If you are getting the 978, I'd think the BDP-93 would be the way to go. The BDP-95's upgrades are going to have the biggest pay-off if you are using an older processor (Model 990, Model 970, Model 950, or something like an Anthem AVM20 or AVM30) or if you are using it in a two-channel analog system (either by itself or in conjunction with a surround setup).

Since the Oppo BDP-93 has been delivered to some people (including the Beta testers), has Pandora compatibility been included? If so, how does it work in terms of (i) seemlessly accessing the Pandora site (I am assuming without a computer and using your TV) and (ii) audio quality (MP3 that is possibly even further degraded and/or compressed given the internet medium or possibly something else). If Pandora is not currently campatible, but is still planned, does anyone (probably Gonk) have any ideas how it will be implemented?

Same questions for NetFlix (e.g. seamless integration and sound quality).

In case it matters, the sound would be going through my Outlaw 990 (and possibly the 978 or 998 in the future).

Thanks in advance.

Ed

The current firmware doesn't include Pandora. My understanding is that they have some additional streaming services planned for eventual inclusion, but I don't know which services are on that list, when they will appear, or what the interface will look like. Even if I knew, NDA would prevent me from saying anything until Pandora was officially confirmed by OPPO or it was available on public firmware. It will most likely appear in the "Internet" group under the Home Menu when/if it does appear, and selecting it would basically load a Pandora "app" that would take over from there.

From what I've been told, Netflix maintains a pretty tight control over the interface offered for their streaming service. That means that it functions much like Netflix on other BD players. You pick "Netflix" from the home menu, and you enter the Netflix software. The testing I've done has been with a mix of "SD" and "HD" programs. What I've seen and heard is DD stereo combined with picture quality that can at times (mainly with "HD" programs) rival a pretty respectable DVD transfer. The Marvell QDEO seems to be working well with wringing as much as possible from those sources. For convenience, it's a handy thing to have, but I still feel the same way I did six months ago: for serious movie watching or music listening, streaming doesn't cut it yet.



It doesn't matter - the limiting factor here is the streaming source. With the 990, you might want to keep a coaxial or optical connection in place so you can use PLIIx or similar surround processing for stereo streaming sources. With the 978 or 998, HDMI should handle it just fine.