Well, I have been excited about the very positive reviews on the Sony BDP-S300 blu-ray player and was gearing up to get the Sony BDP-S550 to be released soon. Then I came across this news about a much higher end player, BDP-S5000ES, to be released in November. We are fast entering into a period where newer and better blu-ray players are coming out in rapid succession.

Here are some more links on the BDP-S5000ES:
1)
2)
3)
4)

John

Thanks for the post. I love the comments on that article from consumers of how SONY overprices their stuff just because of the name.

I have had cordless phones, WEGA TV, DVD player, AV receiver from $ony all that crapped out shortly after the warranty period. I still have a Sony alarm clock radio and 4 year old digital camera that work fine, but will avoid Sony in most cases.

I met a Sony rep and he told me about this player....sounds like top of the line. I also undersand that Panasonic is soon to release a new top line player, but for now, you can get a BDP-30 for $299 which is reasonable I think.

I'm waiting until I can get a decent player for $200 as most of this reminds me of when I bought my new Sony DVD player in 1999 for $349.00 and it broke after 16 months of use.

You should have bought the ES version with the 5-year warranty.

Oppo Blu-ray player spotted at CEDIA

I NEED ANALOG OUTS!!! Yeah! Hopefully the Oppo will be a LOT less expensive than the Sony...

I think you mean you need a new receiver!

No way. My current receiver missed HDMI by one model in the Pioneer line, and it does everything I need/want it to outside of the HD audio, so instead of replacing a receiver AND getting a Blu-Ray (possibly) some day, I would rather spend a little more on the Blu-Ray and keep my receiver. Of course, I say that now, after not doing any price shopping on receivers with HDMI and the HD audio decoding, so I am entitled to change my mind. :-P

Of course, speculators at "that other forum" think it may be around $800 for the Oppo, so it would be cheaper, possibly, to get a PS3 and a new receiver and have HDMI for my HD-DVD too...

Here's the word on the Oppo BDP-83

an article on the Oppo BDP-83 at audioholics:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/trans...-bdp-83-blu-ray

The folks at audioholics suggest that the Oppo should retail for less than $499 if it wants to stay competitive.

I'm guessing more like $599 or $699

I would only be tempted to pay that much if it sent DSD over HDMI, did DVD-Audio, could be unlocked for region free play, and had decent load times.

Still, it's nice to see a first step by Oppo.

I am more than happy with my $399 PS3!

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the PS3. I'm glad you're satisfied, since I think I helped push you toward it. I mean, ultimately, your girlfriend had the most influence, so if you were unhappy, I'd tell you to blame her.

I'm really pleased with the PS3 as a Blu-ray player, as well. I'm almost used to the using the controller as a remote, too.

All in all, it's been a versatile machine. I really like the wireless connectivity.

I'm pretty happy with my PS3 also, now that the PS3IR-PRO has solved my remote issues, there's really no reason to buy another player. Looking at all the new Blu-ray players coming into the market it seems the prices are going up rather than down. I believe the PS3 is still the best value considering it costs less and still has more features than most the pricier players.

Wasn't that the major concern once HD-DVD died. I think Sony is pushing the price higher on BR players just so they can sell more PS3's.

Maybe I should look into the PS4 IR-PRO... is that one of those IR/blue tooth convertors? what does that cost?

Yeah, the IR-PRO by Shwartz is a converter that works really well, the down side is it costs $100.00, there is another one out (can't remember the name) that is half the price but constantly backorderd.

It seems that a couple of the mainstream companies(Sony and Denon) STILL just don't seem to get it! For some reason they still feel it is necessary to introduce a signature piece on the market at a ridiculous price point to sell to the audio/videophiles. I must admit I purchased a couple of these expensive "Elite" DVD units from Pioneer in the past thinking that these were superior performing players. For the most part, I still kind of thought that way UNTIL I purchased an Oppo 980 in the past few months($169.00). Given that all the innards of these units, regardless of price, are now made in China anyway, I am beginning to think what is the point of this other than to bleed gullible customers! Blu-Ray will NOT be successful if the mass market does not bite and they certainly won't buy these players.

I have decided to show some patience and wait for the new Oppo Blu-Ray player which even at $500-600, no doubt, will be full featured and allow firmware updates for improved performance(like their other players).

This is the other one... IR2BT

I've been watching it for months.. and like HomeDad says... constant back order. After HomeDad's review, I've got the PS3IR Pro on my birthday list for October... looking forward to it.

And PS3Toothfairy. That looks interesting if you have Harmony remotes (which I don't)

PS3Toothfairy, that one's new to me... thanks for the link. It looks like it works in a similar way to the other two, though it too is out of stock (currently at least).

The PS3Toothfairy looks almost identical to the PS3IR PRO, all will work with any universal remote, Whats nice about the Shwartz PS3 IRPRO is that it is in the Harmony data base. Then again the other two may have also been added.