Oppo BDP 80 Review
May 25, 2010
Even without the Internet streaming and other features, Oppo BDP 83 is widely considered one of the best Blu ray player on the market. Oppo has built its reputation with solid DVD player as well as upconverting DVD players. The BDP 83 added very good Blu ray player on top of the already excellent upscaling capability. While it arrived late, the BDP 83 outperformed other Blu ray players without too much effort. However, the price point of $499 was nearly double the nearest competing Blu ray players. If you wanted the very best, Oppo BDP 83 is the player to get. However, if you could overlook minor faults, you could easily get a very good player for around $200. To compete with the lower priced players, Oppo decided to release the BDP 80 model.
Features
The BDP 80 is almost an identical to BDP 83 in terms of features and performance. Like BDP 83, BDP 80 is considered a true universal player capable for playing DVD, SACD, DVD-Audio, CD, and Blu-ray. It can also display Kodak Picture CD, AVCHD and MKV files loaded from the disc or one of the two USB 2.0 port. When BDP 83 was released, playing MKV file was a luxury seen on few players. Even today, MKV file support is not widely supported. This adds extra value for people that convert or store their own MKV files. As with BDP 83, BDP 80 is a Profile 2.0 player with BD-LIVE support. On the audio side, BDP-80 can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio natively as well as all other known formats. The BDP-80 retains the 7.1 channel analog output for those without a receiver with HDMI port. The ability to switch between PAL and NTSC format is also carried over from the BDP 83. The absence of IR port and optional RS232 and the VRS video processing separates the BDP 80 and BDP 83. While those 2 features might not interest most consumers, the lack of any internet streaming might be a big turn off for some.
Design
For the overall design, Oppo didn’t just shrink or use the same design from BDP 83. Instead, it has changed the face design as well as the overall dimension. The BDP 83 measured in at 16.9 x 13.3 x 3 inches compared to BDP 80’s 16.9 x 11 x 2.1 inches. Also, BDP-80 is about 4 pounds lighter than the BDP 83. The power button and LCD is located on the left side of the player while the playback button and USB port is located on the right. Middle of the player contains the tray and the open/close button. The back of the player contains all the connectivity ports. It contains 7.1 channel analog output, HDMI port, USB port, RJ-45 port, composite and component outputs, and Digital audio outputs.
Remote Control
The remote control has very well thought out button placements to go along with glow in the dark buttons. And, the buttons themselves are large unlike some of the other remote controls. The numeric buttons and ON and OFF buttons located at the top of the remote with directional buttons in the middle. The bottom of the remote contains the playback function buttons as well as subtitle and various other functional buttons. The remote control is identical to the one included in the BDP 83 except for the lack of backlit buttons. This shouldn’t be a problem since the buttons glow in the dark. Overall, it is a very intuitive and easy to use remote control.
Performance and Video
Like BDP 83, BDP 80 will handle any media formats except for the dead HD-DVD format. As expected, the overall video processing was flawless. Using same discs used on BDP 83, the BDP 80 showed no differences in terms of video processing. The usual video defects such as moiré, jaggieness, and motion blur were all absent from the video. While it is very rare to see these defects in today’s players, it does pop up occasionally on other players. The lack of VRS processing was one of the differences between BDP 80 and BDP 83. The overall effect of upscaling was not too apparent. While BDP 83 does upscaling better, it is not that much better in terms of overall DVD upscaling. The booting and loading time on BDP 80 was excellent. It was on par with most other third generation Blu ray players. In some instances, it was little faster loading the Blu ray discs compared to other players.
Audio
The audio quality was on par with most other Blu-ray players. The audio decoding option covered almost every known audio format including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. The inclusion of 7.1 channel analog output was a big plus. The support of SACD and DVD audio format is a nice feature for people who own these formats. Audio enthusiast will appreciate the inclusion of these formats.
Overall Opinion
All the drawbacks present on BDP 83 are present in the BDP 80. As with BDP 83, BDP-80 does not come with WiFi connection. This is big drawback if you don’t like wires running in all directions from your home theater set up. Also, BDP 80 lacks internet streaming contents. Most of the new players, including the entry level models, come with some type of internet streaming contents like Netflix and YouTube. While most home theater enthusiast can forgo the internet streaming, they will most likely miss the WiFi option.
Oppo once again delivered an excellent player in BDP 80. While it does some flaws as mentioned earlier, it is one of the top performing Blu ray player on the market. While the price point of $300 is not very enticing, the overall performance and quality might get mainstream consumers to give it a shot.
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Buy Oppo BDP 80 Now!
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OPPO BDP-80 Blu-ray Disc Player with SACD and DVD-Audio (Black) List Price:  |
Description
Overview : The BDP-80 is a full-featured universal Blu-ray Disc player that supports BD Profile 2.0 (BD-Live and BonusView), DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD (SACD), HDCD, CD and other popular media formats such as AVCHD, MKV video files, digital photos and music...
Features
- Excellent stand-alone universal Blu-ray player and digital transport for Blu-ray, DVD, SACD, DVD-Audio, HDCD, CD, Kodak Picture CD, AVCHD, MKV, etc
- Full HD video featuring up to 1080p output resolution, DVD up-conversion, 1080p 24Hz mode for Blu-ray
- High fidelity audio with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio onboard decoding and bitstream output
- Versatile audio connectivity including HDMI, 7.1ch analog, coaxial and optical digital outputs. Supports native DSD over HDMI for SACD playback
- Ultimate convenience including PAL/NTSC conversion, dual USB ports, fast disc load times, responsive remote control, and built-in 1GB storage
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Fast Loader!
I could not afford the OPPO BDP-83, I purchased the BDP 80 instead! What a great product! I like it much better then the OPPO DV-980H I had before. Load times are a lot faster. The sound is better as well! There are a lot of other players with more features, but the one play music better (SACD,DVD Audio,HDCD). If I want to steam download videos, I would get a Panasonic or Sony! I would recommend this product to anyone who wants a good well built machine! The remote is also very nice.
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Hands down the best….
I have a high-end Denon Blu-ray, an Onkyo, Panasonic and this Oppo… it is hands down the fastest and ties the Denon for video/audio quality. You can’t go wrong here.
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Great player with just the right features and no fluff
I will keep this review short and sweet since there has already been so much written about the Oppo BDP-80. The best word to describe this unit is “elegant.” It’s a Blu-Ray player designed to do one thing well: play Blu-Ray and DVD plus high-quality audio formats. No streaming features, no games, no fuss. Just what the doctor ordered.
Ready to finally take the Blu-Ray plunge, I was looking at Sony and other similar players and was quite simply overwhelemed by the laundry list of features, which frankly duplicated functionality that I already didn’t use in other devices like my Tivo. Then I found the Oppo BDP-80 and was blown away by it’s single-minded simplicity and focus on the basics. I believe Oppo is unique in the markeplace, offering a simple, high-quality Blu-Ray playback device using high quality components, with a solid build and elegant user interface.
I have been very pleased with DVD upscaling performance on my 37″ 1080i Plasma TV, which comes pretty close to the quality of Blu-Ray playback. Disc loading and playback performance overall is best-of-class and the feature set on the remote is comprehensive yet simple to use. I would recommend reading the well written manual, which would have saved me some setup frustrations had I spent a few minutes with it before using the player.
Highly recommended!
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Great Bluray Player, but…
I’m a big fan of Oppo. As far as the performance goes, I agree with the positive reviews already posted. I have owned the big sister to this unit, the BDP-83, for almost a year now. I purchased this unit as a universal transport for a high end 2 channel system (and back-up for the BDP-83). Unfortunately, none of the previous reviewers mentioned the flimsy, noisy, plasticky disk drawer. It is way out of place in a unit with this level of refinement and performance. I understand that Oppo had to save money somewhere, but this was a deal-breaker for me. I have returned the BDP-80 and purchased a second BDP-83. If you’re a stickler for smooth, solid tray operation (as I am) take a pass on the ’80 and spend the extra dough on the ’83, and you’ll get the VRS to boot. If you don’t care about the clunky tray operation, the BDP-80 is a heck of a deal.
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Fantastic Universal Player
I was prompted to go looking for a new BD Player when my then current player wouldn’t play a newer movie without skipping, menu issues, etc. That manufacturer hadn’t provided a firmware update in MONTHS. I love planned obsolecsence.
I had always wanted to get an Oppo BDP-83 because of it’s feature set (SACD/DVD-A) and reviews on professional and user sites. When the BDP-80 came out with just the features I really needed at a much reduced price point I had to get one.
Setup of the device was simple, with a well written manual that suggested settings based on how you connected it to your system.
The unit has played all of my BD’s without issue including Avatar and Sherlock Holmes which the prior player simply didn’t like.
Load times are quicker and the process quieter than I’ve experienced before as well.
Of course it handles my SACD and DVD-A collection fantastically as well.
The only thing I wish it could do that it doesn’t currently, is DLNA support for network streaming of video and audio (hopefully Oppo will add this).
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Excellent Multi-Format Player
I have a wide collection of different disk content in many formats. The BDP-80 handles all of them, flawlessly. Blu-ray, DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, AVCHD, VCD, SVCD, DTS Audio CD’s, CD’s, etc. Very flexible connectivity and downmixing, simple setup for such a capable player. Only thing I wished it had was a set of dedicated analog stereo outs, you have to get the BDP-83 to get those. And all at a price point that can’t be beat.
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Terrific player with just one drawback
I owned this player for three weeks. I just returned it to Amazon and I intend to purchase the BDP-83 instead. First the good news: it is fast, quiet, and capable of superb audio and video playback. CDs play clean and clear, and SACDs made under studio conditions are simply awesome. DVD playback is excellent; I certainly didn’t see any deficiencies in the upscaling of DVDs for my 50″ plasma display. Blu-ray disks with a native 1.6 to 1.78:1 aspect ratio look stunning. Which leads to the single drawback that led me to return the BDP-80 and get the BDP-83 instead. Unmentioned (as far as I could tell) in the Amazon website description or in OPPO’s specs or comparison chart is the fact that the zoom capabilities of the BDP-80 are disabled by BD-Java enabled disks. So if you are playing a widescreen (2.35:1) Blu-ray Java-enabled disk and need to zoom to get rid of the black bars top and bottom during the “break-in” period for a plasma display, or if you just want to get rid of the black bars because you don’t want to look at them, the BDP-80′s decoder lacks that capability. You have to use whatever zoom your display might offer. I have to say that OPPO’s tech service people were terrific. I asked the question by email and had the answer from them in minutes. Specifically, in contrast to the BDP-80, the BDP-83 CAN zoom almost all BD-Java enabled disks because it turns that function over to its more advanced scalar circuitry. So there you have it, and that’s where I’m going.
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Oppo bdp-80
Very pleased. Excellent packaging and manual. Audio is very good for music as well. Tons of connections. If you are into music, want a great picture and a great return on a small investment this is for you. very highly recommended. no regrets with this purchase.
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Just As They Said
I would have to agree in the other comments about the 80. In comparison to the Blue Ray Players out there the quality and presentation; plus performance of the machine is quite above what are presented in the normal retail stores. The picture on normal DVD was so sharp I have to have my eye glasses replaced. I was impressed with the packing, the output connections, the large print user’s manual, plus the logic on the remote. Installation was simple as the output connections were in the exact order of a Harmon Kardon 7.1 channel surround sound amp/receiver input connections. The only sticklers I see is that a wired internet connection is required for firmware updates and it doesn’t play the abandoned HD DVDs. I’m very happy to see that OPPO makes quality players hands above the sheet metal 2 lb. models that offer very little and no firmware support. The included HDMI cable, above normal packaging, and very nice user’s manual show they have pride in their product. One note – there is no wiring plan if you have no HDMI input to your receiver but have 7.1 surround. Easily overcome by running HDMI to the monitor directly and 7.1 sound to the receiver.
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Perfect Feature Set
This was my first foray into Blu-ray, and I wanted a player with full out-of-the-box support for the format (BD Profile 2.0, 1GB on-board memory for BD-Live), as well as excellent DVD upconversion, fast load times, universal audio disc and media file playback, solid build quality, reliable firmware support, and a reasonable price. The OPPO BDP-80 was a perfect fit.
I seriously considered the acclaimed BDP-83 but for my needs I couldn’t justify the extra $210 for its step-up features, namely:
- Better analog audio: I’m using bitstream output over HDMI exclusively since I own a new receiver (Pioneer VSX-9040TXH) with HDMI 1.3 and TrueHD/DTS-MA decoding.
- DVD 24p conversion: This feature is problematic anyway due to the inconsistent authoring of commercial DVDs, and my TV’s (Sony KDL-40XBR9) CineMotion feature essentially produces the same result from 60i/p input (3:2 cadence detection and proper 10:10 pulldown at 240 Hz).
- Superior DVD upconversion: At my TV’s relatively small screen size (40″), the difference is considered negligible.
- Backlit remote, included calibration discs: Not needed and can be ordered separately from OPPO.
- Aluminum front panel: The “fake” panel on the BDP-80 actually matches my receiver and still looks slick to me.
Some of the possible criticisms of this unit compared to the mainstream brands were actually pluses for me, such as:
- No media streaming services (YouTube, Netflix, etc.): I already have multiple boxes with those capabilities (BRAVIA TV, Xbox 360, TiVo). I preferred a player focused on core disc playback functionality.
- Bulkier chassis: The deeper, heavier chassis fits in better with my other A/V components than other shallower, flimsier models.
So far I am very impressed with the video quality, performance, attractive yet straightforward menus and displays, ease of use, even the packaging of this unit.
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Perfect Universal Player
I replaced an entry level Sony Blu-ray player for the Oppo 80 in order to play a wider variety of media (namely SACD & DVD-A discs). Solid construction, ease of setup, speed, and the ability to play almost all audio/video media sets this player way above others in this price range. Blu-rays are pristine in audio & picture quality. I generally don’t play DVDs, so I can’t really comment on the upconversion quality.
A cool feature of the remote is the “Pure Audio” setting. It shuts of the video signal, player’s display & other possible interference so you can hear audio without any noise. You can also adjust video resolution on-the-fly with the remote. Simply a perfect machine.
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Great features, Good upconversion
While this player had many good things going for it(about the best BR player I’ve used) I ended up returning it. I have many DVDs so DVD playback was actually more important to me than BR playback. On that point, while the BDP-80 was very good it was not really better than my very good Sony DVD with upconversion and actually for a few DVD my Sony looked better.
The Oppo had several features I’ve not seen on other BR players, such as DISC RESUME on all DVDs and most BRs. If the BD has Java RESUME won’t work, but no player could allow RESUME with Java discs. I also liked that you could make REMAINING time the default(and it worked for ALL discs I tried). It’s easy to toggle back to elapsed but I really like remaining time. The Oppo also has all other time functions(such as remaining chapter and elapsed chapter).
Unfortunately the Oppo was the first BD player I tried, I tried several after it that weren’t nearly as good. If it had been the last player I tried I would have probably kept it, I was just hoping for better but I never found it.
I’d rate this player excellent for most everything and very good for DVD upconversion. I think if you have a Oppo 981 or above you may want to stick with that for DVD playback and only use the BDP-80 for BR discs, or maybe not, I’d really A-B them and see what your prefer.
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Well worth the wait
Purchased Febuary 17th 2010
The Oppo BDP-80, This is the perfect machine for my secondary theater setup. A more affordable full featured universal player with the Oppo badge and lineage. It partners perfectly with my DV-983H, which will still do the DVD up conversion chores with its VRS chipset,although the bdp-80 does the job well by its own rights. The new machine will play my BD’s and decode the lossless codecs to be sent to my processor via the 5.1 analog outputs. Plus I’ll now have 2 SACD/DVD-A transports for Hi-Def audio. From the packaging(insane) to the manual(excellent) Oppo you’ve done it once again.
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Another winner
Good going Oppo! I have been using PS3 in my living room for my BD player but this Oppo has better sound while the video remains about the same, it loads fast and is easy to operate and plays all of my applications. great reasonable cost addition to my system. PS3 is moved to the bedroom system and still serves me well.
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Best Blu-Ray player < $300
Worked great right out of the box. Setup was easy and intuitive to ensure highest quality and compatibility. Speed is better than my PS3 as far loading discs. I know this may not be a big deal to some but its fast forward is much better than the PS3′s. It’s slim design is nice for me those who need it. Remote is very good and easy to use. I wish the backlit remote would have come standard but the keys do glow in the dark on the non-backlit model so finding one of the main buttons (i.e Play, Pause, Fast Forward…) is easy.
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Sony is Baloney but Oppo is an Oppo-r-tunity
Yes, it sells for a little more than most of those that have saturated the market. Sony, Toshiba, Sharp, Vizio, Panasonic, LG and a plethora of others, offering all the new features, including USB ports for live online access etc…My setup included, two Sony 400 capacity DVD players, which housed the 800 plus DVD’s I have amassed over a three year period. However, not unlike other Sony Laser guided audio and video machines, their shelf life, so to speak, is designed to last from perhaps, one and a half to three years, at which time their lasers stop working, causing the freezing of any particular DVD or CD, being the case, in their 5 disc carousel, I have quite literally gone through, eight Sony machines, be they CD or DVD, in the past four to six years. None of the eight were lower entry level machines, rather, several from the Sony ES Series. Therefore, when my two Sony, Disc Explorer 400 Machines went down within three days of each other, I knew it was time to move on and scratch that name from my list of Audio/Video components. While cruising Amazon.com, I came across the name Oppo. This company does not have aspirations of owning a large percentage of the market share.The Oppo “Mission Statement” is one that developed a mentality of producing several great machines for both audio and video, grasping a very small portion of the marketplace and to produce the absolute best machines in the field. I purchased the lowest/least expensive of their DVD players, the Oppo BDP-80 Blue-ray Disc Player with SACD and DVD Audio in Black. I received it in less than two full days, as I am a Prime member with Amazon, (well worth the fee) and had it wired and fired within 5-10 minutes. It is so quiet, I did not believe the motor was running. In addition, from the moment I shut the door, the CD was ready to play in several seconds. This boggled my mind since both Sony’s would take a significantly extensive and prolonged period of time just to get to the point where one could read the disclaimers on Intellectual Property Rights. The playback resolution is absolutely brilliant as are the crisp highs, clean mid-range and solid bottom lows out of the SubWoofer. This was a win-win situation. I am definitely sold on Oppo and am planning several more purchases in the next several months. I would not hasten to recommend any of the Oppo products as being great investments, a sound (pardon the pun) investment in developing a home theater or simply for the occasional viewer of DVDs. I know it will last and will be backed-up by the Oppo Tech Department, in the event it requires this type of work. I am extremely pleased with it’s performance, quiet operation and magnificent reproduction of the best video offered in the world of digital entertainment.
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Outstanding value for excellent all-around Blu-ray Player
I currently own an OPPO DV-980H up-converting DVD player that I’ve had for a few years now. I loved it when I got it and still do, but this new player far exceeds that one all the way around. This player is super quiet, unlike the DV-980H which is quite noisy at times. It does a better job up-converting DVDs and has a source video mode where it will leave the output as is so you can allow your receiver or TV to do the up-converting instead. The overall look and feel of the physical unit is great, it’s almost as thin as any good DVD player plus it has a USB port on the front for loading up movies or music that way. It supports just about every audio and video format out there, however I have noticed some strange artifacts/pixelation that occurs on a couple videos I encoded using the newest H.264 encoding standards. I’m sure this will be addressed in future firmware updates, OPPO is always good about keeping their firmware up-to-date and it’s super easy to upgrade. It supports all the latest and greatest Dolby audio formats along with many others and can output the sound to your receiver as is (bitstream) or convert it to LPCM first for better compatibility if your receiver can’t decode it. The menus and navigation are much improved over older models and the manual is very well written and explains everything well.
If you are interested in playing many different formats of audio and video, this is definitely for you. If you don’t need the higher-end video processing for DVD up-conversion that the BDP-83 provides for a premium, get this one instead. You just can’t beat what you get for the price. I have a Netflix Blu-ray subscription and ever disc I’ve watched so far has worked flawlessly. There will always be more potential problems with ripped and burned audio and video because of the multitude of encoding formats and methods used.
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Budget Audiophile’s Best Universal Player
Here was my problem. My old Sony Esprit series CD player was on its last legs. I had a lo-fi DVD / VCR. I own several dozen hybrid SACD’s that I could only hear as CD’s. I wanted, no, needed, a quality universal player.
The rest of my system has very nice equipment, the kind of equipment that fellow audiophiles on a tight budget appreciate. My home theater speakers are Magnepans, my multichannel receiver was a high quality Yamaha, and I used my old Carver M1.5t amplifiers to amplify the main MG12/QR’s and a Dahlquist subwoofer.
I wanted something to play SACD’s and CD’s at a high quality, multichannel for the DSD streams and as a bitstream for traditional CD. I also wanted to up-convert DVD signal. Did I need Blu-ray? No, but when you can get it for free, why not?
The OPPO BDP-80 is the ONLY universal player in the world that includes Blu-Ray, and SACD on the same platform, and costs only $289.00! That is phenomenal.
After several weeks listening to the unit, hooked into my system via both HDMI and optical digital, I have these comments.
The CD bitstream, acquired via optical digital, is at least as good as my Sony was. The sound is clean, pure, and accurate. SACD, acquired as a discrete multichannel output, is excellent. I can finally hear the improvement that DSD provides; a more open high end, more “air” around string instruments in the orchestra, more ambiance in jazz recordings. I’ve been missing something, and this is the answer for serious home reproduction of fine music.
The pleasant surprise – MP3′s via the USB port! I am shocked that better quality MP3 input (320 kbps) sound almost as good as CD’s. And it is trivial to move files onto a thumb drive, and play them on the player. I am shocked at how often I use this little gem of a feature.
Video is vastly improved. All of the up-converted signals from traditional DVDs are sharp, far better than the lo-fi players I used to use. The ability to get clean Dolby Digital signal over HDMI is a huge improvement, as my receiver is not capable of decoding the new Blu-ray formats.
Here’s my bottom line:
The only unit that can do all this, under a thousand dollars, is the larger OPPO! While I concede that the audio output of the larger OPPO is better than this unit,(heck, Lexicon takes the BDP-83, changes out a few capacitors, wraps a better box on it, and charges $3500!) this still delivers SACD, good CD, and MP3 in a single package, for less than $300.00.
And as someone who takes pride in getting a lot of audio bang for my buck… this unit delivers exactly what I want. I can put any media format in my house into one player, and get high quality audio and video, for a very nice price.
Bravo, OPPO!
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Great Build Quality
The first thing you will notice when you take this player out of the well packaged box it is shipped in is that it has a very solid feel, it’s also deeper then most of the stuff made today by sony and others I like the deeper machines they fit better with all my other gear. My Sony and most new Sony’s feel like the constructed of tin so you have what looks a bit fancier in some of the Sony’s but really they all seem to be built like junk in the Oppo 80s price class, while I would love if the draw assembly had the liquid smooth quiet damped draw like my Yamaha’s I did not expect this on th 80 and it would probably increase the cost to build it in so its understandable in this range, I would think the Oppo 83 has that at $200 more.
The picture when using its own upscaler chip I’m a little torn on, I think its quite good overall but it also has source direct that sends the signal direct to your set allowing your TV or High End Reciever to do the upscaling, this feature is not found on lesser machines, this also allowed me to test the upscaling capability in the Oppo 80 with what I have, and here’s what I noticed if I feed the source from a well recorded DVD direct to my TH46PZ85U it seems to do a very good job at up scaling SD but on-screen titles and text seem to be handled better in my Pany then the 80, text seems cleaner and whiter where is the Oppo seems a little softer and not as white im not sure why but it seems that the 80 is less sharp on something’s, this has nothing to do with the sharpness control in the player as you can’t make the Oppo show text as clearly defined no mater how you set it.
Im not sure how the 83 compares in this test as I do not own one but thats somthing I notice right away please don’t let that stop you however as the picture, sound and build are all quite high, do not expect an over procesed image as may be seen with many machines, this machine produces a much more natural picture then most mass market machines and I expect that from a smaller high quality company like Oppo Digital.
With this aside I would say the machine does a great job, it even played discs my sony machine wouldn’t even play. In my sony some discs would lock up but the same problem disc plays fine in the Oppo.
So if what you want is a fast well made machine that will play most of what you toss at it I think you cant go wrong with this machine.
this player does not have the case flex of many other machines that is I mean that cheep box construction seen on so many others built today you can flex the case on others … but the 80 it really is solid I would say that the case that the 80 was built around is thicker steel then other players out there, I have not confirmed this, but sure they cut some corners in the 80 like the true puck style feet that are on most high end gear like my Yamaha’s and the Oppo 83 but I feel that’s ok as they didn’t seem to skimp in over all build at all and that’s welcome and important in my book I really don’t like junk.
So if you just want a cheep player that has Netflix stuff and buy one of the others that are less then this or even close to this you will not get this build quality in the other machines in my opin.
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Full-featured bargain, audiophile review
I grew up in the household of a professional audiophile, became one myself, and I’ve seen them all. This player is a flat-out steal at this price. I replaced a Pioneer DV-610av-s with this unit, literally just swapped cables over, and used a USB drive to update the firmware. Amazing machine. I geeked out over it, big time.
Here’s why you should pick this thing up:
- Every possible connector a low-budget audio/videophile wants: 7.1 analog outputs, digital coax, optical, HDMI, component, composite, S-Video, 2x USB, and ethernet
- Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoders on-board, for hi def audio on the analog (7.1) outputs (for those of us still attached to our older Pioneer Elite receivers ^_^)
- Excellent DVD up-conversion…I’ve seen better, but we’re talking wayyyyy beyond this price point
- Cheapest blu-ray you can buy with DVD-A and SACD AND analog audio outputs…I bought this player for this reason alone
- 96 and 192 khz audio options for compatible receivers
- Simple setup…intuitive menu, GORGEOUS manual (the thing was professionally printed IN ENGLISH), and HDMI cable included
- On-unit display screen has indicators for everything
- Quick eject/load time
- Great remote
- Beautiful packaging = enjoyable unboxing experience
Here’s what irks me so far:
- No ability to have surround speakers set at different distances in the menu–you change the distance on one, the other changes too (although any decent receiver gives you this option, so not a big deal…)
- Short power cord (again, not a big deal)
- No backlighting on the remote (big deal = no)
Oh, and shipping with UPS is garbage…I signed up for 2-day delivery, UPS showed up after my apartment’s front office was closed and couldn’t get in, so I called to have it ready for pickup that night, drove out there only to find they never pulled it off the truck, and had to call back to make sure they delivered it during business hours. And when I called to have the operator send the driver the code to our gate, the operator said “our drivers don’t have cell phones”. WTF? What is this, 1982?
Buy this thing already. Just don’t ship with UPS.
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Rated as a CD player only…Wonderful sound!
I bought it’s big brother the BDP-83 a little while back for a seperate video system and was so impressed that when my very high end but 15 year old Rotel CD player started having some glitches I bought the BDP-80 to replace it with. It was beautifully packed , just like its’ big brother and I had in into the stereo system in less than 5 minutes.
I had not thought of the lack of flexibility of display or programming or info available with using a DVD player instead of CD player, but it was soon evident. The only reason it does not have 5 stars in my review. Now that being said I was amazed at how good it sounds. I get a separation of instruments I have never heard before. The sound is warm like the best tube stuff, too! I am immensely pleased with the sound of it. I honestly feel I couldn’t duplicate it for less than $1000! Unless I bought another BDP-83 for a couple of hundred more.
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Just got this yesterday…
Primary reason for getting this was for the SACD output thru HDMI. Music from the Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”, multi channel SACD, was jaw dropping unbelievable. Thought I would need a AVR with multi channel analog inputs. This player will output the SACD as PCM or DSD thru the HDMI. Found out, to my surprise, that my Onkyo 707 will decode the DSD signal over HDMI. Still need to complete some comparison for the Blue Ray playback. The OSD is great…wish they had some type of moving graphics, like windows media player, to prevent any chance of screen burn. Will add more comments later…
Update, 03/22/2010 I thought everything was great but then I notice that I was having problems playing SACDs. No problems playing a brand new, out of the package, SACD, but if there was even the slightest scratch, the sound would cut out when it encountered this scratch. It was not a scratch that you could feel but only was able to see if holding disk at a certain angle. CD played with no problems if I configured the player to only play the 2 channel stereo layer instead of the multi channel layer! Called OPPO and they were not much help….sent email to Amazon to see if I could replace this unit with another one. Unit was outside the 30 day return window but to my surprise I received a reply the next day and Amazon was sending out a replacement. Unit arrived in 2 days!! Now that’s what I call great customer service. Way to go Amazon…… So far the new player works great. Even on the CDs that the previous player was having problems.
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External Media Must Be FAT16/32! Nonetheless, Great Bluray Player!
If you purchased this Blu-ray player excited about playback of media stored on an external hard disk – you should know that the external media must be formatted as FAT16/32. This is not indicated in the Amazon product specs (but should be).
The FAT format has file size limitations that may be restrictive for many people intending to playback HD video they produce themselves (iMovie, etc) or share with others. I produce a lot of video for a professional sports team and like to keep my favorite work in a collection to share with friends, family, and clients – yet, most of the files are over the 4GB limitation of FAT media.
I gave it 3-stars because a highlight of the product marketing is external media playback (MKV, etc), yet the media format (FAT) is not mentioned. This certainly plays a part in the price as well.
With that, however, the BDP-80 is a great stand-alone Bluray player – as are other quality brands half the price.
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Universal Bargain
You should look closely at this player if any of these descriptions fit you:
-You own SACDs or DVD-As and want to play them on the same player you use for Blu-ray and DVD;
-You want to upgrade to a universal player that can transmit all audio and video formats (including SACD and DVD-A) via HDMI;
-You own a high-end video processor (separately or built into your receiver or display) that you want to use instead of the one built into your player;
-You own a processor that does not accept HDMI but does have analog 7.1/5.1 inputs, and want to use them to hear lossless audio (TrueHD/DTS-MA) from Blu-ray Discs.
-You prefer to do business with a smaller company that has a reputation for responsive and effective customer support.
You are not the target market for this player if:
-You require that your streaming solution (for Netflix, Amazon, YouTube etc.) be part of your Blu-ray player — this player does not stream;
-You own a very large display and need the very best available upconversion of standard DVDs (which would make you a candidate for Oppo’s $499 BDP-83);
-You don’t want to spend more than the minimum for standard Blu-ray audio and video performance, and you have HDMI-enabled equipment.
-You feel you can benefit from the audio performance of very high-end DACs for stereo or multichannel analog audio (which would recommend the BDP-83 or BDP-83SE).
While I’ve only had my BDP-80 for a few days, I’ve become very impressed with the thoroughness and elegance of its design. This is a very well thought-out player, aimed at users who have a reasonable grasp of the technology they’re using.
I should note that I did not spend much time on the file-playback capabilities of this unit. I did play a couple of MPG files I had on a thumb drive (there’s a port on the front of the player) and found a very nice menu and very straightforward operation. There is a long list of supported file formats.
Some of the things that jumped out at me:
-The very well-packed player arrives, inside the box, wrapped not in plastic, but in an Oppo tote bag made from recycled material.
-The manual is clear, well-written in English, and printed with premium materials. (Updated versions can be downloaded as well.)
-A 6′ HDMI cable is included.
-The unit has a very solidly-built feel to it.
-It is silent in operation (no cooling fan) yet does not run hot.
-Tray operation feels and sounds solid, well-damped, and not a bit flimsy. There is no ambiguity about whether the disc is properly centered in the tray.
-Menus are attractive and unambiguous.
-The remote has a number of unusual but useful controls, but is still comfortable and intuitive for basic operations. (Note that it is not backlit; the backlit version costs more and is available direct from Oppo. This is moot if you plan to use a universal remote, as I do.)
-The player is very quick in all modes of operation. It powers up and boots very fast; the tray is ready to open in a few seconds. Blu-ray operations are on a par with the PS3; other types of discs load and play as fast as most regular players.
-In my installation, at least, I connected to my home network, the player immediately configured itself, contacted the mothership, found and downloaded the latest firmware, all in a couple of minutes.
Detailing every feature of the player and remote would basically be to reproduce the owner’s manula which, since it’s available as a pdf on Oppo’s site, you can do for yourself. So I’ll end by saying that the player appears to do everything that Oppo says it will do, and does it quickly and without fuss. The company includes a one-year parts-and-labor warranty, and has an excellent reputation for customer support.
You can pay a lot less for equivalent performance in Blu-ray playback via HDMI, even in players with support for streaming services. If that’s all you need there may be no reason for you to pay more for a player like this. But particularly if you can use a universal player with Blu-ray, this is not just a great performer, but it’s a stone bargain.
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