blu-ray player for discs ? (1 Viewer)

[Brian McHale]

I have seen the AVS threads, they tend to descend into fanboyism far too often and the moderators are over sensitive and far too often stop enjoyable chat just as it gets started, if they ask the right questions here they will get all the answers they need.

I haven't run into issues with the mods, so can't comment on that. I agree about the fanboyism, it is indeed rampant at AVS.
Where I run into a problem is with the "if they ask the right questions" part. Quite often, people looking for information don't even know the questions they should be asking. Personally, I like to do a lot of research before asking questions. AVS proved invaluable to me in researching TVs and Blu-ray players (whereas this forum did not). If you're looking for information on a specific piece of gear, it's hard to beat a thread filled with folks who own that gear. AVS is really good for that. (Yes, there are a lot of fanboys, but that won't keep them from pointing out the downsides to their gear.)

 

[schan1269]

You are right about "not knowing the right questions.".

Sad part, the same tactic I use here to glean the desired information from people, got we warning over there...

Example...

How many threads start...

"Hey, what's the best AVR?"

My reply typically is...

What are your sources...
PS3/Xbox?
Droid/Ipad/Ipod/Ipad/Windows Phone?
DVD/BD?
VHS/Wii?

What is your content...
OTA/Sat/Cable?
Netflix/Vudu?
Stored content/SD?

And yes, I'll run into the ridiculousness of including Magnavox Odyssey, Atari and Victrola. But so what?

My returning questions in that fashion earned condemnation over there.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Here's my problem with sending people to AVS instead of keeping them here, so a new member posts here, they are looking for information, let's say several people give some info, they ask questions to the original poster to glean info that is crucial to helping them out, then another member pipes up and just sends them over to AVS forum, this has a knock-on effect here, for one we may lose that member to another forum, for two if we are just going to send people to AVS forum then what is the point of anyone replying to these people and trying to help them out, it will deter people from helping out here, certainly if i try and help someone and i know they are just going to be sent over to AVS forum then i will probably just not bother, what would be the point, we may lose the member and for three we never find out what they did, be it buying a piece of equipment or setting up some cables correctly, we never find out because they went to AVS forum instead of staying here, so the opened thread becomes redundant and a thread which could help others in the same situation just becomes dead because the original poster went to another forum.

I have no problem linking to reviews of products since i feel reading as many as possible is a good thing, i just don't see how sending a member who is asking for advice over to a rival forum is a good idea, might as well just stick a sign up on these forums and say "Go to AVS forum for all your tech needs" since that's what it amounts to when you tell them that in a post.

With regards to my "if they ask the right questions" that is intended to highlight the fact that many do not and have to be asked of their needs, their budget, their aspirations for whatever they buy, members here cannot ask that if they are just directed to another forum.

 

[Brian McHale]

You are right about "not knowing the right questions.".

Sad part, the same tactic I use here to glean the desired information from people, got we warning over there...

Example...

How many threads start...

"Hey, what's the best AVR?"

My reply typically is...

What are your sources...
PS3/Xbox?
Droid/Ipad/Ipod/Ipad/Windows Phone?
DVD/BD?
VHS/Wii?

What is your content...
OTA/Sat/Cable?
Netflix/Vudu?
Stored content/SD?

And yes, I'll run into the ridiculousness of including Magnavox Odyssey, Atari and Victrola. But so what?

My returning questions in that fashion earned condemnation over there.

I can see why that would get old. My reasoning for why AVS can be so valuable is that they have lots of existing threads where you can research before posting, gaining knowledge so you can ask the right questions (or might not have to ask at all, since the existing threads often will answer most questions a prospective buyer might have). You'll notice that I posted a link to a specific thread on this year's Panasonic BD players. That would be an excellent place for someone to start researching Panny players. I'm not a big fan of "what widget should I buy" without adding all sorts of parameters (such as the ones you asked about).

 

[schan1269]

Ok, you are missing the minutiae here. We aren't arguing AVS being useful. We are stating that, sure, link something from a post over there.What we didn't like was the tone of "just go over there".There is a monumental difference.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Ok, you are missing the minutiae here. We aren't arguing AVSbeing useful.We are stating that, sure, link something from a post over there.What we didn't like was the tone of "just go over there".There is a monumental difference.

Right! posting a link to a specific post over there that answers someone's particular question is useful.

Just telling a newbie to go over there will give them the impression that it's perfectly normal to return 11 sets in a 3 month period in search of some mythical standard of perfection, or that the best way to calibrate a tv is to rote copy someone else's settings and that a plasma set absolutely requires some kind of break-in procedure involving 200 hours of test slides and the sacrificing of a family pet to some volcano god to prevent burn-in.

 

[Brian McHale]

My first post recommending that the OP go to AVS was a bit on the generic side, though I did mention why I thought it was a good idea (I didn't just say "go to AVS"). The second post had a link to a specific owners thread. I was not "promoting" AVS. It's worth noting that I didn't start getting harrassed about AVS until after my second post, when (once again) I posted a link to a specific thread about the latest lineup of BD players the OP asked about.

When I started researching a TV several years ago, I first came to HFT. It was only after I found very little organized information here that I looked elsewhere. Yes, I could have started a "which TV should I buy" thread, but that's not the way I like to do business. I like to sift through what has already been posted and try to get smart enough to ask intelligent questions. My research led me to AVS, where I found a ridiculous amount of useful information. Yes, it took a lot to weed through, but I was able to finally figure out which TV I wanted to buy.

I find it somewhat ironic that there have been several refences to how badly someone was attacked on AVS for trying to give good advice. Looked in the mirror lately? I gave the best advice I could to the OP and now I'm getting harrassed by members of this forum. I didn't do anything imporper, but I'm being ganged up on for no good reason. I used to think that HTF was a friendly place to be. Guess that's true, as long as you don't mention other forums (no matter how much better they might be in certain areas)...

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Brian, I hope you didn't interpret my post as being in any way critical of your previous ones, that was not my intention. Rather I was attempting to convey a sense of the difference between the "culture" here vs that other site, as I perceive it. I spend a lot of time at both places gathering information (I sell tvs) that is helpful to me in my job. I don't have to do nearly as much internal "filtering" here as there to weed out fanboys and axe grinders.

I've been around these forums long enough to discern valuable information from trolling but fear that a relative newbie may be misled by some of the accepted practices among some posters over there (i.e. serial returns, setting copying, Brand worship, etc.)

 

[jimmyjet]

hi, i havent been to this forum for a long time, but apparently i am the object of discussion !!

i did go there, when instructed. but to be honest, there were simply too many bad reviews for the sony and panasonic players at amazon, that i did not buy them. i was not in that big of a hurry, and wanted my purchase to be based on something more solid.

i bought a used oppo for $150, and am very much still here - mostly in the tv section.

it has not arrived yet, but it should give me a good way of relatively inexpensively viewing blu-ray discs.

at the moment, i have no blu-ray discs. i figured my first test was to simply see if there is any difference between my current player (which is supposedly very good at upscaling), and the oppo - with just a regular dvd.

basically testing the upscaling abilities of both.

once i do that, i figure i will buy a blu-ray set when it goes on sale. i am sorta hoping that the twilight zone goes on sale, cuz that would be a logical choice for me.

i deliberately did not purchase that one, cuz for some strange, idiotic reason, the show was originally released in haphazard order.

 

[Brian McHale]

Everything I've read about the Oppo players has been good, in particular their upscaling. The only downside is the price, but it sounds like you got a good deal. I've also read that their customer service is excellent. I think you'll be happy with it.

 

[FoxyMulder]

hi, i havent been to this forum for a long time, but apparently i am the object of discussion !!

i did go there, when instructed. but to be honest, there were simply too many bad reviews for the sony and panasonic players at amazon, that i did not buy them. i was not in that big of a hurry, and wanted my purchase to be based on something more solid.

i bought a used oppo for $150, and am very much still here - mostly in the tv section.

it has not arrived yet, but it should give me a good way of relatively inexpensively viewing blu-ray discs.

at the moment, i have no blu-ray discs. i figured my first test was to simply see if there is any difference between my current player (which is supposedly very good at upscaling), and the oppo - with just a regular dvd.

basically testing the upscaling abilities of both.

once i do that, i figure i will buy a blu-ray set when it goes on sale. i am sorta hoping that the twilight zone goes on sale, cuz that would be a logical choice for me.

i deliberately did not purchase that one, cuz for some strange, idiotic reason, the show was originally released in haphazard order.

I have an Oppo, i truly recommend you buy a blu ray disc, perhaps a cheap one like Lawrence Of Arabia would convince you how good blu ray can be, indeed many film classics sell cheaply on Amazon and quite a few of them are worth purchasing.

 

[jimmyjet]

thank you. i love all sorts of old movies. but the few i have seen are fairly expensive (blu-ray).

but i wont know until i see it. i am already thrilled with the dvds, and being able to see all these tv shows with the clarity of the original film.

for those of you who are not that old, you probably cant appreciate the difference.

as a kid, that was all there was. but i have seen what those broadcasts look like today, and i cant even enjoy them with that sort of clarity.

whether an improvement over the dvd will make much of a difference to me, i need to wait.

 

[jimmyjet]

the oppo arrived today. used, no hdmi cable. so i am just moving it back and forth between players, for right now.

this is a dv-981hd. it came with a remote, but no batteries. the only buttons i see are power, play/pause, stop, open/close. is there nowhere on the player itself where i can use arrows to get to the menu options ?

i could not find any, so all i could do was hit play. and since the cursor was on the play episodes button, it just started playing the very first episode.

the first thing i noticed is that my pioneer fills up the whole screen, while the oppo has black bars on the right and left.

usually, i thought the black bars were on top and bottom ?

but i thought that the same disk would either have the bars or not ?

since the pioneer had a lot more pixel display, i am not sure i can compare the picture qualities of the two. other than to say i think they are reasonably similar ?

 

[gene c]

It sounds like you have to use the remote to access the setup menu.This is true with a lot of slim style dvd players where a sleek front panel was chosen instead of a lot of buttons and arrows.

You need to do the full and complete setup of the Oppo in order for it to supply the the level of performance you are expecting. If you didn't get a manual with it then download one from their website. Oppo's are farly easy to setup and operate.

 

[jimmyjet]

is this the oppo site ?

http://www.oppodigital.com/

my player is not listed - i guess it is too old.

but i did not see any catalog download ?

my pioneer is about the same size, but it has buttons.

i do not like being forced to use the remote.

i have never used the remote for my pioneer or my insignia tv.

 

[schan1269]

The 981 isn't a Blu Ray player.

And $150??? Really?

 

[gene c]

is this the oppo site ?

http://www.oppodigital.com/

my player is not listed - i guess it is too old.

but i did not see any catalog download ?

my pioneer is about the same size, but it has buttons.

i do not like being forced to use the remote.

i have never used the remote for my pioneer or my insignia tv.

Older players are listed under the Customer Service > Product Support tabs. Here's a link to the 981HD. You can download the manual from there.

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/dv981hd_support.asp

The 981 isn't a Blu Ray player.

And $150??? Really?

I thought the same thing but my ADD kicked in early and I moved on to something else. Maybe he was under the impression that all Oppo's play BluRay's. $150 shipped was a nice price for the BDP-80 on Audiogon but not that great for a 981HD. I hope he didn't make a mistake buying it.

 

[jimmyjet]

thanks gene,

yea, i thought it was a blu-ray. i wish i had not bought it, now.

i was able to download the manual, with your link.

i guess i will just use it when my current dvd player stops working.

i went ahead and bought a Sony BDP-S1100 Blu-ray Disc Player for $85, shipping included.

this is an inexpensive way to get my feet wet.

i dont have any blu-ray disks yet.

is there a place where many of you get them ?

i know the normal places like amazon, half, deep discount.

 

[gene c]

Well, at least the Oppo 981 also plays SACD and DVD-Audio if you have any interest in those music formats at all.

I get most of my BR discs on-line but Frys also has a very good selection and sometimes the prices are very good.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I get a surprising number of my Blu Ray discs from Costco and Walmart. Amazon has a much larger selection of course.