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Folks here share similar frustrations and I suspect this POV represents a sizable cross-section of Oppo's customer base.

Posted by Audiophilander (A) on February 18, 2009 at 01:26:02

In Reply to: Alas, that's probably where I am too. posted by Harmonia on February 17, 2009 at 17:50:28:

My hope is that Oppo monitors discussions on various A/V boards to get a feel for which way the wind is blowing (since they're primarily a direct sales marketer dependent upon word of mouth endorsements and targeted advertising to make up that which is lost through not having a nationwide dealership network). If so, maybe cooler heads will prevail at the company before they lose substantial business.

Maybe they'll come to see that sacrificing a key function on which the company has built it's reputation in order to appease the powerful BD consortium Oppo is too big of a gamble. That they are chasing an even shakier niche market that is already dominated by manufacturers which have the means to undercut Oppo's product while staying one step ahead.

While nothing is set in stone, this is how I perceive things sorting out (given the fact that up until the controversy surrounding this player I've been a solid Oppo supporter like so many others):

Let's say Oppo offers SACD, DVD-A and a bunch of other bells and whistles on the new BDP-83. How is that competitive? Most of Oppo's existing customer base probably owns one or more Oppo players which perform every conceivable function except BD. Economic belt tightening notwithstanding, the only incentive returning customers would probably have for buying Oppo's new player is if it does everything their earlier players did AND adds Blu-ray.

Any function(s) taken away from earlier players, especially key capabilities such as backwards compatibility with other region DVDs, will probably be seen by Oppo's customer base as a zero sum loss. Essentially, it makes the Oppo BDP-83 less competitive with other manufacturer's players since a) the Oppo BD player probably won't be cheaper than most competitors current hot-ticket models, and b) one would still require an older Oppo player for those standard DVDs from other regions that can't be played on it.

The tragedy: If Oppo's owners had held their ground and resisted the DVD region-locking demands of the BD consortium (in respect to a format they have no interest in preserving) it could've been a win/win for the small company. Instead I've read disingenuous PR from their Beta testers that Oppo is trying to take the high road by following the Consortium's rules after flaunting them for years; that's nice, but it's hogwash. I suspect they've taken the road to Palookaville, and no one would like to see Oppo go under quicker than the BD Consortium.

Maybe it isn't too late (I'm an eternal optimist), but from my armchair critic's perspective the folks at Oppo should reconsider and do a '180' if they want to retain the loyalty of their customer base (even if it ticks off the BD Cartel, errr, ...Consortium).

AuPh

Edits: 02/18/09

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