Well, I've had a fun first weekend with my new 970 - I've watched A History of Violence; I, Robot; The Closing of Winterland; and Hotel Rwanda - and the experience has been wonderful.

Here are a couple little problems I've had, which I'll mention in case anyone has any suggestions:

1. I've never been able to get the Input or Surr Mode front-panel buttons to do anything - no response at all. The remote works, so it's not a fatal problem, but it's clearly not right, either.

2. Yesterday, my Oppo 971H DVD player wouldn't turn on; the buttons all flashed their lights rapidly but wouldn't respond otherwise, the unit eventually going back into standby. I tried various things, including unplugging it from the power strip, but to no avail until I finally tried waking up the 970 from standby first - that worked. Later, when I tried to put the 970 into standby, it wouldn't go - no response from either the PWR button on the remote or the front-panel switch. Taking a clue from my earlier experience, I woke the Oppo up from standby, and then the 970 went into standby okay. Any ideas about this?

That's it, for the most part. I've had other little frustrations, but I think they might be learning curve issues, so I won't post them until I'm sure something's not working right.

- Bruce