http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/ Engadget HD Comments for OPPO to start BDP-83 Early Adoption Program http://hd.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://hd.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/
Is this a beta testing program? If so, how is it positive that the testers are being required to buy the hardware? How is it an improvement upon normal beta testing programs, where a mix of trained professionals and ordinary end users use the hardware for a few weeks, and give feedback both on bugs and usability issues?

If it's not a beta testing program, then what the hell is it? A method of superexclusivity? $499 seems pricey for a Blu-ray player, so is this the selling point, that nobody else has this player and they're going to limit themselves to selling 100 a week? So after a year a proud BDP-83 owner can tell his or her "friends" "Oh yes, this is an OPPO BDP-83. You won't find these in the stores, I'm one of only 5,000 people who were allowed to buy this superior player".
]]>Feb 25th 2009 8:47AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/
This way, Oppo can release the best product to the consumer while letting getting the product out to the consumer to have a much bigger testing group. I personally would have no problem paying for this product to be a tester, I planned on purchasing it anyways since Oppo has not let me down yet and I am thinking this will be the Blu-ray player to get.

I think this is a great idea as it greatly expands their testing capabilities while giving their fans a chance to get their hands on the unit first and help out. It is much better than what a lot of companies do these days, releasing what I would consider a beta product with the mentality that they will patch and fix (or not) it when bugs are found. At least these people know what they are getting into before they buy what is suppose to be a fully and properly functioning product.]]>Feb 25th 2009 9:29AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Feb 25th 2009 9:30AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/
There is already a beta test team. They have been testing for a while. Oppo most likely wants to open up to a small group of people outside the beta team to get real world testing on configurations that Oppo and the Beta test group may not have.

The EAP participants will not be bound by an NDA like the Beta testers are, and it has been heavily hinted at that the beta testers will still be under NDA and will be getting test firmwares in advance/different than those in the EAP.

It is kind of like a public beta. You pay for the hardware, and you get access to the 'OS' for testing early. After the player is fully publicly released, the EAP members can return the player for a full refund. If they decide they like the feature set, then they can keep it, and have already paid for it. The warranty is also supposed to cover to one year after the full public release, so if it takes one month from EAP to release, those EAP people get a 13 month warranty.

It is certainly an interesting way of doing it. Some of their previous players got out of beta with no known bugs, only to have some show up when it got into the hands of end users with slightly different equipment than any of the beta testers had. I think Oppo is trying to reduce the possibility of that happening with this player.

The price is not bad either. It includes on-board SACD playback with DSD D/A convertors, bitstreaming of just about anything, on-board decoding of just about anything, and a really nice upscaling solution for standard DVDs. Maybe that feature set isn't something that some would care about, but for those that want all those features, the next available player is something like $2000.

According to their notices, the only thing missing right now is DVD-Audio playback, which many people waiting for this want. Everything else seems to be in place, but it may still be buggy. So the EAP is there to help find and isolate the bugs that are left.

I don't blame you if you don't like the pricepoint or the methods they are using. But just because it isn't the right player for you doesn't make it any less valid for those of us that have been waiting for it as it covers all of our bases.]]>Feb 25th 2009 9:41AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Feb 25th 2009 11:41AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/I own a BD55 and it is great but the first 2 I owned broke, so Build quality of these Panasonic Blu-ray players were Not all that great. (You are going to always sacrifice something for a cheaper price)]]>Feb 25th 2009 12:46PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Feb 25th 2009 11:43AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Apr 13th 2009 10:03PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Feb 25th 2009 11:52AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Feb 25th 2009 1:08PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/
Many posters fail to ever see beyond their own personal perspective as if every product ever is targeted directly at them.

This product, at $499 will sell well to the OPPO faithful.

And that is all it has to do to be a success.]]>Feb 25th 2009 2:38PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Feb 25th 2009 4:33PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Feb 25th 2009 3:55PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/
$499 is more than fair if the product performs as expected.

OPPO is not a brand that the uneducated average consumer is aware of.

Those that are familiar with OPPO will not blink at the price.

As far as participation on this site...none of us are the average consumer, we all know way too much.

Which is exactly why there should be much less negativity.

To much whining about prices.

If you want the latest & greatest then it costs what it costs.

If you can't stomach the cost then go without until Insignia / Magnavox / Memorex licenses it from Funai.]]>Feb 25th 2009 4:09PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Mar 2nd 2009 9:58PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/Mar 4th 2009 11:49AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/http://hd.engadget.com/2009/02/25/oppo-to-start-bdp-83-early-adoption-program/
http://www.teac.com/esoteric/P-01.html

http://www.teac.com/esoteric/documents/P-01D-0presentationsq.pdf]]>May 12th 2009 12:42AM