OPPO Digital shutting down! (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Talking about a "rack full of players" just as a side note to the 93 and 203 I have a HD DVD and Pioneer Laser Disc player both of which are rarely used but valued for those few discs that are not otherwise available. (I know other folks will be a similar boat but brought it up on the basis of "almost extinct" hardware - kinda )

Regards

Please don't remind me as I have one player in my main HT rack and another two that have never been played. I keep them to remind me of my stupidity back in the day. I'm much better now.

 

[PMF]

Just because Oppo has gone doesn't mean that technology, itself, has closed up shop.
Breath in...breath out. We're all going to land on our feet. Just you wait and see.

 

[CraigF]

^ Here's the thing: is anybody clamoring to buy Oppo? IDK, but haven't read anything "serious" about that, not that it would make sense for the company to talk about it until it was a done deal. Even sell the disc-related portion as a separate entity. Investors look at ROI, and I assume it's not attractive now. They also want growth, and I'm going to guess that's not happening.

The Oppo brand name certainly is worth something though, but not sure how marketable a niche brand name is, usually it's the mass-market brand names that get recycled on some junk when the original company closes down. Or maybe they could "do a Pioneer" and have their Oppo name on good-quality gear made by one of the biggies. Lots of possibilities, it's hard to believe that a brand name with such good customer will and reputation would be squandered.

As sort of mentioned previously, I've been a member of the Oppo Preservation Society for many years. It's not like I revere Oppos or anything, but more like I appreciate them. Mine all look and work like new.

 

[Echolane]

I have to chime in because I still have a Pioneer Laser Disc Player, Sony CLS-99. I used to have tons more LDs but I gave a bunch away not so long ago and I’m down to about 20-30. But I play it maybe once a year and I wonder why I keep it. Even had to buy a pricey adapter to go S-video to HDMI because my new AV Receiver no longer has an Input for S-video. Should have found a home for it right then. But it’s fun to play. The video looks so dated now but the audio is excellent.

I bought a UDP-205 yesterday from Magnolia. I wanted the audiophile enhancements, I wanted the wireless capability (it has WiFi and Ethernet connectivity). Now I have to keep my fingers crossed it’s like my Oppo BDP-83 SE which has never gone down. I don’t know if there are any other players that still have analogue out connectivity.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah, times are changing so Oppo goes down in the dust.

https://hometheaterreview.com/what-oppo-digitals-goodbye-means-to-your-av-system/

 

[PMF]

Wish they were able to roll out a whole bunch more of the 205's before closing their doors.
Swan songs deserve to be seen and heard.

 

[Nelson Au]

You might get your wish. As I noted above, the Oppo webpage for the 205 now have a link you can click to register for a possible upcoming final build run of 205’s.

https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-205/

 

[Bob Bielski]

I would suspect they are keenly aware of the optical disc market and see the writing on the wall. Like the rest of us, streaming is taking over as the source for music and movies. As bandwidth gets higher and cheaper new materials faster speeds everything media will be coming out the computer. I remember reading about a Sony machine not sure what it was called, it was in Widescreen Review and it did all the files including upconversion. The price was obnoxious so forgot about it. I'm sure we are headed this way. That was about 2 years ago. I have a 93 and the build quality is like a tank.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

Oh dang man. Oppo was in my future.

 

[PMF]

You might get your wish. As I noted above, the Oppo webpage for the 205 now have a link you can click to register for a possible upcoming final build run of 205’s.

https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-205/

Perfect, Nelson Au; and thank you, too.
Your supplied link should be run often within this thread; as other readers may be popping in and out, along the way.
I added my name to their waiting list.
My thanks to Oppo, as well, for creating a second possible wave of 205's.

 

[Nelson Au]

You’re welcome.

 

[williammoore]

Long-time Oppo owner and fan. I have just sold my 4-year-old 103 and am on order for a new 203. I take Oppo at its word that they will support their products indefinitely. Perhaps with the 203 and the 205, they feel they have gone as far as they can go with a universal disc player. Also, with downloading and streaming becoming more popular, and with many predicting (incorrectly I think) the demise of the silver disc, maybe their sales are slowing down and are not as robust. Give them a break and give them your support! They are NOT going out of business!

 

[dpippel]

I'd be wiling to bet that the customer base who comprise Oppo's core business are not in the "downloading and streaming" crowd. Their products are not targeting that group and, despite a half-hearted addition of some streaming apps in the their older players, they never really have.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'd be wiling to bet that the customer base who comprise Oppo's core business are not in the "downloading and streaming" crowd. Their products are not targeting that group and, despite a half-hearted addition of some streaming apps in the their older players, they never really have.

I think that applies to some of them, but then there are some of us that have evolve from thinking that "downloading and streaming" is terrible for those that love to watch movies.

 

[Bob Bielski]

I remember when the last Blockbuster in my area shut down, I was sad. I started streaming Netflix. Then Vudu. Miss the physical store, but pretty nice during snow storm to sit on my ass cozy warm and not drive to get the next movie. My latest computer is a hybrid optical hard drive and semiconductor hard drive.
Some models had no optical disc, just semiconductor. What about thumbdrive movies?

 

[Bryan^H]

You might get your wish. As I noted above, the Oppo webpage for the 205 now have a link you can click to register for a possible upcoming final build run of 205’s.

https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-205/

I registered, and will buy one when available.

 

[dpippel]

I think that applies to some of them, but then there are some of us that have evolve from thinking that "downloading and streaming" is terrible for those that love to watch movies.

What I meant was, that people who do the majority of their movie watching via a Roku or the streaming apps on their TV are not the type of person who would even consider spending $600-$1200 on a disc player. Therefore, they would not be in Oppo's demographic in the first place. Oppo has always catered to a niche market, even as far as DVD/Blu-ray/4K players are concerned.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I added my name to their waiting list.

I registered, and will buy one when available.

I "get" that they must be backing out of the business because of the evolution of the industry towards streaming...but I continue to wonder if they might re-think their business model now that they've seen the impact of their announcement and the sudden demand for a product that is of limited availability. I wonder if they could find a profitable model that would allow them to continue to research and develop high-quality decks in an 'on demand" setting (not entirely unlike what we see some of the boutique distributors doing with certain home releases).

Probably just wishful thinking on my part (as the proud owner of a 203). Yet, if they say they are going to continue to provide updates and maintenance...

 

[Nelson Au]

I got the message from the Magnolia store I bought the 205 from last Saturday that it was shipped to their store and ready to pick up. I picked it up and it’s sitting at home. I’m sort of torn, should I even open it and set it up. What if it has a problem, I can’t really exchange it. I’m sure it will be fine, but it’s funny the thoughts that go through one’s head knowing the company is ceasing production of these players.

The sales guy I worked with was pretty cool. He will get my business when I am ready for an OLED 4K set. He said that I just got under the wire, my order was the last one they had. He said he was checking the stock after I ordered mine and found the other stores had shown a spike in orders for the Oppo players. The word was out fast!

I’ll think I’ll set mine up this weekend.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I got the message from the Magnolia store I bought the 205 from last Saturday that it was shipped to their store and ready to pick up. I picked it up and it’s sitting at home. I’m sort of torn, should I even open it and set it up. What if it has a problem, I can’t really exchange it. I’m sure it will be fine, but it’s funny the thoughts that go through one’s head knowing the company is ceasing production of these players.

The sales guy I worked with was pretty cool. He will get my business when I am ready for an OLED 4K set. He said that I just got under the wire, my order was the last one they had. He said he was checking the stock after I ordered mine and found the other stores had shown a spike in orders for the Oppo players. The word was out fast!

I’ll think I’ll set mine up this weekend.

Are you talking about having a problem right away or a year or two from now?