Oppo Digital in a few short years has become a force in home entertainment, competing with, and sometimes embarrassing some of the well established giant conglomerates that produce audio visual components sold to mass markets. Their first products were feature packed "universal players" that could handle DVD video, DVD-A audio, and SACD/CD discs.  They also decoded HDCD, and could handle just about any video format through a USB input. They were priced at too good to be true prices, and performed at a level unseen at those price points.A few years ago I bought an Oppo DV- 980H DVD player and was absolutely blown away by the quality of video playback, the feature set, connectivity, and ease of use. I thought audio playback was what you would expect for a budget component. Styling and reliability were well beyond what you ...

Branded as "the world's first 'universal' Blu-ray Disc player", the DVD-A1UDCI from Denon is the company's flagship digital video and audio player.  In this sky's-the-limit price range, Denon smartly aims this product not only at videophiles who demand video perfection from sources like Blu-ray and DVD, but also audiophiles with DVD-Audio, SACD, CD, WMA and MP3 collections.  Denon's DVD-A1UDCI has a built-in Ethernet Port for connection to a home network, but unlike many less expensive players, it can only able to access BD-Live content from Blu-ray discs or Denon firmware updates, which leaves a wealth of internet streaming services like Vudu, Netflix, and Pandora off the table.  Also, while the DVD-A1UDCI is a Profile 2.0 player, to download BD-Live content, you'll need to purchase an optional SD card.Like it's cheaper-by-two-grand 100th anniversary cousin, the BDP-A100, Denon's DVD-A1UDCI features Advanced S.V.H. ...

Boy, stand-alone Sony Blu-ray Disc Players have grown up since I picked up my BDP-S300 back in the dark days of the format war.  But her comes the Sony BS770, a WiFI-enabled, Profile 2.0, 3D equipped (whenever the studios, you know, release enough content to warrant swapping out all your expensive gear) Blu-ray player that sells for less than three hundred bucks.The BDS770 from Sony offers both a built in wired (LAN) and WiFi (B/G/N 802.11) capabilities for connection to a home network, which is becoming more and more common with just about every home electronics products.  Wireless is especially handy for those who have their router in another room.Once connected to the Internet, the BDS770 is among the Sony products with access to Bravia Internet Entertainment, a collection of entertainment and social networking widgets.  Check out the full list ...

Toshiba's BDX3000 is a the flagship model most expensive Blu-ray player in Toshiba's BDX series, featuring internet streaming content, support for all sorts of media files, and full HD 3D 1080p Blu-ray content. The BDX3000 from Toshiba offers both a built-in Ethernet Port and WiFi capabilities for connection to a home network.  Wireless is especially handy for those who have their router in another room.  One connected to the Internet, the BDX2700 is preloaded with a few video streaming services, including Vudu (whose HDX rentals are the closest competitor to Blu-ray), Netflix, Pandora, and Blockbuster On Demand.  Firmware updates will also be available over the net.  The BDX2700 is a Profile 2.0 player, but to access BD-Live content, an optional SD card with a minimum of 1 gigabyte of storage must be purchased.Toshiba's BDX2700 also plays back MP3 and WMA ...

Toshiba's BDX2500 is one of the more budget-friendly Blu-ray players in Toshiba's BDX series, featuring internet streaming content, support for all sorts of media files, and of course, full HD 1080p Blu-ray content. The BDX2500 from Toshiba offers a built-in Ethernet port for connection to a home network, but for a $50 upgrade, owners can purchase an optional Wireless LAN adapter which makes the system WiFi ready.  Wireless is especially handy for those who have their router in another room.One connected to the Internet, the BDX2500 is preloaded with a few video streaming services, including Vudu (whose HDX rentals are the closest competitor to Blu-ray), Netflix, Pandora, and Blockbuster On Demand.  Firmware updates will also be available over the net.  The BDX2500 is a Profile 2.0 player, but to access BD-Live content, an optional SD card with a minimum of ...