Been looking at the Oppo 980 (new) & 981 (refurbished) at close to each price. Which one would be the better deal. As of now my largest HDTV with HDMI is 42". Have a Pioneer BDP-51FD for my Bluray but want another upconverting for my standard dvd's which I have plenty of since I started in 1997 with them. So which would be the better of the two, would I see much difference between them?

Been looking at the Oppo 980 (new) & 981 (refurbished) at close to each price. Which one would be the better deal. As of now my largest HDTV with HDMI is 42". Have a Pioneer BDP-51FD for my Bluray but want another upconverting for my standard dvd's which I have plenty of since I started in 1997 with them. So which would be the better of the two, would I see much difference between them?

It depends on how closely you look. The 980 is sharper but with rougher deinterlacing. The 981 produces smoother more film-like images but some people call it "soft".

The 981 uses a Faroudja chip which can cause enhanced macroblocking on some display types, most often reported by DLP owners.

The 980 can provide 480i over HDMI if you want to try that.

I used to use both, switching between them. I liked the 981 for its film-like images, but honestly, the differences between them (and other good quality players) tends to fade away when I am actually watching a movie.

-Bill