Oppo, PS Slim, Panasonic or Other? (1 Viewer)

[winniw]

Hey Guys,


I have no clue about blu-ray players at all. I will be using this with an Epson 8350 at around 80" to 100".


The only thing that I know is that with PS Slim, I get gaming & blu-ray for one reasonable price. I am not a big gamer but I do own a Wii that gets some use, so I may find the Slim useful because I heard that the Wii does not do big screen well.

I have peripherally noticed good mentions of Oppo and something about Panasonic BP-65 and BP-85 but that's the extent of it.

$500 is my soft ceiling for this, so please give me you opinions. Performance wise, will I be better off with a stand-alone, non-gaming, player? Is Oppo that much better than Panansonic or Sony?


Thanks,

Nick

 

[Walter Kittel]

One question: Do you need analog outputs on your Bd player to support lossless audio via a non-HDMI receiver/pre-amp?


If yes then I would recommend an Oppo BDP-93.

If no then the PS3 slim is a nice choice. (Playing video games on a FP is pretty awesome. )


I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.


- Walter...

 

[Leo Kerr]

The Oppo players are fairly fast, although that may be less and less of an issue as time progresses. (Not sure on that.)


Also, the Oppo players have excellent scalers for playing conventional DVDs.

 

[winniw]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel

/forum/thread/309046/oppo-ps-slim-panasonic-or-other#post_3783704

 

[TheBat]

if you can afford the oppo. then I would go for it. the oppo 93 has duel HDMI one for the tv and the other for the receiver. its fast and easy to use.


Jacob

 

[Jim Mcc]

It comes down to the features you need. If you want to game also, buy the PS3. If not, I highly recommend the Pan. BD65. It's also an excellent DVD upscaler, and the built in Netflix works great. I'm not saying the Oppo isn't a nice player, it's just overpriced. I think it's the "Monster Cable" of Blu-ray players.

 

[TheBat]

I dont thnk you would say that if you owned one.. there is a difference.


Jacob

 

[gene c]

With an 80-100" screen you will probably need a player with an excellent scaler if you plan on watching many standard dvd's. I'm not sure what the $150 players have in them these days (the early mainstream players had excellent up-converters in them) but I'd look for one with the performance of a Marvell or ABT. On a smaller screen it might not be that big of a deal.


I wouldn't call an OPPO the Monster Cable of BR players, I'll leave that to the $3500 Lexicon, but it is much more money than most people really need to spend on a BR player. My brother, who easily makes twice as much money as I do would never spend $500 on one. He has a Panasonic BDP 60 btw. The OPPO is a better all-around player but it's that diminishing returns thing. It's not $350 better to most. The discontinued $289 BDP-80 was a nice, cheaper alternative. May it rest in peace.


Have you bought the receiver and speakers yet?

 

[Jim Mcc]

Every pro review out there states what an excellent upscaler the Pan. BD65 and BD85 are. That's why I bought the BD65. But even the BD85 costs more than what winniw needs to spend. My screen is 106" diagonal and the upscaling of the BD65 is excellent. I'm just trying to save winniw about $350. Think of what you can do with the extra $350.

 

[winniw]

Gene, why do you ask about my receiver & speakers?

The only thing that I have purchased, at this point, is my speakers -- Mirage Nanosats.

It's killing me but I may wait until April/May/June, when the new models come out, to purchase everything else.

 

[winniw]

I do not understand just how the dual HDMI of the Oppo works to one's advantage, with one going to the PJ and the other going to the receiver. What does that accomplish exactly?


Nick

 

[winniw]

Okay, never mind, I got the explanation from this website... http://bluray-players.net/oppo/oppo-bdp-93-review/


Quote:


The additional HDMI allows you to use one HDMI dedicated for video and one for audio. This configuration ensures high quality video and audio for both signal paths. The HDMI menu allows for flexible configuration of the two HDMI ver1.4a outputs. You do not have to upgrade your A/V receiver to a 3D model in order to enjoy 3D. One HDMI output can be connected to a 3D TV and the other to a pre-3D HDMI A/V receiver. You can also have dual outputs in parallel with one output to a projector for home theater use and the other to a TV for casual viewing. For a multi-room installation the BDP-93 can output audio and video to two 3D or 2D TVs simultaneously.


Nick

 

[winniw]

Sorry guys, I don't know why I was so lazy that I could not do my own research first.

After reading a handful of reviews and watching a couple of CNET videos, I quickly came to the realization that the Oppo 93 is the one for me. It is feature packed, has the highest-performance, the highest build-quality, it's fast, has dual 1.4 HDMI (others have 1.3/1.4), fantastic looks, back-lit remote and weighs twice as much as the others! No contest. And, Oppo is a forum sponsor, so that kinda feels good too.


Jim, thanks for trying to save some money for me... I wish that it had worked! I got off the path with that dual HDMI thing, then I started looking at Panasonics with dual HDMI and they were not that much cheaper than the Oppo and then... oh, well... just call me a sucker!


Thanks,

Nick

 

[Adam Gregorich]

As usual I weigh in too late You will be very happy with the Oppo. I have the BDP-83 and several Panasonic players. They are all good machines. The Oppo is a bit more expensive, but you get what you pay for: Great looks. better build quality, RS232 and IR inputs for control as well as discrete IR codes. For people who can afford the Oppo you can't go wrong, on the other hand if it is out of a members price range the Panasonic players are reliable and a great value for the money. I'm saving up for a BDP-93 to use with a Denon 3808 receiver and a Panasonic VT25 series 3D TV. I need the dual HDMI outputs as my receiver doesn't pass through 3D.


Oppo just joined us as a sponsor. Thanks for supporting them for supporting us Nick!

 

[gene c]

"Gene, why do you ask about my receiver & speakers?"


Because of the dual hdmi thing with an older receiver and if you hadn't bought the speakers yet and were thinking of going with a cheaper set then that $350 might have been better spent there instead. But Mirage are pretty good speakers. .


BTW, I bought an OPPO 83 when they first came out, sold it for more than I paid for it a year and a half later and bought a Pioneer Elite FD-31 to replace it, sold it (at a slight loss) and bought another used 83 off ebay for $365 shipped (during the time when OPPO's were temoprarily un-available new) and took it over to OPPO (they're nice people) and had it upgraded to SE status. I'm currently using it with an old H/K 7200 and it's an un-beatable combination. Video straight to the display.

 

[winniw]

Got my Oppo! Wow. I could not believe how nicely it was packaged... top-shelf. The faceplate is gorgeous. I am very glad that I got this. I ran the firmware update disc this morning and all went well. It will be a while before it gets any real use but I am already a proud owner, that's for sure.


Nick

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Congrats Nick!

 

[RCPJohn42]

Originally Posted by winniw

Got my Oppo! Wow. I could not believe how nicely it was packaged... top-shelf. The faceplate is gorgeous. I am very glad that I got this. I ran the firmware update disc this morning and all went well. It will be a while before it gets any real use but I am already a proud owner, that's for sure.


Nick

Where did you purchase your Oppo?

 

[winniw]

I got it from Oppo... http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-93/