Jump to content

Oppo-103 review


ivanhurd

Recommended Posts

I've had the 103 for a few weeks now and ran it through a couple paces, so here is my review so far:

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this brand, and I wasn't sure if I should believe it, but after it being my birthday and wanting a new bluray player with SACD/DVD-Audio capabilities I did my research and actually thought of getting a Denon because I thought it had denonlink. After my wife got the denon for me for my birthday I did some more research and found that denonlink only comes in the upper end model and I got the Denon that ended up being the same price as the oppo with way less options. I would have been satisfied with the denon (not really), but I wasn't able to get it to connect to netflix. After calling Denon's help line and getting absolutely no help (not necessarily fault to Denon, the guy I spoke with had never heard of this problem before as far as being able to connect with every other network option, but not Netflix), I ended up sending it back and ordered an Oppo. I have too say I'm extremely happy I did it. There was a post in another thread that someone said that if after you buy something you are still looking at other options, then you really aren't happy with what you have. I felt this way about the Denon (I expected my wife to get me a second sub for my bday =^P) the second I got it because I had read about the 103 and saw that it's options far outweighed the 3313 that I had. I would have kept the 3313 and never known better, but it had the Netflix issue and I'm actually quite relieved because it gave me a reason to send it on it's way and try the Oppo out. Now with all this said, here is my review of the 103:

Ever since I hooked it up I have been extremely satisfied. When I put my first bluray in, I thought it looked sharper than I was used to (PS3) which I honestly didn't notice with the Denon. I said this to my wife, and she laughed at me a little. I didn't want to be the guy that just said it looked better because I just got this new piece of equipment and was being hopeful. After I said it, and after she laughed at me, she ended up taking a look and agreeing. Every time I put in a bluray, I still say the same thing. Without even touching the video settings, my TV looks sharper than it did before. One of these days I'm even going to dive into the settings more and make some adjustments and I'm sure it'll even be better. As far as audio goes, I can't really differentiate between the Oppo and the Denon, but I love the fact that I can put any disc in there and it'll play. I didn't have this option in the PS3. Also so far it has played all of the video files that I have on my hard drive connected to the network. I'm sure there are file types out there that it won't play, but there has not been once that I pushed play that it didn't load and play it back. Another cool thing about it is that it will automatically scale the video files up to fit your screen. In the past (PS3) I'd have to change the aspect on my TV for it to fit, the Oppo just does it. To make some more comparisons with the PS3, I'm 100% satisfied with the jump. It loads faster, and also shuts down faster which makes it way more convenient with my Logitech remote. The only thing it doesn't have which I wish it did was access to amazon prime (supposedly more streaming options coming out in the future, not sure what). It has Netflix and Vudu, which works out fine and dandy for me because I still have an Xbox hooked up for amazon. If you are on the fence of getting a dedicated bluray instead of a PS3, the simple fact of loading/shutting down quickly should put you over the edge. In this land of impatience, the Oppo satisfies me. Now, I'm sure there may be other options out there as far as 'upscale' blurays, but pound for pound, value for specs/options, there is nothing out there that can truly compete *right now*.

The machine itself is solid and nice enough to look at. It takes up the same, if not less space than the PS3 and has a shorter form factor than the Denon. The remote is seriously the nicest remote that I have ever held in my hand. In this day and age of giving you cheaper made products for more money, Oppo really comes in the game with quality from every aspect. The shipping packaging was even nice! Nothing about the Oppo screams cheap whatsoever. The remote is heavy in the hands, making it evident that no corners were cut. There are fanboys out there for different brands, but after getting my hands on this, at this point I don't see any reason to look anywhere else for a quality bluray player that will play anything you throw at it. If you are thinking about it, think no more. Buy one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ivan,

Glad you are really enjoying your 103. Oppo makes a great player, feature packed, musical, great video, and PS3-like load speeds. I have the BDP-83 and am just as pleased with it but use it only for BD's and DVD's since I moved my flagship 26.5 pound Integra DPS-10.5 universal player to my main system. I have seriously considered getting my hands on one of the many BDP-95's that are flooding the used market(seen them fo $650.00) since the BDP-105 has been released. The 103 and 105 must have that little extra something special for so many to list their 93's and 95's to get one of these.

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It loads way faster than the PS3. The convenience factor has gone up in multiples. That'd be a pretty sweet price to pick a 95 up for. I don't really see myself taking full advantage of what the 105 has to offer over the 103, so I don't see myself looking to upgrade it at all. As far as a little something extra special, I'd say there are some more 'future proofing' than the last players. What is included in this player kind of makes up for the current technical shortcomings of my 4311.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the review and I agree that it’s a really nice

player. Like you said you can’t find anything cheap on this from the remote all

the way to the packaging it came in is all top notch.

I urge you to try the video stuff. Here is what I set mine

at atm. (go to set up, then to video set up, then to picture adjustments, and

then the hdmi you use for video( hdmi1 for me)).

Brightness 0

Contrast +4

Hue 0

Saturation +4 (might be too much on small screen but on my

125” it’s awesome)

Sharpness +2

Noise reduction 0

Color enhancement +1 and +3 depends on movie (1 seems pretty

good for most so far)

Contrast enhancement (blacks) +1 and +3 (I run +3 mostly but

same thing as above)

This is awesome imo and makes the image pop really well with

no signs of unwanted noise. You can move it from one mode to another (one with

all zeros and back to your changes to see the a/b). With everything else so

good on the oppo103 when you add the better picture it’s a slam dunk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I'm planning on getting a projector in the next few months and since I'm making a pretty substantial video upgrade, I might as well go all out. One thing that interests me about the Oppo is the HDMI inputs and the fact that you can run any video source through the Oppo's processing. This might be a silly question, but being that I've never owned a blu ray player with inputs, I'm curious. Could you in theory connect all of your HDMI inputs (including one out of the oppo) to the receiver and then connect the output to the Oppo's input so that everything takes advantage of the video processing? Oppo/Apple TV/PS3/Cable box -> receiver -> Oppo. Does that make sense? Am I crazy?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes you can but I wouldn't do it that way unless you have a 2nd output on your avr that your not using. Just run it to the oppo and then to the avr with one of the two inputs. I messed with hooking stuff up to the oppo and if you run say a ps3 though the oppo you can get the two to look pretty close (kinda pointless but just to see). I also had my cable and xbox on it for some time and both look better than with out with the video enhancements offered in the oppo. But at the end of the day I don't want the oppo on all the time (ware and tare) so I put that on hold for now. I might go back to it though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...