Ok, first Blu Ray advice, looking at Sony, Panny, LG, please help.

[Mr Peabody]

I've had 3 Blu-ray players in my system and they are definitely not the same. My Samsung BD-P1200 has better picture quality than my daughter's BD-P1500, and my Marantz is better than either of them. That surprises me since the 1200 has the Silicon Optix. I know the 7003 doesn't have the Realto like the 8002 but I haven't been able to find what chip set it does use. This is in both Blu or standard DVD. So you can get cheaper players but it is possible to get better performance for your money. It really depends on what your needs are, if some one had SACD's then the Oppo would present a good value, if you were doing gaming then the PS3 would be the best BDP, if just wanting to watch some BR discs and keeping in a budget then the models listed would be alright, if wanting best possible picture then some money would have to be spent and some research/viewing done to see what fits that bill.

If any one else has had a chance to try different players I'd be interested in knowing if they saw any difference between them.

[frahengeo]

I've had 3 Blu-ray players in my system and they are definitely not the same. My Samsung BD-P1200 has better picture quality than my daughter's BD-P1500, and my Marantz is better than either of them. That surprises me since the 1200 has the Silicon Optix. I know the 7003 doesn't have the Realto like the 8002 but I haven't been able to find what chip set it does use. This is in both Blu or standard DVD. So you can get cheaper players but it is possible to get better performance for your money. It really depends on what your needs are, if some one had SACD's then the Oppo would present a good value, if you were doing gaming then the PS3 would be the best BDP, if just wanting to watch some BR discs and keeping in a budget then the models listed would be alright, if wanting best possible picture then some money would have to be spent and some research/viewing done to see what fits that bill.

If any one else has had a chance to try different players I'd be interested in knowing if they saw any difference between them.

I also read and hear that the Oppo BDP-83 is for the budge conscious that desire performance.