OPPO Digital shutting down! (1 Viewer)

[PMF]

Don't do that! Buy the following linked kit as it also works on the 203/205 models.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/160942653070?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Are there similar Region-Free kits available for the Sony UBPX-800 player?

 

[dpippel]

Are there similar Region-Free kits available for the Sony UBPX-800 player?

Nope, but you can buy the UBP-800X already modded on Amazon and other places:

https://www.amazon.com/Blu-ray-110-240-Dynastar-Adapter-Package/dp/B077MP1NKY

There are no such kits for Panasonic players either. The only way to make Panny 4K UHD players region free is by loading them with hacked firmware.

 

[TJPC]

I had never heard of OPPO before joining this community and have never seen a player. I was going to investigate the merits of these high end players but have yet to get around to it.

I can afford one with no problem, but I would have to convince myself, as does most of the public I expect, that it is worth spending the money, when I can say buy many $50.00 Samsung blu ray players for the same amount as one OPPO and toss them in the trash and replace them when something goes wrong.

I have had 3 of these cheezie blu ray players for 4 or 5 years and had almost no problem with them. I assume if 4K takes off there will be cheezie ones available as well. Picture quality seems excellent to me also.

 

[PMF]

Nope, but you can buy the UBP-800X already modded on Amazon and other places:

https://www.amazon.com/Blu-ray-110-240-Dynastar-Adapter-Package/dp/B077MP1NKY

There are no such kits for Panasonic players either. The only way to make Panny 4K UHD players region free is by loading them with hacked firmware.

Thank you. Regretfully, I already purchased it from Best Buy. Damn.

I wonder why Panasonic lent this option to Amazon, but not to Best Buy? To what end?

 

[dpippel]

Also, while I'm sure everyone here knows this, it's important to remember that 4K UHD discs are NOT region coded. Region free operation in a 4K player only applies to Blu-ray and DVD.

 

[douglas-b]

I had one year's ago (BDP-80) and I always ran into disks not playing. I really wasn't too impressed. I bought it and the model I chose ended up being discontinued as soon as it got to my house nobody mentioned that when I ordered it. I probably would have passed had I known. I ended up buying a Sony that outperformed it in every way and the Spears and Munsil disk also backed me up. It was like a $50 player and that's kinda sad. I'm sure everyone will roast me for saying it but I owned it and it sucked.

 

[douglas-b]

I had never heard of OPPO before joining this community and have never seen a player. I was going to investigate the merits of these high end players but have yet to get around to it.

I can afford one with no problem, but I would have to convince myself, as does most of the public I expect, that it is worth spending the money, when I can say buy many $50.00 Samsung blu ray players for the same amount as one OPPO and toss them in the trash and replace them when something goes wrong.

I have had 3 of these cheezie blu ray players for 4 or 5 years and had almost no problem with them. I assume if 4K takes off there will be cheezie ones available as well. Picture quality seems excellent to me also.

Your not wrong...

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Scott, I don’t have any credits at Amazon, unfortunately.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Hey guys, this is amazing news. I’m really surprised Oppo is shutting down. Seems the best guess everyone is saying is downloads and the end of physical media is the reason.

I was going to wait a bit before picking up a 4K player as I’m not set up yet. But I’m thinking of just getting one now while I can. I have the Oppo 105 since it was released and it’s been working great! I’ve only done two firmware updates. Haven’t checked recently if any new updates are out but I might check now.

With this news, I’m considering picking up the 205. I bought my 105 from Best Buy but I see they do not carry Oppo anymore after doing a search on their app.

How are you guys buying your players? Direct from Oppo?

I think I bought my 203 from Amazon, but Oppo was the 3rd party seller. Got Prime too.

 

[Malcolm R]

I considered Oppo a couple times over the years, but could never justify the expense since I'm not into the high-res music formats. For only blu/DVD play, it seemed like there were more economical options.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thanks guys. I’ll look into ordering direct from Oppo. Oppo is up the freeway from me, but I suspect they don’t actually have stock there.

Actually, you have the option of picking up your player at Menlo Park if you so desire. I would call Oppo to see if that option is actually available to you.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I considered Oppo a couple times over the years, but could never justify the expense since I'm not into the high-res music formats. For only blu/DVD play, it seemed like there were more economical options.

I don't really use the high-res music formats (though Mike Frezon was kind enough to give me an introduction to them), but I find the Oppo enormously useful for its ability to play just about anything. It's great for viewing PAL or 1080/50i or 25p material. I know I can get a region-free player from most brands, but I'd be really upset to lose the conversion abilities built into the Oppo. I don't even know what (if any) other brands can do those conversions that the Oppo can. (Definitely open for suggestions and recommendations on that point.)

I also appreciate how great an upscaler the machine has for DVDs - standard definition DVDs look better using the Oppo for upconversion than they do from another brand of player.

I genuinely don't know what to do here. I have the 103, and wasn't planning on upgrading anything to UHD for the foreseeable future. Since UHD is region free, I probably won't need a 203 for UHD playback. But I will need something that can play DVDs and BDs from other regions and other playback formats. I'm just not sure if it's worth spending $500+ now on a machine that I won't be using for several years -- that seems like a waste. I'm not completely opposed to the idea but I'm not sure how much sense it makes either.

 

[dvdclon]

Something Oppo players don't get enough credit for is their error handling. I have DVDs with bad spots that lock up my other players to the point where the power cable has to be pulled. My Oppos will pause at the bad spot and apparently search ahead for good data and resume there. It's not as good as having a good disc, but if it's OOP it may be as good as you can get.

 

[Worth]

...It's great for viewing PAL or 1080/50i or 25p material. I know I can get a region-free player from most brands, but I'd be really upset to lose the conversion abilities built into the Oppo. I don't even know what (if any) other brands can do those conversions that the Oppo can. (Definitely open for suggestions and recommendations on that point.

I've found LG machines consistently play pretty much everything, including PAL-NTSC and 1080/50-1080/60 conversion. Panasonic and Sony almost never do and Samsung is hit and miss.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've found LG machines consistently play pretty much everything, including PAL-NTSC and 1080/50-1080/60 conversion. Panasonic and Sony almost never do and Samsung is hit and miss.

Now that you mention it, that's my experience with LG and Sony as well. My LG Blu-ray player was pretty decent as far as functionality went, but I absolutely hated the clunky interface and the built-in apps never worked. Still, it makes for a good player for the bedroom TV now that it's been exiled there.

If it's going to be an Oppo-free future, I might one day just get a decent UHD player, and then buy an LG BD player inexpensively and get it modded, and use that solely for multi-region discs.

It's probably dumb to buy the 203 right now solely because I'm worried about not having anything to do PAL-NTSC and 1080/50-60 conversions five years from now, right?

There's a part of me that really wants to just buy the 203 now, but it seems more like an indulgence than a necessity at this point. Who knows how long the 103 might last -- I got it in 2014 and it's still working perfectly. I had an Oppo DVD player from 2007-2014 that worked perfectly until the day I sold it. I kinda regret letting it go, actually.

 

[dpippel]

There's nothing wrong with a little indulgence now and again Josh.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There's nothing wrong with a little indulgence now and again Josh.

True, but the problem is - the 103 was already my indulgence purchase! Unfortunately, I'm just not sure I can justify this purchase for a need which may never arise for me.

I think the question has to be - if my Oppo 103 were to die overnight, what would it cost to get that functionality replaced? Would I need to buy multiple machines to handle all of the tasks that it does, or would a lower cost machine basically replicate all of the functionality? And, as much as I hate to admit it, a $100 LG player would probably do the job. So, it's hard to justify spending $500+ just to hedge my bets on a replacement.

And who knows, maybe when/if I'm in the market for UHD in a couple years, maybe a new company will spring up and produce something as awesome as the Oppo. Or maybe UHD discs will require a firmware update to operate correctly that Oppo ultimately is unable to provide. I'd feel much more comfortable picking up an extra 103 at this point (if they were still sold) than a 203 for a hypothetical future scenario.

 

[Nelson Au]

Actually, you have the option of picking up your player at Menlo Park if you so desire. I would call Oppo to see if that option is actually available to you.

Robert, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look into it. Though I looked at the Oppo website store and only saw the 203 available.

I’ve been thinking, 4K will be cool and having the player will mean I’m ready for when I upgrade to a 4K display. But I didn’t realize that 8K is on the horizon. Though I grant that it’s probably many years off before consumers can get an 8K display! So if one did upgrade to 4K today, the question does linger in my head. My guess is a nice new Oppo player today should provide 10 years of service if well cared for.

Well, I’ll continue to ponder the question. And I’ll check on Oppo and purchasing through them.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Robert, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look into it. Though I looked at the Oppo website store and only saw the 203 available.

I’ve been thinking, 4K will be cool and having the player will mean I’m ready for when I upgrade to a 4K display. But I didn’t realize that 8K is on the horizon. Though I grant that it’s probably many years off before consumers can get an 8K display! So if one did upgrade to 4K today, the question does linger in my head. My guess is a nice new Oppo player today should provide 10 years of service if well cared for.

Well, I’ll continue to ponder the question. And I’ll check on Oppo and purchasing through them.

I forgot you wanted the 205 so perhaps it's best to call them to find out its availability.

 

[Charles Smith]

Don't do that! Buy the following linked kit as it also works on the 203/205 models.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/160942653070?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Thank you for the heads up on that!

I haven't decided what to do about the Oppo situation yet myself, but given the info on that eBay page, I'm wondering if my 93 kit that's worked so perfectly all these years might also work on the 103 and 203. The description says this "103" one works on the 93 series as well, so one really has to wonder if these are all the same thing and would work on ALL the players.