Hi I just got a 1080i LCD and not willing to go blu-ray/ hd-dvd yet.

I was wondering if an upscaling dvd player is recommended?

Also, which ones do you recommend?
I've heard of OPPO, but it's too hard for me to get, so any other name brands?

No you didn't. LCD doesn't do "i".

Yes, upscaling is recommended if your TV doesn't do good upscaling.

What is recommended is the actual upscaler, HQV is the best. Faroudja isn't bad. Oppos have Faroudja. Denons will have either, depending on how much you want to pay. I would always recommend Denon.

I know you said it was hard to get the oppo, but i just got one about a month ago and it has been great. I have owned many players and it is easily the best i have had.

Oppos have been recommended in numerous threads in this forum. I have the 970HD w/o the Faroudja, but I have a DLP.

What do you mean too hard to get? You don't want to wait for it to arrive? Because there service is excellent and mine came right away, I think 3-4 days.

that's what I have and use. it's great stuff. I use a 50 1080i panasonic plasma

I live in Canada, after customs, border wait, shipping it's too ridiculous for me.

You can buy it from here which sells oppo in canada.
http://www.onlybestrated.com/

Havent used them but they are a canadian seller.

I know you said you don't want HD yet, but in the US an HD DVD player (which upscales DVDs very nicely) has been spotted for as low as $200. I don't know about the situation in Canada, but if it doesn't cost a lot more, I wouldn't bother with an upscaling player unless I was getting a cheap one to tide me over (sub-$100 US). I just couldn't see myself spending around $150 for an upscaling player when I could play actual HD discs for not much more.

Now, there may be other concerns like region-free capability or playback of certain types of media like Divx that the HD DVD player can't do, so if you need that it's a different story. However, even if you don't plan on buying any HD DVDs, it would be worth it just to be able to rent them IMHO.

Are those decent prices for an OPPO?

i believe it is about i paid directly through Oppo.

I'm confused. What do you mean LCD doesn't do "i"? I bought a 32" Symphonic LCD TV that will do 720p and 1080i. It won't do 1080p, and it's not plasma.

It will accept 1080i and convert it, it will not display it. A TV can only display one resolution, look for "native" in the specs. Yours is likely either 720p or 768p, that is all it can really show you.