Hi Garcia,
congrats on your purchase. Let me tell you that I've also got an Oppo (981) quite recently.
BTW, my Pio 696 also upscales (up to 1080i), while the Oppo goes 1080p.
Another advantage of the 981 is the SACD / DVD-A thru HDMI (version 1.1 onwards). For SACD with the Pio, only thru analog cables.
Soundwise, both are similars, with a slight advantage for the Pio, IMO.
Videowise, they're both similars. Not sure, but I suspect that the Faroudja scalers are present on both and maybe that's the reason why they both perform so darn good.
Hope you enjoy your new toy...
Cheers!