I received the following email from OPPO today as a subscriber to their newsletter. Many of you may have received the same letter, but I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the official "release".

We have not yet reviewed this unit, but we will. A quick search of our site for OPPO will show that they have a good track record of churning out excellent products. And there's no reason to believe their Blu-ray effort would be any different.

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My Oppo BDP-83 is excellent on all counts. It decodes all audio and video format I have, including SACD and DVD-A, as well as the advanced audio formats with Blu Ray video. Audio and video quality are outstanding. At last!!!

I second rgoltra's comments. I've had my BDP-83 for about a month now and it is performing well on all counts. Finally, a Blu-ray player that seems to load about as fast as a standard DVD player! I've "retired" my Sony PS3 from the HT to another room as it no longer is the Blu-ray king in my home. (Plus I get rid of that Bluetooth only On/Off system on the PS3 - which makes my universal remote happy.) A single HDMI cable connection (just like the PS3), and all the other features mentioned gives me everything that I need in a player.

I just received and installed my second BDP-83. Just to start when you open the box of an Oppo product, especially this one, it is a sight to behold. Like a good meal, Oppo has decided the presentation is an important part of the ownership experience.

You open the box - a well made self locking one - and peel off the 'brag' sheet (and dust cover?), and you see a solidly built black box with a silver logo. That's just the accessories box. You can't see the player, it is wrapped in the classic Oppo 'bag'. A synthetic cloth bag, with logo of course, fitted to the player, that gives you not only reuseability but handles to carry it. The padding in the case is cut and assembled foam - not easily breakable polystyrene. It includes a center support piece. The power cable is heavy, HDMI included. Overall Oppo just delivers a class act.

An example of support and customer service, I selected 2 day shipping. They reviewed the order, and credited my account and emailed me a note saying that they were so close, ground would be as fast. Virtually any Oppo customer who has had any interchange with the company will sing their praises.

Finally the player. I am not a reviewer, I just got new Kuro panels along with my players, and nothing is yet calibrated. And quite frankly there is a ton of commentary on the web about the qualities and initial release sw glitches. But in my first setup impressions and watching of both BR and SD discs.....this is just a great player. As I support my own family, two cousins, my mother, friends etc. I think I have gone through about half the HD-DVD and BR players on the market. The Oppo is as good or better than any player I have owned. SD conversion is literally hard to tell from BR (with good source). Operation is fast, the menus easy to work with - a very good manual that is already updated online. I have not had any issues at all, and audio and video are just excellent.

I am now going to start really running the player throught it's paces. I am assuming none of my impressions will change (but I am not married to this thing!).

Oh, as for the subject line, just a little pointer at Denon's $4,800 similar player.

Yes, as a fan of Denon products I was about to seriously consider their new "premium" player. The Oppo BDP-83 has provided me with the "OPPO"-tunity to literally save thou$and$ of dollars! Kudos for that.

It's that good at about 1/10th the cost. The "premium" price of the Denon doesn't really offer me enough advantages to even consider it in real world economics (and this coming from an owner of the outstanding Denon AVP-A1 pre-pro!).