OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio

I read your comment on this player and was interested in the fact you stated you could play your PAL dvd's with no problems. My old "all region" dvd player purchased for $50.00 from BestBuy was fantastic for playing any dvd you put into it - including all the European ones. Unfortunately it broke and in Canada you can no longer sell or advertise "All region" DVD players anymore - something that only recently came into effect and only after my trusty DVD player broke. Are you really able to play any region dvd in this player? One other comment I read on Amazon was that it could not play widescreen European DVD's because it either had to stretch the picture to reach the edges or else you ended up with the black band all around the picture. Could you please tell me your experiences playing European and all region DVD's? Thank you!