After playing around with the BDP-83 for about an hour and 1/2, and doing as close to a side by side comparison as possible to the PS3 and my upconverting HD-XA2, I'll give my initial impressions.
BR playback using Quantum of Solace and the Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark BR edition that was included with the BDP-83, I'll have to give a slight edge to the Oppo, nothing earth shattering but I could see a slight difference with the Oppos PQ being slightly better.
SACD - I played Alison Krauss Union Station. This was a no contest, the Oppo flat blew the PS3 right out of the ballpark, seemed like a larger sound stage and much cleaner sound, Imo it brought the emotion back into the music. Admittedly I've never been that impressed with the PS3's ability with SACD after having previously owned a Denon 3910. But the Oppo is every bit as good if not better than my old Denon.
Standard DVD playback- I used the Extended version of the Two Towers for my comparison. This is the first SD DVD I've ever played on the PS3 since I had kept my HD-XA2 around for that purpose. Again no comparison, while the HD-XA2 has a much better picture than the PS3, the OPPO outdid the XA2 in clarity, sharpness and overall PQ, to be frank I was a little surprised since up until the BDP-83 I hadn't seen anything that rivaled the XA2 in SD PQ.
Load speed. I'll have to give the edge to the PS3 but not by much, the Oppo comes on right away and the movie is ready to go by the time you sit back down, unlike the XA2 that I've been tempted to kick through a wall while waiting for it to load.
Overall, I have to give this player a 10,it does everything I want and more, it also has a ton of tweeking options I haven't even started to play with. Of course in a few months as things seem to go there will be a better and cheaper player on the market, but for me this ones a keeper.
