Home > Consumer Reviews > Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD

This DVD plaayer just up and died on me after like 12 months of extremely light usage....we probably watched like 10 movies total on it. total joke.

Think twice before buying from Oppo. Below is a review on a prior-model Upconverting DVD player:

I purchased this DV-970HD unit about 2 years ago and in addition - two other units afterwards (2 are newer models). The other 2 units are working (1 I own and the other I gave as a present). For the 970HD, I have used it <10 times as it is not conected to my primary AV system (in the bedroom). However, this past weekend it quit operating and won't read any disks. It just says "no disk" with any disk I put into it.

I called customer care regarding trying a firmware upgrade or any type of resets that might help and was told by their rep "Mason" (he later told me that he is their Technical Service Manager) that there is nothing I can do as it won't read disks (no ability to perform a firmware grade because the disk cannot read it). He then told me that I would need to ship it to him at my expense and then pay $37 for repairs. I expained to him that I have only used this item <10 times and he said that "they don't know that - that this is just my word" (thus, he is saying that he doesn't trust or believe me). I then say I have purchased 2 other units from them and offered to send him proof of these purchases (thus giving him an opportunity to gain trust in what I say) and I also told him that I recommended his company to many others likely giving them more business. I asked, as being a very good customer to Oppo, if he would consider covering all/part of the repair charges. He came back with the same reply - that they have standards to maintain - the 1 year warranty and that there is nothing he can do. I asked him again if he would reconsider and he said no.

I then said that he has left me no choice but to never purchase another Oppo product again, not recommend their product to anyone again and then possibly go onto Amazon.com and give a poor review. He said "there is no chance now that I would grant your request because of a threat". Puzzled, I asked him if there still was a chance that he would have granted my request??? He then said that "if you would have continued to have a positive discussion with him on my situation that he might have..." (i.e.- kiss his a**). I then said that I am not talking to you here to play games and that he & his company had an opportunity to satisfy/delight a customer or give customer dissatisfaction, and that you made the decision earlier that you wouldn't help me. I then told him that I will only purchase products from companies that make more reliable products (Sony, Denon, etc...) and would write up this review on Amazon. The final straw for me is what he said in reply to my "threat" (it wasn't a threat, it was a promise), that if I would have played along and begged him he might have given in (when clearly he made up his mind beforehand, or they company did it for him with their policies and $s they put to customer care). I am mostly disappointed because I liked Oppo and wanted the company to succeed, (more small companies producing good products pushes all companies who make like products to produce better products) but this call from "Mason" completely changed my mind about them.

I think Oppo makes DVD players with good features & performance - WHEN THEY WORK - but question their reliability to the point of not trusting their quality. My experience having 1 out of 3 fail is quite poor - especially the one that was rarely used. By comparison, I have probably purchased over 25 consumer electronic items from Sony, Denon, Panasonic, etc... over the years and have NEVER had one of those products fail.

Bottom line: You get what you pay for. You can save a little upfront with Oppo, but in the end I think you will likely pay more and have greater hassel with repairs and poor customer service (like a rep who plays the "victim" to a perceived threat, but holds an imaginary carrot out there that he will help you if you play his game).

For anyone who doesn't want to upgrade to Blu-Ray this is an excellent solution. I've been using it for 2 years now and I am very happy with the quality of the video and sound.

It's been about a month since I purchased the Oppo DV-981 HD Universal DVD Player and quite honestly I am impressed so far. It delivers everything it promises with regard to purchased DVD's. There is a real and noticeable difference. One problem is that it boasts of being a DIVX certified player, while this is true it only supports DIVX 6 and no later versions...so if you try and burn a copy from your hard drive using DIVX 7 the DVD player won't recognize the format. Also if you come this far, go to the model that has the USB 2.0 port, you will create a need for it in the near future. A great product and I give it two thumbs up while recommending it to my friends.

Recently paired this dvd player with a Philips eco-TV, and so far, I'm thrilled with this upgrade to our tv viewing experience.

With a simple workaround available on the Internet, the Oppo has expanded our DVD viewing to films made for other regions. The Internet audio-videophile community rated this model very highly, and since quality and value are very important to me, I went for it, and have not been disappointed yet.

Only one quibble: as others have noted, the player tends to "forget" where it left off if you stop the play. I haven't quite mastered this function yet, but for me, this problem, while annoying, is not a fatal flaw, and all the positive aspects far outweigh it.