So you think when this new 998 comes out that will be different, that it will not be pre-obsolete. The 990 was late, the 997 was so late it would have been obsolete before it came out let alone within one year. Outlaw is going to have to prove it to me before I buy another item from them that they can get a product to market before it is obsolete and near their planned delivery time.

You all know the old saying: Fool me once ..., fool me twice. I will not let them fool me again.

I have officially jumped ship. Maybe outlaw should stick to amps, subs and other company's processors.

The industry has been changing things so rapidly that it's like the computer industry - buy something today, even if it's brand new and packed with all the latest features, and you run the risk of it being somehow "obsolete" tomorrow (or yesterday). What's most important is deciding what you define as obsolete and what features you anticipate needing now and over the years to come.

The 990 wasn't late. It arrived when HDMI v1.3 was a nebulous cloud and HDMI v1.1/v1.2 was a source of confusion and uncertainty that found painfully little hardware support at the time. People already wanted to buy v1.3 gear, even though the standard wasn't adopted and nobody knew what it would include, so most companies didn't adopt HDMI v1.1 audio support. Some provided HDMI ports but limited it to video switching, something that was almost never clearly documented and frequently frustrated consumers. DVI switching gave the 990 an effective way to sustain it in the marketplace for longer than any of its contemporaries, and it did it without the confusion that HDMI video switching frequently caused.

The 997 was late, but the reasons for that seem well-defined by the announcement. The 998 deserves a chance to stand on its own achievements.

Let's assume a pessimistic attitude for a moment and say the 998 is delayed until mid-2011. That would suck, obviously, but is there any reason to anticipate that a unit with HDMI v1.4a inputs, Trinnov, PLIIz, and Dolby Volume would be a dinosaur 15 months from today? Let's even be optimistic and say that the 998 arrives in time for my birthday in October. (Hint, hint, wink, wink, and optimistic to a silly degree...) At that point, even the earliest HDMI v1.4 receivers will only be a few months old and Trinnov will still be extremely unusual. Outlaw will likely want to keep it in production for at least two years and possibly three or more. Will someone who decides to buy a surround processor in March 2012 see the 998's feature set as antiquated? I would say that, while there is probably going to be some new cool technology that will be appearing in Onkyo's latest receivers two years from now that the 998 will lack, a significant number of people won't find that new cool thing to be a big enough deal to drive a purchasing decision. I firmly believe that there is no one product that is right for everyone. The 998 won't change that. Based on the general description found in today's announcement, though, it could be a worthwhile candidate for consideration by a good number of people for a few years to come.

That is a very very long way off, if you want anything like the quality of what we see now with glasses. All the barrier screen tricks, and techniques that require your head to remain in one spot are not suitable for the home (non-gaming) market (or the cinema for that matter). There are some ways to do it, but they are even less suited to the home due to implementation costs.

It's going to be glasses for a while.

My main point is that we cannot rely on their predictions any longer. You can put as positive spin on it as you would like but the fact is this processor is incredibly late considering the state of electronics today.

I would not wait for some mythical processor somewhere in the future from a company that admittedly allows others to engineer, program and manufacture. I would buy the best unit you can afford when you need to move on and plan to upgrade that unit every 2 to 3 years if you want to stay current.

If you are happy with what you have then go ahead and wait. If not it might be time to move on. My mistake is that I have wanted to move on for many months as my 990 has more and more problems and continues to become obsolete. I made the mistake of believing in the Outlaw folks and waiting.

Outlaw makes it sound like all of these delays were not there fault and they have learned from it. I hope for all of your sake that are waiting for the now mythical 998, that is true.

Who knows after enjoying my Onkyo PR-SC5507P for a couple of years and upgrading to a 3D TV when they become mainstream I will be back to get my $200 discount on a 998 that was just freshly released.

I agree with your points by and large, especially the point that waiting when you have an immediate need is not necessarily the best choice. A couple things to add:

The 997 is late. That's one reason it's dead now. The 998, based on the specs described, is not late. In fact, it could be comfortably ahead of the curve for a surround processor if it arrives in the next 12 months due to the inclusion of HDMI v1.4a.

I think that the lion's share of the problems with the 997 would appear to be readily associated with the R-972. Hard to pin the blame for that on Outlaw.

Well, the reason I am here, is great bank for the buck.
I have sensitive ears, and cheap gear hurts my ears, no mater how friggin new it is.
We are quickly aproaching the limits of what we can do with the indrtry standards of PCM, so what will be obsolete?
Look, good implimentation will shine in years to come.
Outlaw saves us money by selling direct, leaving the middleman out, and allowing a return if you don't like...that's what had my buy a 950, then a 990.
I will wait for the 998, I would suggest that you buy a oppo bdp83se, and a 990, and wait it out

HDMI 1.3 is compatible with 3D is it not?

How else can Sony claim their PS3 will be firmware upgradable to allow for 3D movie playback?

1.4 just adds Ethernet abilities, and thus the request by one user in these threads for a network input isn't thinking it through. HDMI 1.4 is the network connection.

Plain HDMI 1.3 won't support 3D. What I've heard is the PS3 is going to implement some HDMI 1.4 features over its 1.3 port to support 3D.

The Sony PS3 doesn't have a magic 1.3 port. There are Mitsubishi tv units with 1.3 they also say will be compatible. So I believe that 1.4 is guaranteed but some 1.3 units may be firmware upgradable

thank you for letting me wait 2 years, thanking your team foir moving me to the Integra DHC80.1 Onkyo 5705 pre-pro; it aint perfect, then again its real and for sale.I've gotten tired of waiting for vaporware. If you want folks to do business; level with them; don't ignore info requests for MONTHS.

the 997 is a real disappointment.Hope the 998 is more than that; buy then I didnt wait... my integra DHC80.1 is great