Dell TV problem with OPPO OPDV971H

[sbader2]

Hello,

I got a Dell W3201C 32" LCD TV probably around May of this year. I've liked the TV a lot and the deal that I got on it was great. A few weeks after I bought the Oppo 971H dvd player. So I've had them both for a couple of months now.

The dvd player is connected to the tv via HDMI with a DVI-HDMI cable. A little bit after I started using them I noticed that while watching a dvd the picture would drop out to a black screen only to return a couple seconds later. The problem persisted on any dvd I played. It is a completely random thing and I cannot duplicate it at will. (Also my Cable Box via HDMI works without any problems) My first thought was to check the cables and everything was fine. I had an extra cable so I tried that and it didnt change anything. I had been very busy for a while so I wasn't really able to concentrate on the issue until a couple of weeks ago. At that point I called up Oppo and told them the issue and they sent me a label to ship the player back to them. They tested it and couldn't duplicate the problem but they still sent me a new unit anyway. So I got the new unit and I tested it and still got the same problem. So then I called up Dell. They have a great policy where if anything goes wrong they ship a replacement out right away and you send the old one in the box. I got the replacement yesterday and the problem still persisted.

So now I called up Dell first and they are telling me that the DVD player is just not compatible with the Dell TVs. They explained to me that HDMI is not standard and went on to say that the two devices are not using the same frequencies (or something like that). I also called up Oppo and they told me that they would get back to me when they look into it more.

So now I'm stuck...

One possibility is to try and get my money back from Dell or Oppo. With the money from the TV I can get another comparable or better TV, from another company (Like the Westinghouse 37"). I don't think there is another Upconverting DVD player like the Oppo one in its price range.

So now questions...

Has anybody heard of an issue like this before with either of these products?

What do you guys think I should do?

Thanks so much in advance, and I apologize for the long post.

 

[Mort Corey]

I'd tend to agree with Dell....it being an HDMI issue. I'd give Oppo a little time and they may be able to come up with a firmware patch. In the meantime you could just use it over component inputs (heresy I know, but the Oppo gives a pretty good picture that way too).

Mort

 

[sbader2]

I'd tend to agree with Dell....it being an HDMI issue. I'd give Oppo a little time and they may be able to come up with a firmware patch. In the meantime you could just use it over component inputs (heresy I know, but the Oppo gives a pretty good picture that way too).

Mort

Thanks for the reply Mort...

I'm going to see what Oppo has to say when they get back to me but I might just save up for a different tv. I've had this tv for a couple months and it has worked alright but prior to having this one I've had a few other Dell models and they've all had their issues. This one was actually a replacement for a 26" tv, which was then a replacement for a 19" tv. (In the year that I had it, the 19" was replaced about 5 times, for the same model, all with different problems) Although I like the warranty and their technical support department, if they can't make a product that works right I don't see how I'm going to be happy with it. I think that If they can't help this situation I'll probably just sell it and get the Westinghouse LVM-37w3 that I've been looking at.

Thanks again for the help, and please, if anyone has anything more to say about this issue, please chime in.

Now I'm off to call Dell and sit on the phone for an hour or two.