Oppo BDP-831?

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PJPro

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Clare Newsome

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Ravey Gravey Davy:
No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

And indeed i've seen some manufacturers who receive a four-star rating (remember, that's "Very Good" as our Buyer's Guide summarises it each month) use the WHF Four-star logo on their marketing material/product packaging - just as many movies/music releases will have quotes/four-star ratings from Empire, Uncut etc.

It's also worth noting that four-star products have won Awards - this year, for example, Panasonic's Blu-ray recorder won a Best Buy Award even though (on a performance per pound basis) it's a four-star product.
 
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Anonymous

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Ravey Gravey Davy:No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

Why would anyone consider a 3 star product over a 5 star product of around the same price?? If i have 500 quid to spend on something i would go for the product with full 5 stars as that is associated with the best for that price range..id be mad to even consider buying a 3 star product as it is deemed by the experts to be just average...

The only time i would really compare is when there are two or even three 5 star products in that price range to choose from..why would anyone consider the lower rated products?? lol
 

hammill

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Ginder:Ravey Gravey Davy:No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

Why would anyone consider a 3 star product over a 5 star product of around the same price?? If i have 500 quid to spend on something i would go for the product with full 5 stars as that is associated with the best for that price range..id be mad to even consider buying a 3 star product as it is deemed by the experts to be just average...

The only time i would really compare is when there are two or even three 5 star products in that price range to choose from..why would anyone consider the lower rated products?? lol
I would have thought the Oppo was a case in point where you could easily want the 4* product because it does things the Sony cant. If you want SACD/DVD-A/HDCD support and the fastest loader you can get, buy the Oppo. If you want a cheaper player with a bit better picture and particularly if you have an amp without the latest decoders, then buy the Sony. I am sure in many cases, the average punter would not be able to tell the difference between the 4* and 5* products anyway.
 

Ravey Gravey Davy

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Ginder:Ravey Gravey Davy:No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

Why would anyone consider a 3 star product over a 5 star product of around the same price??

As I said ,subject to circumstances,of which there are probably a multitude. I don't tend to get stars in my eyes unless I've done 30 seconds in a ring with Ricky Hatton( 30 being generous if I can run for that long)
 
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Anonymous

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Ravey Gravey Davy:Ginder:Ravey Gravey Davy:No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

Why would anyone consider a 3 star product over a 5 star product of around the same price??

As I said ,subject to circumstances,of which there are probably a multitude. I don't tend to get stars in my eyes unless I've done 30 seconds in a ring with Ricky Hatton( 30 being generous if I can run for that long)

Im not on about stars as such, what im trying to get at is that the reviews are there to serve a purpose, to guide you towards something you will be happy purchasing..therefore the 5 star product that has been reviewed will generally mean the pq and sq are excellent, i dont think iv seen a review where the pq or sq of a 3 star product was as good as the 5 star product..

Like i said before for example if i was to choose from three 42 inch tvs of the same price where two of them got had 5 stars and the third had 3 stars..why would i even consider the 3 star product? Surely it recieved the fewer stars as it lacked something somewhere?? Circumstances rarely warrant purchasing an inferior product..

Now i havent seen either the Oppo or the Sony 760 but surely where the Oppo lacks 1 star in pq and sq it makes that star up by adding in the vast amount formats it is able to display..especially divx which honestly should be a must in any player in this day and age..i shouldnt need to plug my laptop or old divx compatible dvd player into my tv just to watch those home videos etc..

Now what seems to be confusing is that as a blu ray player from what i have read about the oppo is that it is a very very good blu ray player..maybe not as good as the 760 but still very good..so therefore it gets 4 stars. What i ask next is.. is it less of a performer than the Sony Playstation 3? Well now that has 5 stars and although it states that pq suffers from loss in "clarity, low-light detail and stability." but makes it up with "the breath of the new console's abilities" surely the Oppo should too as it seems also have many more abilities than the 760 and of course as "a dedicated Blu-ray player is lousy as a games console" therefore still giving the PS3 5 stars, im sure the 760 is as lousy when it comes to playing the different formats that the Oppo can..

If you read the PS3 Slim review and the Oppo review you can clearly see the inconsistencies between the award system..the Oppo jus failing on PQ and SQ marginally but still meaning a loss of 20% in its rating whereas the same issue of pq and sq is not held as a disadvantage for the PS3...

As for Ricky Hatton...if you move anythin like the Pac Man you might even show Ricky 5 star product of the year award??
 

Clare Newsome

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The PS3 has a massive set of forward-thinking features (not to mention its gaming capabilities); what do you think is likely to prove more popular with more people - support for streaming media, wi-fi connectivity, hard-drive storage and BBC iPlayer etc, or SACD and DVD-Audio support?

The weighting we give to features within reviews has to take into account their relevance.
 
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Anonymous

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Clare Newsome:

The PS3 has a massive set of forward-thinking features (not to mention its gaming capabilities); what do you think is likely to prove more popular with more people - support for streaming media, wi-fi connectivity, hard-drive storage and BBC iPlayer etc, or SACD and DVD-Audio support?

The weighting we give to features within reviews has to take into account their relevance.

Im sure we all know what i think of the PS3's gaming capabilities!
emotion-4.gif
hehe

Anyway if the case is that more people want streaming media, wi fi, hard drives, internet browsing etc etc then maybe forward thinking should mean we invest in powerful multi media pc's with built in blu ray drives as those wold provide everything under the sun???

However we are not comparing the PS3 to the Oppo, the comparison here is between the 760 and the Oppo and clearly from the info given in your review the Oppo makes up for its slight deficiencies by adding in abilities that you only really find in "four-figure price-tag" products..

Anyway iv not seen either in operation, i just read your reviews and therefore point out those inconsistencies in reviews.

Just one more question..as the oppo sends info of the disc to the display without onboard processing in its source direct mode then any noise etc is present on the disc and if the 760 is cleaning that up then surely you are removing something the director has intentionally left on the disc??
 

PJPro

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Clare Newsome:....Panasonic's Blu-ray recorder won a Best Buy Award even though (on a performance per pound basis) it's a four-star product.

Bizarre. 4 stars tells me that the mag thinks it isn't delivering as much performance per pound (or value) as it could.
 

Andrew Everard

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Indeed, the performance-per-pound isn't perfect, but at the moment the Panasonic is a unique product (at least in the UK market). And if it were cheaper, it'd be looking at five stars.
 

Andrew Everard

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Ginder:then surely you are removing something the director has intentionally left on the disc??

That's assuming the director has any input whatsoever into the mastering and replication of the disc
 

Cofnchtr

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Ginder:Ravey Gravey Davy:No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

Why would anyone consider a 3 star product over a 5 star product of around the same price?? If i have 500 quid to spend on something i would go for the product with full 5 stars as that is associated with the best for that price range..id be mad to even consider buying a 3 star product as it is deemed by the experts to be just average...

The only time i would really compare is when there are two or even three 5 star products in that price range to choose from..why would anyone consider the lower rated products?? lol

Hi,

Reasons why someone would buy a 3 or 4 star product over a 5 star product: personal choice, her who should be obeyed, previous bad experience with a particular brand, it may not fit on a rack/table/space, design and integration with current equipment.

Just coz an item has 5 stars, don't mean it'll fit with other 5 star products.

Cheers,

Cofnchtr.
 

Ravey Gravey Davy

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Cofnchtr:Ginder:Ravey Gravey Davy:No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

Why would anyone consider a 3 star product over a 5 star product of around the same price?? If i have 500 quid to spend on something i would go for the product with full 5 stars as that is associated with the best for that price range..id be mad to even consider buying a 3 star product as it is deemed by the experts to be just average...

The only time i would really compare is when there are two or even three 5 star products in that price range to choose from..why would anyone consider the lower rated products?? lol

Hi, Reasons why someone would buy a 3 or 4 star product over a 5 star product: personal choice, her who should be obeyed, previous bad experience with a particular brand, it may not fit on a rack/table/space, design and integration with current equipment. Just coz an item has 5 stars, don't mean it'll fit with other 5 star products. Cheers, Cofnchtr.

Thank you Coffin Cheater- It is all down to personal taste-and fortunately everybody has different taste/requirements
 
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Anonymous

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WOW what a thread !!!

I don't really get what the big issue is in regards to the whf rating of a product. Sure I'm an avid reader of whf & other forums, but i'd never let them influence my final purchase of a piece of equipment.

Do people seriously spend this kind of money without auditioning the equipment first? (I know the Oppo is an online order product only, but I know of a couple of very good hifi shops that have them in audition rooms to compare (even though they don't sell them!))

My point being we all have different requirements from a product, we all see & hear things differently, we all live in different houses, with different room dimensions, furnishings etc.... Has nobody auditioned a piece of equipment in the demo room, got it home plugged it in and been VERY disappointed? Or maybe auditioned a piece of equipment that ticked all your boxes, sounded fantastic, integrated with the rest of your setup....... but damn it's only a 4* & so discounted it from the shortlist? - I'd hope not

Personally from what I saw / heard of the Oppo it's as good a bluray player & dvd upscaler as I've seen, the 2 channel output is OK - I've heard better. However for me is right at the top of my shortlist because of the universal format support (stupidly sold my very nice Sony SACD sometime ago.... and I miss it)

Cheers

Hank
 

John Duncan

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H@nk:Personally from what I saw / heard of the Oppo it's as good a bluray player & dvd upscaler as I've seen, the 2 channel output is OK - I've heard better. However for me is right at the top of my shortlist because of the universal format support (stupidly sold my very nice Sony SACD sometime ago.... and I miss it)

QED. Can we wrap this one up now?
 

Ravey Gravey Davy

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JohnDuncan:H@nk:Personally from what I saw / heard of the Oppo it's as good a bluray player & dvd upscaler as I've seen, the 2 channel output is OK - I've heard better. However for me is right at the top of my shortlist because of the universal format support (stupidly sold my very nice Sony SACD sometime ago.... and I miss it) QED. Can we wrap this one up now?

.But you know it will only start up again on another thread.
 
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Anonymous

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Cofnchtr:Ginder:Ravey Gravey Davy:No ,but my impression is if something has 4 stars or even 3 ,it is still worth buying,if your own circumstances dictate.I do not think the mag readers simply go for the highest star.

Why would anyone consider a 3 star product over a 5 star product of around the same price?? If i have 500 quid to spend on something i would go for the product with full 5 stars as that is associated with the best for that price range..id be mad to even consider buying a 3 star product as it is deemed by the experts to be just average...

The only time i would really compare is when there are two or even three 5 star products in that price range to choose from..why would anyone consider the lower rated products?? lol

Hi, Reasons why someone would buy a 3 or 4 star product over a 5 star product: personal choice, her who should be obeyed, previous bad experience with a particular brand, it may not fit on a rack/table/space, design and integration with current equipment. Just coz an item has 5 stars, don't mean it'll fit with other 5 star products. Cheers, Cofnchtr.

Personal choice does not dictate buying inferior products, her who has to be obeyed will not discourage from buying the better product aslong as it doesnt cost much more than the 3 star product (after all she too will watch and listen to what we are watching and listening to), if it doesnt fit into the rack then either a) there is more than one 5 star product for that price or b) buy a new rack..i cant think of anyone that i know of who would buy the inferior product just so it fits on their current rack or table lol..design and intergration? most av products are black or silver so you cant really go wrong there now can you?

If you look at alot of 5 star products in the reviews section they are infact paired up with other 5star products, so im guessing WHF take that stance too. Case in point being Sony BDP S760 "Now Add These:

Speaker Packages

Monitor Audio Silver RX6 AV12 £2200 * * * * *

Home Cinema Amplifiers

Denon AVR-2310 £800 * * * * *

TVs

Samsung UE46B8000 £1900 * * * * *

Surprise Surprise..none of those items are 3 star products.
 
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Anonymous

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and you might think it looks and sound rubbish

whf ratings and reviews are the opinion of one magazine nothing else there a guide if you look at other magazines youll see different products just as highly rated

you could also listen watch and make up your own mind as whf always reccommends
 

Cofnchtr

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Ginder:
Personal choice does not dictate buying inferior products

If there's a choice of a 5 star LG tv or a 4 star Panasonic, my personal choice would be the Panasonic. I don't rate LG whether or not this magazine's review team recommend it.

Ginder:
her who has to be obeyed will not discourage from buying the better product aslong as it doesnt cost much more than the 3 star product (after all she too will watch and listen to what we are watching and listening to),

Differences could be minute. It will not always be obvious to everyone's eyes or ears why the fifth star has been awarded. Try justifying the (possible) extra outlay to the OH when she cannot see or hear a difference...

Ginder:
if it doesnt fit into the rack then either a) there is more than one 5 star product for that price or b) buy a new rack..i cant think of anyone that i know of who would buy the inferior product just so it fits on their current rack or table lol..

To some, this may push the budget too far - the new rack/table would be an additional cost which they may not be able to afford. If I want a 37" screen and the 5* product is an inch too big for the available space I have, I can't get it. The compromise would be an alternate piece of equipment if this meant a 4* star TV then fair enough. Life is full of compromises.

Ginder:
design and intergration? most av products are black or silver so you cant really go wrong there now can you?

And how many people on here did not buy an Onkyo amp because they were ugly?? Colour is only a part of design/integration. Some people like 'one make' systems. They will buy a Sony amp to go with the Sony TV which matches the Sony BD player.

Perhaps you are of the mindset to buy 5* star products because the mag recommends them - fine. Not everyone is. Some people like to make up their own minds.

Do you change your equipment because it later loses a star when the next generation 5* product comes along and becomes 'top dog' or do you keep it despite a drop to 4 stars?

Cheers,

Cofnchtr.
 
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Anonymous

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Cofnchtr - I totally agree, that was the point I was making - In fact the only reason I'd drop the Oppo a star would be because cosmetically I don't find it the most attractive piece of equipment
emotion-5.gif
- Reminds me to much of an old cyberhome dvd player we had @work

Ginder - Personal choice should dictate all purchases - only you can decide if they are inferior !

Cheers

Hank
 
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Anonymous

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Cofnchtr:Ginder:

Personal choice does not dictate buying inferior products
If there's a choice of a 5 star LG tv or a 4 star Panasonic, my personal choice would be the Panasonic. I don't rate LG whether or not this magazine's review team recommend it. Ginder:

her who has to be obeyed will not discourage from buying the better product aslong as it doesnt cost much more than the 3 star product (after all she too will watch and listen to what we are watching and listening to),
Differences could be minute. It will not always be obvious to everyone's eyes or ears why the fifth star has been awarded. Try justifying the (possible) extra outlay to the OH when she cannot see or hear a difference... Ginder:

if it doesnt fit into the rack then either a) there is more than one 5 star product for that price or b) buy a new rack..i cant think of anyone that i know of who would buy the inferior product just so it fits on their current rack or table lol..
To some, this may push the budget too far - the new rack/table would be an additional cost which they may not be able to afford. If I want a 37" screen and the 5* product is an inch too big for the available space I have, I can't get it. The compromise would be an alternate piece of equipment if this meant a 4* star TV then fair enough. Life is full of compromises. Ginder:

design and intergration? most av products are black or silver so you cant really go wrong there now can you?

And how many people on here did not buy an Onkyo amp because they were ugly?? Colour is only a part of design/integration. Some people like 'one make' systems. They will buy a Sony amp to go with the Sony TV which matches the Sony BD player. Perhaps you are of the mindset to buy 5* star products because the mag recommends them - fine. Not everyone is. Some people like to make up their own minds. Do you change your equipment because it later loses a star when the next generation 5* product comes along and becomes 'top dog' or do you keep it despite a drop to 4 stars? Cheers, Cofnchtr.

Like i said in a different topic, it doesnt make sense for a product to lose a star..that just makes a mockery of the original review..infact i havent upgraded to anything becuase if i had the mindset of upgrading whenever a star product came out id be doing that every year.. My current setup is a Sony W4500 and a BDP S350 and have no need to upgrade on these as im totally happy with them.

If you read my comments i have been reffering to 3 star products not 4 star products..an earlier poster mentioned he would consider a 3 star product over the 5, but in my honest opinion i dont think there are many people or if any on here that would consider those as the review has made it clear that there is something really lacking for it to be awarded the 3 stars. No one in their right mind would consider something inferior if the cost and dimensions were the same.

Products that are given 4 stars on here are the main issue of debate why some of us dont like the WHF rating system as there are some that deserve 4 stars but some that deserve more but maybe not the full 5 stars.

Your example of TV sizes doesnt make too much sense to me either, as you said if the 5 star 37inch is too big then obviously your correct in saying that you would go for the next size down even if its 4 star, but in the real world there are 5 star tv's in the next size down and im pretty certain those are the ones that even you would look at first.

As for OH, she may even have better eyes and ears than you but thats besides the point because i have not once mentioned spending a greater outlay, each of my posts refer to choosing from products of similar price categories and that is something you have clearly misunderstood. If you were to spend 500 quid im sure ud look to choose the best you can get for that 500 quid, if you go and buy something terrible for 500 quid but it looks pretty on your stand than as you said that would be your choice.

Id love to know what your current setup is
emotion-5.gif


H@nk - I agree that personal choice is what should determine choice, my point being i would choose from the best at that price range, i wouldnt even look at 3 star products..after all that is why everyone looks forward on here to new reviews, not becuase they fancy some good reading but because they want to know what the "experts" have found when testing these products. Is that not the point of a reviews magazine?? Its a guide of which way you should head, a guide of what the better products are and what you should avoid...
 

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