OPPO BDP 83 - Should I buy now or should I wait? - Page 2 - Blu-ray Forum

gonk · 02-18-2010, 05:03 PM

It's hard to say. My suspicion, though, is that it won't be practical.

First, the design may not be terribly straightforward. The drive may be able to be retained for a 3D player, which would be convenient. You will need a new main board, though (the board that has the ABT chip and Mediatek chip on it). Designing a drop-in replacement board may be possible, or it may not - if additional processing is required for the 3D and comes in the form of an extra chip, for example, there could be problems fitting it all onto the same size board with the same support and mounting points. The replacement board will be expensive - probably more than the SE's audio board, as your most expensive pieces of silicon are all lumped together on the main board. Then you've got the domestic labor required to receive, upgrade, bench test, re-package, and ship back out all of the players that get upgrades. Just using some SWAG from someone who isn't privy to the inside numbers, I'd bet that the costs involved just to break even on a program like that would make an upgrade program cost as much as a whole new player. How many of us would be eager to spend another $400 or $500 on existing players just to get 3D support when we could spend a few dollars more (or even the same amount) on a brand new player and still have that old player available to us? After all, the old player could be used elsewhere in the house, given to a relative, or sold to help pay for the new player.

The SE upgrade program does open the door to this sort of idea, but I think it's a unique case. I'm still surprised they were able to offer the upgrade for less than the difference in price between stock and SE models - that almost had to be a break-even proposition for them, or maybe a slight loss that they chalked up to marketing expenses.

Captain Morphus · 02-19-2010, 12:40 AM

I have the ABT chip in my Denon 3310 AVR. If I get the Oppo 83, will the ABT chips work together to produce a better upscaled image, or would they cancel each other out? How improved is the Oppo's upscaler compared to the PS3? Worth the $500 upgrade?

gonk · 02-19-2010, 02:13 PM

There's not much benefit to having two video processors operate in series, so it's usually best to set your system up so that one or the other is doing all the work.

The BDP-83's implementation of the ABT2010 offers some things (such as zoom modes) that aren't generally available in receivers. The differences are going to be minimal, unless you happen to have a need for them. If you don't need those, though, you could go with the BDP-80 for $210 less, use the source direct output, and let the Denon's ABT2010 take care of you.

Captain Morphus · 02-19-2010, 05:47 PM

Thanks for the response gonk. Since I have 2 blu players, looks like I would be better off using the $500 on more discs.

thespindoc · 03-01-2010, 03:57 PM

I had a quick question regarding the difference and/or benefits associated with purchasing the OPPO BD83 from OPPO itself (the manufacturer) or someplace like Amazon. Do you get better service through OPPO if you’ve purchased from them direct? Do you get any extras from buying through them, vs. saving shipping if one got theirs through Amazon?

gonk · 03-01-2010, 05:42 PM

No particularly earth-shattering differences. If you buy from OPPO, it should have the latest firmware installed - which is not necessarily true from others, which will have the latest firmware that existed when OPPO shipped the player to them - and they have you automatically recorded in their warranty records. For the BDP-80, you also have the option of switching to the backlit version of the remote.

un4gvn94538 · 03-01-2010, 05:53 PM

i got mine from amazon. free shipping, no tax and the extras were the same as if direct from oppo: 2 calibration discs, oppo bag. the firmware was up to date.

thespindoc · 03-01-2010, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

i got mine from amazon. free shipping, no tax and the extras were the same as if direct from oppo: 2 calibration discs, oppo bag. the firmware was up to date.

Thanks to you and Gonk for the clarification. I was concerned about the calibration discs, and if they would be left out should I purchase from Amazon. The firmware is a minor, al beit nice to have right out the door, I can update that once I get it, should I decide to buy from Amazon, which I might to save on shipping, which is cross country for me.

un4gvn94538 · 03-02-2010, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thespindoc

Thanks to you and Gonk for the clarification. I was concerned about the calibration discs, and if they would be left out should I purchase from Amazon. The firmware is a minor, al beit nice to have right out the door, I can update that once I get it, should I decide to buy from Amazon, which I might to save on shipping, which is cross country for me.

compared to you, oppo is right next door to me but still the shipping was more than i was willing to pay to have it "right now". still unsure what to do with the bag though....

Wileyman · 03-03-2010, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thespindoc

I had a quick question regarding the difference and/or benefits associated with purchasing the OPPO BD83 from OPPO itself (the manufacturer) or someplace like Amazon. Do you get better service through OPPO if you’ve purchased from them direct? Do you get any extras from buying through them, vs. saving shipping if one got theirs through Amazon?

OPPO treats all their customers equally whether you bought direct from them or from amazon. They're not biased

I bought mine from amazon and about a month later had a minor technical issue (in no way caused by amazon) so I called OPPO and they shipped me out a new one which arrived two days later (despite the fact I neglected to register it with OPPO on their homepage

) . INCREDIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Seriously. They freaking rock.

just be sure to register it with them

thespindoc · 03-03-2010, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wileyman

OPPO treats all their customers equally whether you bought direct from them or from amazon. They're not biased

I bought mine from amazon and about a month later had a minor technical issue (in no way caused by amazon) so I called OPPO and they shipped me out a new one which arrived two days later (despite the fact I neglected to register it with OPPO on their homepage

) . INCREDIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Seriously. They freaking rock.

just be sure to register it with them

Good advice. Just ordered mine tonight, I can't wait!

03-01-2010, 03:57 PM	#25
thespindoc Member Member since:Jan 2008 4K collection:29 Blu-ray collection:581	Is there any difference between getting the OPPO BDP 83 from OPPO vs others? I had a quick question regarding the difference and/or benefits associated with purchasing the OPPO BD83 from OPPO itself (the manufacturer) or someplace like Amazon. Do you get better service through OPPO if you’ve purchased from them direct? Do you get any extras from buying through them, vs. saving shipping if one got theirs through Amazon?

Similar Threads
thread	Forum	Thread Starter	Replies	Last Post
Oppo BDP-80 vs Pioneer BDP-23FD???	Blu-ray Players and Recorders	Go Blue	29	03-16-2010 06:32 PM
PS3 250gb vs Oppo BDP 83 vs BDP 2010ci	Blu-ray Players and Recorders	Blove23	32	11-09-2009 03:08 AM
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD or Oppo BDP-83?	Blu-ray Players and Recorders	Silverwing	4	10-14-2009 03:41 AM
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD or Oppo BDP-83	Blu-ray Players and Recorders	SeanMF	17	08-29-2009 06:03 PM

02-18-2010, 05:03 PM	#21
gonk Senior Member Member since:Mar 2009 Location:Memphis, TN Blu-ray collection:111	It's hard to say. My suspicion, though, is that it won't be practical. First, the design may not be terribly straightforward. The drive may be able to be retained for a 3D player, which would be convenient. You will need a new main board, though (the board that has the ABT chip and Mediatek chip on it). Designing a drop-in replacement board may be possible, or it may not - if additional processing is required for the 3D and comes in the form of an extra chip, for example, there could be problems fitting it all onto the same size board with the same support and mounting points. The replacement board will be expensive - probably more than the SE's audio board, as your most expensive pieces of silicon are all lumped together on the main board. Then you've got the domestic labor required to receive, upgrade, bench test, re-package, and ship back out all of the players that get upgrades. Just using some SWAG from someone who isn't privy to the inside numbers, I'd bet that the costs involved just to break even on a program like that would make an upgrade program cost as much as a whole new player. How many of us would be eager to spend another $400 or $500 on existing players just to get 3D support when we could spend a few dollars more (or even the same amount) on a brand new player and still have that old player available to us? After all, the old player could be used elsewhere in the house, given to a relative, or sold to help pay for the new player. The SE upgrade program does open the door to this sort of idea, but I think it's a unique case. I'm still surprised they were able to offer the upgrade for less than the difference in price between stock and SE models - that almost had to be a break-even proposition for them, or maybe a slight loss that they chalked up to marketing expenses.

02-19-2010, 12:40 AM	#22
Captain Morphus Active Member Member since:Jan 2010 Location:Interzone 4K collection:552 Blu-ray collection:1021 Trading Score:40	I have the ABT chip in my Denon 3310 AVR. If I get the Oppo 83, will the ABT chips work together to produce a better upscaled image, or would they cancel each other out? How improved is the Oppo's upscaler compared to the PS3? Worth the $500 upgrade?

02-19-2010, 02:13 PM	#23
gonk Senior Member Member since:Mar 2009 Location:Memphis, TN Blu-ray collection:111	There's not much benefit to having two video processors operate in series, so it's usually best to set your system up so that one or the other is doing all the work. The BDP-83's implementation of the ABT2010 offers some things (such as zoom modes) that aren't generally available in receivers. The differences are going to be minimal, unless you happen to have a need for them. If you don't need those, though, you could go with the BDP-80 for $210 less, use the source direct output, and let the Denon's ABT2010 take care of you.

02-19-2010, 05:47 PM	#24
Captain Morphus Active Member Member since:Jan 2010 Location:Interzone 4K collection:552 Blu-ray collection:1021 Trading Score:40	Thanks for the response gonk. Since I have 2 blu players, looks like I would be better off using the $500 on more discs.

03-01-2010, 05:42 PM	#26
gonk Senior Member Member since:Mar 2009 Location:Memphis, TN Blu-ray collection:111	No particularly earth-shattering differences. If you buy from OPPO, it should have the latest firmware installed - which is not necessarily true from others, which will have the latest firmware that existed when OPPO shipped the player to them - and they have you automatically recorded in their warranty records. For the BDP-80, you also have the option of switching to the backlit version of the remote.

03-01-2010, 05:53 PM	#27
un4gvn94538 Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Limbo (Bakersfield, Ca.) 4K collection:143 Blu-ray collection:811 DVD collection:54 Digital collection:1494 Trading Score:277	i got mine from amazon. free shipping, no tax and the extras were the same as if direct from oppo: 2 calibration discs, oppo bag. the firmware was up to date.

Best Blu-ray Movie Deals