Don't know about other people, but I will always strive to have an Oppo on hand. Why?
I've had many DVD, BR players over the years, mid to bargain (Sony, Denon, Hitachi, Panasonic, etc.
Are there better Universal players for the price and DAC wise? Possibly.
I'll tell you one thing though. Being an early DVD adopter, over the years, I have amassed a large number of computer-burned DVD's using differing software and differing manufacturers (DVD-r (+,-), DVD-RDL (+,-), even have a bunch of VCD's still in my collection. As the computer savvy of us know, commercial players are a bit finicky when it comes to type of recordable DVD's & Manufacturers.
The Oppo is the ONLY machine I've had that will read ALL of them, plus still retain the ability the access the discs via time. A feature, I must add, that is lacking in many bargain players. IMHO, this makes an Oppo machine worth the money.
I'd be curious to hear if other owners w/ other Universal player brands have the same ability, namely:
1)play any disc (CD, CD-R, DVD, DVDR (both +,-, of ANY brand), DVDR-DL (again of any type and any brand), VCD, DVD-A, SACD, BR.
2)The up-sampling of standard-rez DVD's on a 8 foot high image from my 1080p HD projector (Optoma) from my Oppo blows away all of my other BR disc players.
3)The feature-rich options of the Oppo (go to time index, ability to Zoom the image, ability to shift sub-titles, ability to skip the promos on standard DVD, etc.)
4)Pre-outs for all channels.
I've had many DVD, BR players over the years, mid to bargain (Sony, Denon, Hitachi, Panasonic, etc.
Are there better Universal players for the price and DAC wise? Possibly.
I'll tell you one thing though. Being an early DVD adopter, over the years, I have amassed a large number of computer-burned DVD's using differing software and differing manufacturers (DVD-r (+,-), DVD-RDL (+,-), even have a bunch of VCD's still in my collection. As the computer savvy of us know, commercial players are a bit finicky when it comes to type of recordable DVD's & Manufacturers.
The Oppo is the ONLY machine I've had that will read ALL of them, plus still retain the ability the access the discs via time. A feature, I must add, that is lacking in many bargain players. IMHO, this makes an Oppo machine worth the money.
I'd be curious to hear if other owners w/ other Universal player brands have the same ability, namely:
1)play any disc (CD, CD-R, DVD, DVDR (both +,-, of ANY brand), DVDR-DL (again of any type and any brand), VCD, DVD-A, SACD, BR.
2)The up-sampling of standard-rez DVD's on a 8 foot high image from my 1080p HD projector (Optoma) from my Oppo blows away all of my other BR disc players.
3)The feature-rich options of the Oppo (go to time index, ability to Zoom the image, ability to shift sub-titles, ability to skip the promos on standard DVD, etc.)
4)Pre-outs for all channels.