Thumbs Up:

Swift operational speed; 7.1 analog outputs; DVD-Audio and SACD playback; solid build; plays back pictures, videos, and music tracks via connected USB external drive; excellent picture quality for Blu-ray movies

Thumbs Down:

Relatively expensive; slow DVD performance; very basic user interface; no 3D playback support; lacks inbuilt Wi-Fi and streaming media services

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The Oppo BDP-80 is a Blu-ray disc player that supports BD Live 2.0 Profile. It supports the media types of BD-R, BD-RE, BD-ROM, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, Kodak Picture CD, DVD, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, DVD-Audio, SACD. The Blu-ray player features HDMI 1.3 support, upscaling up to 1080p, HDCD decoding, and progressive scanning.

The supported media formats are NTSC and PAL. The inbuilt audio decoders are DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS Decoder.

The sound output mode is surround sound. The digital audio formats are Dolby True HD digital output, Dolby Digital Plus output, DTS-HD digital output, Dolby Digital output, and DTS digital output. The signal-to-noise ratio is 115db and the total harmonic distortion is 0.0008%.

The connector set includes 1×HDMI output (19 pin HDMI Type A) – Rear, 1×7.1 channel audio line-out (RCA phono×8) – Rear, 1×Component video output (RCA phono×3) – Rear, 1×SPDIF output (TOSLINK) – Rear, 1×SPDIF output (RCA phono) – Rear, 1×S-Video output (4 pin mini-DIN) – Rear, 1×Composite video output (RCA phono) – Rear, 1×Hi-Speed USB (4 pin USB Type A) – Rear, 1×Ethernet (RJ-45) – Rear, and 1×Hi-Speed USB (4 pin USB Type A) – Front.

The Oppo is providing one year limited warranty with its BDP-80 player. The operational power consumption is 30 watt and standby/sleep consumption is 1watt.

Razzle Dazzle:

The Oppo BDP-80 continues to have the industry-standard design. It is 16.9 inches wide, 2.1 inches tall and 11.1 inches deep and weighs 7.7 lbs. The plastic front panel has disc tray in the center, the directional pad on the right and USB port at one end.

Inside Dope:

$500 priced the Oppo BDP-83 is one of the best performing Blu-ray disc players in the market. Now, the company has released – the Oppo BDP-80 that costs $290 with quite similar functionality of the BDP-83. However, it lacks inbuilt Wi-Fi and media streaming services. Fairly, the Oppo provides the option to go for a cheap Blu-ray player to attract the budget conscious users who just need a basic player. The front panel is made up of plastic, which is different as compared to brushed metal front of the BDP-83SE and the BDP-83. It is noteworthy that you can browse the music tracks stored on the attached USB drive.

The remote layout looks similar to that of the Oppo BDP-83. The keys do not have a backlight, but still glows in dark. The buttons are large and directional pad is located in the center. The user interface of the Oppo BDP-80 is much simpler than that of other players. It lacks media streaming services so you will just get the main interface with Oppo logo without any menus or icons for navigation after turning on the player.

On pressing the home key, you will get the similar menu for playing back the photos, videos and music tracks on the attached USB external drive. However, the complete interface is not eye-catching like its competitors. It also does not show up the album art even if it is already included in the music folder.

The Oppo BDP-80 has 1GB internal memory and supports Blu-ray 2.0 profile. In contrast, the Sony, Vizio, Samsung, and LG players offer Wi-Fi in similar price range. We are disappointed that the BPD-80 also does not offer Wi-Fi dongle, while the Panasonic DMP-BD85K provides the same. The Oppo says to go for Asus WBK-1 wireless network kit. It is important to mention that the Sony has already announced to update the firmware for PS3 Slim and the Sony BDP-S570 to support 3D playback. However, the BDP-80 does not support the 3D playback. What’s more – other companies are offering streaming video services like Netflix in its price range.

As per Oppo, the BDP-80 will receive a firmware update in few weeks to enable the DLANA compatibility for playing back the music tracks, pictures, and videos with networked computer. The supported playback formats through USB are JPG, MP3, VOB, and MKV.

We like that the Oppo BDP-80 supports the audio formats of SACD/DVD-Audio, DTS-HD HR, DTS-HD Master Audio, Bitstream output, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby TrueHD. The supported video outputs are coaxial/optical, multi-channel analog, stereo analog, composite, component and HDMI 1.3. It will be nice to consider the BDP-80 as a universal disc player. This feature will attract the home theater users who need an excellent player in budget price range.

The connectivity options of the Oppo BDP-80 are two USB ports and Ethernet jack. It includes 7.1 analog outputs, but there is no RS-232 port and SD card slot.

The overall image quality of the Oppo BDP-80 is perfect. Its image quality and operational speed was identical to the step-up BDP-83 player while testing. However, the BDP-80 was a little sluggish while changing or skipping the chapters in a movie. The DVD picture quality was average, but it clearly pulled down the 2:3 ratio. As per Oppo, the BDP-80 cannot perform standalone to improve the picture quality.

There is no quick startup mode included in the Oppo BDP-80, while the Sony BDP-S570 has the same. The BDP-80 starts up quickly even without quick boot mode.

Nitty Gritty:

If you need a basic Blu-ray player with excellent image quality, then the Oppo BDP-80 is a good choice. However, its competitors are providing more features in similar price range like Wi-Fi and streaming media services such as Panasonic DMP-BD85K and Sony BDP-S570.

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