Sonic

The other day I was reading a thread about this beta release and some users were having issues playing certain discs.

Could be because it's beta and not fully completed.

Next time I upgrade my firmware I'm going to do it USB style because I'm afraid if my wifi connection drops I brick my player. Even though last time I upgrade wifi it was pretty quick.

melasnus

Huh...that's strange.
Oppo's Betas have always been very dependable in the past.
Usually they are so stable the Official firmware releases are simply unchanged Betas.

Paul_SD

The place I got my code free Oppos from, JVB Digital, has more stock of the 205 and 203 in- priced at $2300 and $1000, respectively.

I almost feel like I got a bargain now.

alexkevin

And I don't have a 203 fuck haha

by the way i come to this forum comment and vanish, nobody replies me nobody become my friend its awful

Sonic

Hello there new friend commentator! What country are you from? I detect an accent in some of your posts.

PerryD

I just got an invitation to purchase a 205. I was holding off getting an Oppo to pair with a new 4K projector this fall, but perhaps now is the time with the limited availability.

Paul_SD

A 205 especially should hold most of it's value in a way few other components would. Even if the audiophile features are not something you end up making use of, there will be someone out there who would appreciate them, who missed out on the units initially.

If you decided to resell it in six months or a year, I doubt you would lose much if anything vs what you'll pay for it now. You might even make a slight profit.

BTW, the prices I quoted at JVB a few days ago just went up again. $2300 for the 205 and $1100 for the 203.

Oppo is selling the 205 direct, via invitation, for a little over $1300 with shipping.

Also- unless they go back into production again (doubtful), the 203's are history. All sold out with no more on the way.

Sonic

Main firmware version released today for 203 & 205

https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-...-Firmware.aspx

melasnus

Thanks for that!

Alan Smithee

My player shows that the update is available but then says it can't download it. Will have to try the USB method, but wonder what's going on. Wonder if they fixed the problems I wrote them about- squeezed VCDs and no manual setting to tell it you have a multistandard TV (Auto doesn't work, my TV tells it it doesn't support 50hz when it does!)

Alan Smithee

Something is up with this- I tried using the USB and got the message "File is incorrect or corrupted". Did the disc image download on a CD-R, it first recognized it and said "Installing" but then gave the same error message after a few minutes.

Alan Smithee

Found out on another forum that you have to unplug the player for a few seconds if that happens; did so and got it to work- but none of the problems I've been reporting are fixed

Sonic

It's safer to use USB than Wi-Fi. Ever since I read that if the connection drops you brick the player. Fuck that. That's not to say USB is 100% entirely safe but it's more secured if you ask me.

PerryD

I'm not familiar with how Oppo does it, but I would assume that it downloads the patch, verifies it, then installs it.

The only way hopefully that you could brick a player would be to remove power during the final installation.

zyzzle

Yes, the scalpers are having a heyday, and very soon now, prices will reach $10,000!

A fool and his money are easily parted.

melasnus

FWIW, I installed the new firmware over the internet without a hitch.

Alan Smithee

Found another flaw with this player- for some reason, it simply ignores any numbers entered with the remote on DVD menu screens- this makes it impossible to access the hidden section of the Independence Day DVD! I just sent them a message about this, hoping they can fix it at least in a later update.

Someone should figure out how to make custom firmware for these players, especially if Oppo stops doing updates. I have an older Pioneer player that I still keep hooked up because it has a hacked firmware which among other things ignores ALL control lock-outs programmed into discs- that means you can skip unskippable FBI warnings and such, and change audio tracks without going back to the menu even if they've locked that function out. I could get rid of that player if the Oppo could do that.

Sonic

I have ID4 on DVD but I don't remember the easter egg thing. I have to check it out for myself on the 203.

Alan Smithee

Can't hit 8-9-9-7 on the Terminator 2 Ultimate Edition menu either- though you can still get to the 'hidden' version of the movie by entering Title 3 since the disc didn't disable that control. Oppo told me to send them copies and they'll check it out- the BDP-93 does not have this problem.

For Independence Day, on the 2nd disc go to the menu with the computer and hit Right til the small light on the computer turns red. Hit Enter and it'll give you a cryptic message while the ship in the background starts moving. Go back to the main menu and you're supposed to enter the number 74- which would be just 7 and 4 on an Oppo player, but if you have a player with a "+10" button on the remote you'll instead have to hit that 7 times to indicate "70" and then hit 4. It'll then go to the hidden menu with some cool stuff, like being able to see the actual videos of the fake newscasts done for the movie. Title select is locked out on that disc, so the only way to get to that on the 203 right now is to put it on "Repeat All" then skip through every chapter until you get to it, which is rather tedious.

SterlingBen

This is just on DVDs, right? Or are you taking about UMDs/BRs?

Sonic

He's talking about the ID4 5 star DVD two disc set.

@Alan Smithee

I tried it on my Oppo 203 and I gave up in frustration. It's too tedious work. Do they still do Easter Eggs on movie discs? Personally I think it's annoying and everything should be laid out in the bonus options instead of hunting down features like it's a video game. Much of the blame goes to Fox for laying it out that way.

Sonic

Updating the firmware took mere seconds. Less than a minute to be exact. I imagine most if not all are Dolby Vision features.

Alan Smithee

That's because it WON'T work on that player the way it is now, since it won't properly respond to any numbers entered during menu screens. Hopefully they'll fix that. I'm a bit surprised at myself for not noticing this problem sooner.

I haven't really seen anything creatively hidden on a Blu-Ray disc, of course I don't buy new movies on regular DVD anymore.

Sonic

Well don't I feel dumb.

Viper187

So whats the best alternative to a 203 for those of us only concerned with watching actual movie discs (PQ and player durability)? Panasonic UB820?