I find this player to be the most over-rated player on the planet. The drawer sucks. It doesn't open all the way as you have to slide the dvd across the tray possibly scratching it and it has no component outputs but has a s video and also a simple rca video out! What were they thinking! Also when using the HDMI cable and upconverting, it doesn't look any better than my cheap $60 dollar unit in our general viewing room.

I don't recommend this player to anybody.

Also, the ISF tech who calibrated my XBR1 said it's one of the best upconverting DVD players he's seen. Finally, it got good reviews from CNet.

Oh well, can't please everybody. Maybe sell it on eBay or CL.<ul><li><a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/Oppo_DV_981HD/4505-6463_7-32327927.html">CNet Review</a></li></ul>

the lack of component outputs isn't a surprise, it's pretty clear if you look at either the photos or the specs.

As for upconverting on this vs your $60 unit... you can't expect it to be 5x as good. Diminishing returns.

Upconverting (aka, scaling and deinterlacing) depend heavily on what you watch. Many of the deinterlacing artifacts that don't appear on the Oppo are things that many people will never notice until they're pointed out.

garbage in = garbage out.

no offense.

and I agree, Oppo has scored the highest consistently in all the DVD reproduction tests I've ever seen.

The point of this machine is to provide the highest level of performance (video in particular) for the money. The only trouble is, it's still a 480i/p playing device, so the differences between a regular DVD player and this aren't anywhere near as great as those found between a regular DVD player and an HD source.
I guess it depends on what you're playing it on and what your comparing it with. Anyone expecting 1080p image quality is likely to be quite disappointed, as with any other player playing discs which weren't recorded in HD in the first place.

Yes the drawer doesn't open all the way but the audio is AWESOME. And I've had no problems with it...