The BDP-83 doesn't have quite the range of file support that their earlier players do (although firmware updates may expand on that now that they have the core functionality well in hand). There is support for a lot of it, though. You can see some of the menu interfaces in my review (under the Audio section). Bill McLain has a good overview in the beta test FAQ he maintains ( this link will jump you right to it).

I had the offer in my mailbox this AM. It is for the $499 price. Have to check the finances.

From my time using the BDP-83 in the 2nd EAP, I think most purchasers will be extremely pleased with it in terms of its video performance. It beats my Panny BD-55 in that area (particularly on SDs). My ongoing concern is that DVD-A still is a work in progress. As I noted over on the OPPO site, even with the latest firmware update, there is a reproduceable bug that results in the player freezing up if you pause a DVD-A and then start playing again. You can get the song going again if you skip back to the beginning of it, so you do not need to restart the disc or machine. I assume OPPO will get it fixed, and DVD-A functionality is much better than when originally introduced. Even with the bug, I will be keeping mine.

Yeah, I feel pretty comfortable with the DVD-Audio support - work is still ongoing in that regard, and I expect that the firmware that ships to the first customers will be even more polished than what the EAP'ers have now.

I ordered mine today as I just received the email. Are you going to update your review or is it good as is?

It'll get an update. I'm waiting for the beta testing to formally conclude before I make a pass through it to update things, as they are still working on it actively and we've still got separate EAP and beta firmware versions in circulation.

My coworker ordered one last night. Expecting it to ship next week. Does the beta testing continue past the formal release? Is it extended so that they can continue to work through smaller bugs?

The formal beta testing typically runs right up until they finalize the production firmware, but then beyond that there are often public beta firmware versions (firmware that addresses a bug or adds a feature and is stable enough for general consumption but not yet approved for official distribution). It's rare that they continue running true "beta" firmware out to the beta testers after launch, but certainly not impossible.

Call me a lucky one. My coworker that bought his wants me to try it out on my system first since he's not going to have his system ready to go yet. So I'll get to try it out for free for a while. Hard to beat that!

Nice! Although the day that he comes over to retrieve it will be a tough one...