, PT-AX200U, audio and video computer calibrated ... and ALL wires from BlueJeans cable.

I heard about the OPPO and read some of the reviews before buying it for my Panny 42" Plasma.

I hadn't been able to view some of my CD\DVD purchases from the UK til now. Now I can and it's awesome.

I also found extra media content when I stuck in my "Lord of the rings" Extended DVD's, my old APEX player didn't.

I love my OPPO :)

Buy one, you can't lose.

Fantastic DVD player. My HD TV absolutely loves it. The picture is crystal clear and the sound is amazing.

We were thrilled to finally watch our Euro DVD's!! The Oppo is clear and simple to use. I would recommend the Oppo DVD to everyone!!

This is the one to get if you're not ready to invest in another format just yet. And for $169.00, this player is the perfect match with my Panisonic HD projector. Every DVD that I've played has looked and sounded great and near HD as your going to get. The company is very responsive to complaints and comments and updates the player's firmware(!) frequently, to fix bugs and improve features. Few other DVD player companies do that. I did not order through Amazon but ordered direct from OPPO. They are in California and I am on the east coast so Fedex took about five days. However, if you are closer to them in CA you can go to the factory and pick yours up!

ALL of the one star reviews issues have be resolved, and the rest are just haters or goobers who did not read that this does not play HD or Blu ray before they bought it.

Whacha waiting for?