Time to leave oppo

[amper]

I have been an Oppo owner before blu ray. When Blu Ray came out I got the 95 and then upgraded to the 103. The 4k 203 player came out shortly after and then was discontinued. But I have been very happy with my 103 and never really felt the need to upgrade. But, I am getting region locked blu rays from other regions and 4k discs both wont play on the 103. So I am looking into the Panny 820 region free from 220-electronics. I dont even have a 4k tv yet, but will in a couple years when we move again.

Should I just wait until the next best player to get released? Is there an expectancy that there will be better players on the market in the next year or two?

[vector72]

Originally Posted by amper

I have been an Oppo owner before blu ray. When Blu Ray came out I got the 95 and then upgraded to the 103. The 4k 203 player came out shortly after and then was discontinued. But I have been very happy with my 103 and never really felt the need to upgrade. But, I am getting region locked blu rays from other regions and 4k discs both wont play on the 103. So I am looking into the Panny 820 region free from 220-electronics. I dont even have a 4k tv yet, but will in a couple years when we move again.

Should I just wait until the next best player to get released? Is there an expectancy that there will be better players on the market in the next year or two?

In November the 820 is usually 50% off. After Oppo, Panny is all that remains if you're accustomed to tons of features and settings. Many people keep an 820 as a backup since the future of 4k players isn't looking bright. Not at all.

[amper]

Thank you. Its too bad I cant get a region free Oppo 203 anymore.

[steel_breeze]

The title of this thread makes me sad, lol. Oppo is a magical place I hope never to leave. Recently acquired a backup 203 that I use from time to time just to run 'lectricity through it; "if you don't use it you lose it". They can have my Oppos when they pry them from my cold dead hands.

[punisher]

there are region free kits for the 103 and 203 players.

[Wendell R. Breland]

For movie watching I use a Zidoo UHD5000 media player to play my Blu-ray or UHD Blu-ray disc rips (ISO, MKV, Folder). For DVD rips or 1080i .TS files* I use the Oppo 203 because nothing I have matches it for these file types. My 203 has a region free kit (internal) but do not use anymore.

*TS files from edited OTA (CBS, NBC) and PBS via DVB-S2 satellite.

[amper]

[QUOTE=Wendell R. Breland;22406145]For movie watching I use a Zidoo UHD5000 media player to play my Blu-ray or UHD Blu-ray disc rips (ISO, MKV, Folder). For DVD rips or 1080i .TS files* I use the Oppo 203 because nothing I have matches it for these file types. My 203 has a region free kit (internal) but do not use anymore.

I was thinking of getting a Zidoo and just ripping all my blu-rays to files. Although mathematically that's about 21 TB of data. Can the Zidoo play from any storage device with the same processing power as a laser that is reading a blu ray disc?

[Cortiz]

I have 2 Oppo 203 and a Sony X1100ES. Operational wise and ease of use, NOTHING beats the Oppo. However, i prefer the Sony for PQ/AQ even though is a quirky player and the manual DV toggle is annoying. But man, i have a Sony A95K and the PQ when i pair it with the Sony player is unbeatable to my eyes. By the way, i'm one of the few lucky ones that have not had any freezing issues with the Sony player. It has been rock solid (knock on wood).

[KcMsterpce]

Uhm, the Oppo 203 ha been out for over 8 years and is still considered the APEX PLAYER for today's standards. Granted, it's older now, but being such an asskicker even this far forward in time is astounding.

There's very little competition even today to match what that player has accomplished.
It's too bad that you think you need to "move on". The question is, what will you move on TO? There is very little in the market these days that even compares to the Oppo in capabilities (especially if you want to use a USB external drive to play lossless audio on MKV files in your library).
The Oppo was over-engineered, and no company comes close to its abilities even today.
Another great benefit is that you can set the player to adjust tonemapping to a particular nit output, and it works quite well. This is most applicable to projector enthusiasts. Even the Magnatar models haven't included that option, and they are 3x the price for purchase, and almost a direct clone of the Oppo player.

I mean, if you have a few niggling complaints and issues that are specific to your movie-viewing preferences, then... maybe Panasonic or Sony can do something to fill that gap? But I doubt it.

For me, the Oppo reigns supreme even today. It has great tone mapping options that can output directly to a specified nits range on video display; they play almost any and all files through USB connection with lossless audio and HDR10 or Dolby Vision, which NO OTHER PLAYER CAN DO; it's easy to modify to unlock regions; it can also do HDR10, DV, and (with the 2019 update) HDR10+, and it's built like a shit brickhouse.

Good luck finding all those options on any other player.
What I'm getting at is, if you prefer to play files from your NAS that are direct rips of lossless audio and video straight to a player (with DV, HDR10, HDR10+ as well as Dolby Atmos, or DTS-X), the ONLY option you have to play those files is with the Oppo 203, or maybe the Magnetar models, but they glitch out more often with such files compared to the Oppo 203.
So, you can get a facsimile of modern accoutrement with any 'newer' players these days - with a much lower price - but if you intend to play direct rips of Dolby Atmos and/or DTS-X audio files with movies that have any form of HDR, pretty much your only option(s) are the Oppo 203, or a Magnetar (which is 70% less reliable).

Today's options for 4k players is slim. That's because people aren't paying for physical media anymore. So, shop around and find what fits best for your needs.

[crutzulee]

If one is looking for a player of physical UHD discs in addition to the features mentioned above, then the 203 is the only option... but to be clear, there are dozens of boxes that can do all of the other features with files from a NAS.

[Cortiz]

Agreed about all the Oppo comments. However, not everyone needs all the Oppo feautures.

[hanshotfirst1138]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Agreed about all the Oppo comments. However, not everyone needs all the Oppo feautures.

What features make it so special? I’m thinking of going 4K, and it’s touted as the GOAT.

[kingreed]

Both Sony and Panasonic need to invest in better 4K Technology to properly develop their 4K Blu Ray players.

[steel_breeze]

"Never gonna give you up
Never gonna leave Oppo"...

All three of my Oppo players in the home theater got some lovin' over the last 36 hours or so; watched Friday the 13th Part VI with some friends on Friday night using the backup 203 (it is a Guilty Pleasure flick for me, after all), then listened yesterday to the Prince & The Revolution album "Around the World in a Day" (the first CD I ever bought back in '86 -- still plays great!) using my ancient Oppo 83, then watched the 4K disc of E.T. with the wife last night on my "Oppo Prime" 203.

Except for some occasional and head-shakingly random sync problems on the ancient BDP-83 (which are on-going to this day, so I mainly use it for CDs and SACDs) and a one-time, non-repeatable glitch during the 4K of Jaws two years ago, I've never had ANY playback issues. Love. These. Players.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by kingreed

Both Sony and Panasonic need to invest in better 4K Technology to properly develop their 4K Blu Ray players.

The Panasonics are better in upscaling from HD to 4K than Oppo, the Sonys are identical in 4K playback quality to the Oppo. The Panasonics are better than Oppo in 4K playback. What else do you want?

[kingreed]

I wouldn’t say that the future of 4K blu ray players is bad. I think that right now both Sony and Panasonic are just trying to decide what does the future hold for 4K. I believe that 4K has very bright future ahead for the format. With Oppo and LG stopping making 4K blu ray players I don’t see this as terrible they just decided to go in another direction that’s all. I believe that Oppo will get back into making 4K blu ray players once they reevaluate the 4K blu ray player market and what it holds as the future.

[jvonl]

Originally Posted by kingreed

I wouldn’t say that the future of 4K blu ray players is bad. I think that right now both Sony and Panasonic are just trying to decide what does the future hold for 4K. I believe that 4K has very bright future ahead for the format. With Oppo and LG stopping making 4K blu ray players I don’t see this as terrible they just decided to go in another direction that’s all. I believe that Oppo will get back into making 4K blu ray players once they reevaluate the 4K blu ray player market and what it holds as the future.

If only... But, hope is good.

[kingreed]

I think that eventually we will see more companies manufacturing 4K blu ray players why because 4K movies on physical Media is getting more popular and if you take a hard, look blu rsy.com there's more movies being announced to come our on the 4K b,u ray format then ever before. We are beginning to more and more movies coming out that format. I think that 4K blu ray players have a very bright future ahead.

The thing is that right now it's called supply and demand. Most households probably don't even have a 4K TV still so you need to take that into a strong consideration. How many of your friends do you know have a 4K TV probably not many they probably still have a 1080p TV.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by kingreed

I think that eventually we will see more companies manufacturing 4K blu ray players why because 4K movies on physical Media is getting more popular and if you take a hard, look blu rsy.com there's more movies being announced to come our on the 4K b,u ray format then ever before. We are beginning to more and more movies coming out that format. I think that 4K blu ray players have a very bright future ahead.

The thing is that right now it's called supply and demand. Most households probably don't even have a 4K TV still so you need to take that into a strong consideration. How many of your friends do you know have a 4K TV probably not many they probably still have a 1080p TV.

Like who? Most of the big names are gone and no reason to think they’ll be back with new players. Not ever.

I’m giving up hope on even Sony or Panasonic coming out with anything actually new (unless it’s a cheapened model, like how Panasonic just introduced a several years old player to the U.S. market.).

I guess the new entries are Reavon and Magnatar (technicaly both the same company?). The consensus for all these seems to be “not as good as Oppo”. Maybe the $3000 Magnatar player, but at that price it’s beyond niche.

[Cortiz]

As much as i hate to say it, the chances of a new 4k player from one of the big companies (Sony/Panny) are slim to none. Physical media is a niche market and has been for a while now. No reason for Sony or Panasonic to invest in new players. The best we can hope for is at least one more firmware to improve the current players and that still a pretty long shot. I would suggest you grab a couple of players while you can now before they go extinct.