axolotls return

I bought the Malata N996 when it was the holy grail so long ago, I can't remember when I got it.

I love the zoom/scaling capabilities and the very good PAL conversion since I am NTSC bound.

I bought a modded JVC, also back then that was just as good as the N996 except it didn't have scaling capabilities, but obviously a better built machine.

It still running strong, but would like to get something similar.

What's are my options in 2006.... ?

lostatmidnight

I'm sorry, I have no information to supply you, but like another long-timer who bought the 966 when it first arrived, I thought the same thing a week or two ago:

"What the heck should I buy if this babe clunks out?"

Luckily, it's running beautifully...many...many...many...years later (6? I forget as well)

Heliosphann

My Malata N996 blew up on me a year ago or so and I replaced it with an OPPO DV971H, which for the money is one of the best DVD players ever produced.

Josh Z

If you have a TV with a DVI or HDMI input, the Oppo players are the new gold standard in region-free.

Heliosphann

Yea, good point Z. The OPPO is amazing, but to really benefit from it you need a DVI or HDMI in on your TV.

dullboy

Strange...I bought a Malata 520 (?) 5 years ago because I was too late to jump on the 996 bandwagon, and although the scaling was a nice feature, it didn't do so well on every PAL disc I had. Lots of shimmering issues. And now that I have a widescreen TV, I've tried the Oppo 971H that seems to be the "shizzle" as you put it. But it was more like "the shits" in my book. Don't understand the rave about it, unless I had a defective player. I have a 970 on the way, and I'll see how that performs. I think I am serverly cursed to never find a perfect player for my TV.

axolotls return

Oh man. I was expecting a flood of responses saying how this and that player smokes the old N996!

I never got the 520 and opted for the JVC-modded one.

My N996 did die once, but I revived it somehow. I think the power-switch was faulty because it wouldn't turn on. But it's still running. The downside is that it won't play DVD-R;s that are less than 3GB or so and I know it'll blow up soon. It has too... It's a Malata.

About the Oppos, I don't have any super TV/Display yet. So no HDMI or DVI input... except on my computer monitors... hmmm!

Still hoping for more responses...

Any one care to post a favorite link to these players... distributors/retailers...

Thanks!

axolotls return

Wait. yeah that sounds about right... I think I got mine in November 2000, judging by my DVDTALK join date. Didn't expect these things to last this long .heehh... Does the Oppo have a Karaoke function like the N996 (j/k)

Heliosphann

Well my n996 actually did "Blow Up". Like BANG, a capacitor or something inside went boom and the lights dimmed and everything. It was pretty cool, well other than losing a great DVD player.

When you used the Oppo, what did you use to hook it up to your TV with? Hopefully not component, because that would explain why it looked horrible. The component output on the Oppo is only 480i and is very, very poor.

Josh Z

My 996 is still alive and kicking, but it's been moved out of the theater room and connected to a much smaller TV in the living room. I hope it never dies on me. I've still never found another player with half as many useful user options.

Bleddyn Williams

My 996 is still ticking away, and I also have wondered what I would replace it with if it ever went ka-blooey. I have an HDTV monitor, but only component inputs. What's the current best option there?

mrhan

My 996 is still running strong after replacing the blown capacitors. It isn't the best player by a long shot but I can't live without the X/Y scaling. I wish the 971 had X/Y scaling.

dullboy

Heliosphann, I used DVI to DVI to hook up the Oppo 971 to my TV. There were all sorts of problems, including shimmering on 1080i and re-synching of video image every couple of minutes when I wasn't even changing the resolution.

axolotls return

Good Lord! It's been six years or more and besides what I hear about the Oppo, there is nothing else out there (I would think China would have one that walks, talks, and makes coffee for you in the morning).

Josh Z

Sounds more like a TV problem than a player problem. Did you try 720p output? What's the resolution of the TV?

dullboy

My TV can't display 720p although the resolution is 1280x720. It's a Mitsubishi 52" WD-52327. I've tried other upconverting DVD players using 1080i that haven't had these problems that the Oppo exhibited.

Supermallet

I love the N996, but for some reason the component outs were faulty on mine. The picture always came out as purple or something. It's a shame because I loved the scaling.

Josh Z

As I also posted in the Silent Hill thread but will repost here for the benefit of others reading, the Malata requires you to turn on the component output in the setup menu. It won't output both component and S-video simultaneously. It's a stupid design quirk.

Supermallet

Thanks. The one thing that is a little annoying about the Malata is that the "common user" menu is often still very technical. I had to click around for a bit until I found the setting that switched it to component.

axolotls return

I find the original remote control really cheesy

mrhan

It was really flimsy and mine worked sporadically. I ended up getting a Sony learning remote to replace it.

dullboy

Okay, so I got my Oppo 970 delivered yesterday. I think I'm stopping my search here. It performs much better than the 971H that I had. Very stable image in 1080i (for the most part). Sharp, no jaggies. Even the Episode III jutter in the pan down at the beginning of the film is smooth. Nice black and white levels. I like the ability to set the player to automatically window-matte non-anamorphic material and for it to open the frame wider than the overscanned image on my TV (the 971H also had this).

A couple of drawbacks, though:
1. When in 1080i, the image is also slightly squashed from the bottom, like the Philips 5960, but less so here. It's not as obvious or obtrusive. On some 1.85:1 discs, there is a hair-sliver of a black bar at the bottom. The Philips is more present and faces look obviously squashed from their natural oval shape. The Oppo retains a more natural look.
2. Doesn't remove wiggles/shimmering from all PAL discs. Most PAL play much better than with other players I've had, but some, such as Prince of Darkness, still shimmer a little around text and dense material.
3. The power cord plug-in in the back of the machine is extremely loose. I fear that a loud rumble from my subwoofer might knock it out.

All in all, I'm not pulling my hair out like I have with other players I've had to return. I guess this will have to do for now.

Josh Z

This is something that the Oppo engineers are aware of and are working on a fix for. It only affects the upscaled resolutions, not 480i or 480p, and the squeeze is more pronounced at 1080i than 720p.

axolotls return

Where did you buy the Oppo from? TIA

I never used my 996 Remote more than twice. Just used my reciever's learning remote.

dullboy

I bought my Oppo 970 straight from their site: http://www.oppodigital.com/