Retep,

I see you are in Atherton, I am in Fremont. I have been quite happy with the performance of my DV-970HD. Next month will mark one year that I have owned it. No problems to speak of. Probably one of the best sounding units I have heard in the under $200 range. Used to have a Pioneer 563A and the Oppo sounds better. Image quality is on par with the Toshiba HD-A2 Blu-Ray player set at 1080i. A side note, if you check the Cary Audio site and look at the internals of their DVD 8 universal player, the circuit boards and transport are reported to be the same as found in the Oppo DV-970HD. If this is true, which I believe, then the Oppo uses the same design (less the chassis) of a $1200 MSRP universal player. If you decide to purchase the Oppo, make sure to immediately replace the stock power cord with an aftermarket one. Increased detail and bass definition will result. Gonk could probably comment on the new Oppo 980 vs. the Oppo 970 but at least I am quite satisfied with my Oppo whether I use it as a transport or in multi-channel mode. Hope this helps.

Slbenz