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So I've been reading this thread for awhile and I've been trying to figure out the perfect projector in my price range.. I'm a college student so I was hoping to grab something for 800 or less. I was very close to buying the Mitubishi HC1600 simply because it fits into my price range on amazon at $697 http://www.amazon.com/Mitsubishi-HC1600-720p-Theater-Projector/dp/B001B680GI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1253043866&sr=8-1-spell The only real problems that I've read about are with the 4x color wheel. I'm not really sure how that'll affect me. But today I hopped on Newegg and they have a 40" 1080p Toshiba LCD for $629. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889253198 The reviews seem to be mostly positive. This seems like an incredible deal for a 1080p LCD from a respectable brand.. Football season has already started so I'd like to get one of these as soon as possible. Is there any reason I shouldn't pull the trigger and buy one of these today/tomm? I'll mostly be using it for playing 360, watching stuff on XBMC with my old xbox, and HD from my cable company. I also hope to have an HTPC or PCH type device in the near future..
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Sep 15, 2009 20:55
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The specifications for projectors and TVs advance at a rather slow pace (relative to computer hardware). Given the options that you are reviewing the main items to consider are: - is the rainbow effect off-putting? (only noticable when you move you head around for the most part and you get used to it occuring) - do you need portability? (it's difficult to use a TV to project images onto the side of a building, or to take to someone's apartment to play games) - do you have enough room that the projection will not be blocked by people/objects in the way? - do you have an appropriate amount of space for a 40" TV. If you want to check the quality of an LCD TV go to a shop and see if the model you want has either cartoons or movies playing on it. If they are playing cartoons on it then it has poor image/colour quality. Then again for the price it's easy to be happy with lower image quality.
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Sep 16, 2009 06:41
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King Hotpants posted:The Epson Home Cinema 720 is one of my favorite 720p projectors. I still have one around here somewhere. My point was lest say both lamps last 2000 hours. combined they will last me about 5 years, i cant imagine buying another $350 lamp for a 720p projector when 1080p projectors will probably be $500 then.
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Sep 16, 2009 08:45
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Under My Voodoo posted:So I've been reading this thread for awhile and I've been trying to figure out the perfect projector in my price range.. I'm a college student so I was hoping to grab something for 800 or less. I think it really comes down to how big of a screen you want. The difference between a 40" and a 120" screen is mindblowing. If you have the space and light control for a projector, I would go that route. That is just my personal opinion.
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Sep 16, 2009 17:32
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Dear Projector People, I'm the lead singer of a decent-sized regional rock/electronic band. We've always had theatric elements (costumes, our own lighting rig, etc.) and we want to take it to the next level and start using video in our shows. We need a projector! NEEDS: -to be under $1000 -to be very sturdy as it will be in the back of a van on the road -good performance for its price I don't need any crazy features or even HD. I just want the best workhorse for under $1,000. I've been looking at the Mitsubishi HC1600 for $700 on Amazon. Could this be the one for me? I really dig the price and I know it's older brother was highly recommended.
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Sep 17, 2009 05:13
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For performance I have used a 2200 lumen, native 800 x 600, DLP projector. Shopping on the bottom end should yield something better than that. The only issue you find with respect to the stage is that any lighting striking your screen/mesh/surface will wash out the image.
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Sep 17, 2009 05:54
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Alright, I've got around a 1,000 dolla budget and I'm in the very fortunate position of working at a place that sells projectors. I can currently get a brand new: Optoma HD65 - $630 Sony VPL-BW5 - $630 Optoma HD20 - $866 Optoma HD71 - $950 There was also some 1080p projector that was normally $2,000 down to $1,500 that I can get for $1,100 - I think it was an Epson but I didn't write the model number down since I'm not sure I want to spend that much. It was also much larger than the 720p ones. Here is my situation. I live right next to Fenway Park (redsox) and I have an awful lot of ambient light outside due to that from the stadium lights. I have really heavy curtains, blinds, and a second pair of much lighter curtains. With these I can get the room pretty dark, but not really pitch black. The distance from wall to wall is 11'3" and the wall is about that wide, totally blank. Would any of the ones I listed above be more well suited to this? I know the H65 gets namedropped a lot around here, and if I can get it for $630 and be happy with it that would be wonderful. But if that Sony is better, and I can get it for the same price, I might as well. Given the size of the room and everything else, do you think it might be worth it to pony up a couple hundred over my ideal budget of under $1000 and get a 1080p? I'll be using it drat near exclusively for movies and, while I'm not really a cinema buff or anything, I do watch probably a film or two a week. Will the heat generated by the larger unit be a problem? It's probably also worth noting that I absolutely can not under any circumstances mount this thing from my ceiling. At best I can get a very tall table or something.
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Sep 29, 2009 04:58
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The March Hare posted:Alright, I've got around a 1,000 dolla budget and I'm in the very fortunate position of working at a place that sells projectors. one thing to keep in mind is epson cinema 720 has a rebate for a free bulb, which if you plan on keeping the projector for a while is basically a free $300. coolskillrex remix fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Sep 29, 2009 |
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Sep 29, 2009 06:57
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Omegaslast posted:one thing to keep in mind is epson cinema 720 has a rebate for a free bulb, which if you plan on keeping the projector for a while is basically a free $300. Epson's website claims that "Free Lamp Purchase an Epson PowerLite® Home Cinema 720 between June 21, 2009 and August 31, 2009 and get the PowerLite Home Cinema 720 lamp (V13H010L39) by mail. Valid from 08/01/09 through 09/30/09" Ends tomorrow and I do not have the money to get it right now, unfortunately.
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Sep 29, 2009 12:47
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The March Hare posted:Epson's website claims that "Free Lamp You had to buy it by Aug 31st, anyway.
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Sep 29, 2009 20:27
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They've been restarting that free bulb deal for about a year now. Keep an eye out, it might just start back up again.
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Sep 29, 2009 22:13
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A while back, I inherited a free projector from work that was getting thrown out. Sweet, right? Yeah, it was! But, it's ten years old now and age has finally caught up with it. I am going to try to fix it when I get home from work, but I don't know if I can fix it this time. The fans on the projector will turn on, but the lamp will not turn on. Sometimes if I fiddle with the projector (taking the lamp out, putting it back in, fiddling with the lamp cover, swatting the projector), I can get the lamp to turn on. Sometimes, the fans run, the projector lights up, but nothing will display. Not as if there is no signal. I mean, I cannot even see the projector's menu screens, start up logos, etc. Nothing but blank. As if only the lamp is on. If I need to replace the projector with something new, I won't have much to spend. MAYBE up to $500 dollars. Yeah. I've seen projectors go for the price of a TV so I prefer to buy a projector before a new TV. If I buy a replacement projector, I'd like it to at least match my Compaq one in specs. I know the specs aren't the best, but my room would not do a decent HD projector justice anyways. The MP1800 has these specs: 700 ANSI Lumens 400:1 contrast ratio Native 1024 x 768 resolution So based on that, I've found a few cheap ones on Tiger Direct: Vivitek D825MX Refurbished Epson EX50 Are either of these good? Besides checking Newegg, Amazon, and Tiger Direct, what are other places with good deals on projectors? Also, I am not opposed to buying used if anyone knows of good projectors to buy used.
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Sep 30, 2009 21:37
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I'm thinking of buying a projector, mainly for movies. I want to hook it up to my PC, since that's what I already use to watch everything on its 22" screen. However, I think my video card does not have a HDMI port. I looked online and I can buy a 10m DVI-HDMI cable on Amazon for about 20 euros. Will there be any loss of image quality if I go this route? DVI works great for my monitor, but I have zero experience with projectors. Very useful thread by the way!
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Oct 16, 2009 10:41
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John Dough posted:I'm thinking of buying a projector, mainly for movies. I want to hook it up to my PC, since that's what I already use to watch everything on its 22" screen. However, I think my video card does not have a HDMI port. I looked online and I can buy a 10m DVI-HDMI cable on Amazon for about 20 euros. Will there be any loss of image quality if I go this route? DVI works great for my monitor, but I have zero experience with projectors. The loss should be negligible. I ran an HDMI->DVI converter to my upstairs TV and it looked good.
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Oct 16, 2009 16:22
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Scrapez posted:The loss should be negligible. I ran an HDMI->DVI converter to my upstairs TV and it looked good. More like non-existent. HDMI and DVI are pin wise compatible and other than the loss of an Audio signal over DVI there is no difference in the signal carried.
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Oct 16, 2009 17:02
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That's good to know, thanks. Now for the actual projector, as far as I can tell (and I'm going mostly on what the Tweakers.net pricewatch and Amazon tell me), the only 720p projector in my price range is the Acer H5350. Others that are slightly more expensive. SO far I've found the Optoma HD65, the Optoma HD700X, and the Epson EB-W6. As far as I can tell, these are all pretty decent DLP projectors. So far my preference goes to the Acer H5350 because it's the cheaper one; it goes for about €550, about €100 less than the others. However, if anyone knows any pressing reasons not to get the Acer, or knows another 720p projector in the €500-€600 price range, I'd love to hear it. I'll probably use a standing screen I might be able to permaborrow from my parents, an oldie used for slide projection. Otherwise I'll try to buy a second-hand one somewhere. The thing is that my living room is both not very big, and shaped weirdly. A standing screen allows me a lot more flexibility in where I can place it (i.e. in front of windows) and I can just put it back in a corner when I'm done with it. I do have a big, fairly smooth white wall, but projecting there would involve rearranging all my furniture into fairly awkward positions, unfortunately.
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Oct 16, 2009 21:17
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Dolemite posted:A while back, I inherited a free projector from work that was getting thrown out. Sweet, right? Yeah, it was! But, it's ten years old now and age has finally caught up with it. I am going to try to fix it when I get home from work, but I don't know if I can fix it this time. If you buy refurbished (new bulb and 3 month warranty) on ebay after Bing and ebay bucks you can get a much much nicer Optoma HD65 for ~$600... save up the extra $100, you won't regret it
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Oct 17, 2009 02:43
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Wheres the best deal on a Optoma HD20?
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Oct 18, 2009 03:40
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greasyhands posted:If you buy refurbished (new bulb and 3 month warranty) on ebay after Bing and ebay bucks you can get a much much nicer Optoma HD65 for ~$600... save up the extra $100, you won't regret it How does one do this (bing / ebay bucks) I tried searching ebay though bing's shopping but it doesn't show up in the merchant list as having CB? Sorry if this is off topic but I've been pondering a projector for a while and $600 is my magic number. Also: is 12 feet (the width of my living room) be enough of a throw distance?
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Oct 19, 2009 07:39
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FlyWhiteBoy posted:Wheres the best deal on a Optoma HD20? Oh come on, that's just lazy.
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Oct 19, 2009 18:42
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Looking for a little projector advice... I have a Panasonic PT-AE900U that I've been using for over 3 years now. I'm over 2,300 hours on my second bulb. It's started showing some signs that the bulb's death may be imminent. So my question is what is the best course of action once this bulb dies? Do I spend another $300 on an out of date 720p projector or do I spring for a new one? If I spring for a new one should I cheap out and go with a 720p model or spend the extra cash for a 1080p. I guess I'm curious how much better modern 720p projectors are compared to my current one. Also how big a leap it is from 720p to 1080p. My projector is ceiling mounted in my basement. Light is not an issue but the projector is mounted a little off center from the screen. Also...does a used PT-AE900U have any resale value?
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Oct 19, 2009 18:56
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King Hotpants posted:Oh come on, that's just lazy. I've found a few good deals for it using Google. I know its a popular buy right now so I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything amazing. Guess not since no one has replied with anything worth while.
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Oct 19, 2009 22:26
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I bought a HD20 from Tigerdirect for $999 when they had 10% back from Bing, which amounted to $102 cashback. But I don't see the projector on their website anymore, nor the 10% cashback. :/
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Oct 20, 2009 03:33
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Buckeye posted:I guess I'm curious how much better modern 720p projectors are compared to my current one. Worlds better, mostly with regards to contrast. quote:Also how big a leap it is from 720p to 1080p. Huge leap, at least for me, but it depends on what you're feeding it. Obviously a 1080p projector getting 1080p/24 is going to look awesome. quote:Also...does a used PT-AE900U have any resale value? None that I know of. It's four years old. You could probably get a little bit out of it on Craigslist or something, but someone can buy a far superior projector for less than $1000 these days so don't expect to get much.
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Oct 20, 2009 05:43
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King Hotpants posted:As far as other top of the line 720p projectors, I really do think that the Epson 720/Sanyo Z60 are at the top of the pile and likely to remain there for quite some time. After doing some research, my concern is that I will probably have it on an average of 6-8 hours a day. That seems to be a bit more than you usually see in discussions like these. Is that enough usage to recommend avoiding projectors altogether? Would it get too hot? I don't really mind buying new bulbs once a year, but if that type of usage causes other issues then it might be worth it to look elsewhere. Also, my room always has a small amount of ambient light during the day due to some large bay windows and a reflective floor surface. In an effort to give an example, I could probably read books with larger text with the natural light in the room, but if my grandmother caught me she would lecture me on reading in such a dark environment. I can always reduce the light by investing in better curtains so this isn't too big an issue. The advantage of being ignorant is that my mind will most certainly be blown by even the weakest projector out there, hence my interest in the 720p types as opposed to the fancier 1080p. Are the projectors I've quoted above decent for someone in my position with no real knowledge of projectors, a small amount of ambient light and a habit of having the tv running for 6-8 hours a day? Or should I avoid the hassle and just get something else entirely?
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Oct 21, 2009 01:15
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As far as I understand it, the Optoma HD700x is the same thing as an HD65, is this correct?
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Oct 23, 2009 13:12
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Ivan Drago posted:After doing some research, my concern is that I will probably have it on an average of 6-8 hours a day. That seems to be a bit more than you usually see in discussions like these. Is that enough usage to recommend avoiding projectors altogether? Would it get too hot? I don't really mind buying new bulbs once a year, but if that type of usage causes other issues then it might be worth it to look elsewhere. The issue you might run in to is that older LCD projectors have organic compounds in the panels, and "independent research" (read: funded by Texas Instruments/DLP) says that the blue polarizer goes to poo poo after a few years. Other "independent research" (read: funded by 3LCD/Epson) suggests that "filter-free" DLP projectors begin to suffer premature lamp blow-outs due to dust and airflow problems. I don't know how true either of these things are, because when I review projectors, I only get to keep them for a couple of weeks at best -- not nearly enough time to run them until these long-term problems show up. I have an Epson 1080p LCD at my house, but even if that one has problems, one projector is not a big enough sample size to draw any meaningful conclusions. For television-like activity, I would actually recommend a television, as much as it pains me to do so. Get a nice 40" flatpanel from a good vendor and enjoy it.
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Oct 23, 2009 21:48
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Epson has their Home Cinema 400 720P projector refurbed (with a new bulb) on sale for $489 shipped. Is it worth it or should I save up the extra hundred bucks and get a new optima HD65? http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63072196 add to cart + use coupon code E9SAV
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Nov 6, 2009 18:39
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If you can get the HD65 to fit in your room, buy it. The HC400 is going to be easier to mount, but the Optoma has a better picture.
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Nov 6, 2009 19:38
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Thanks, I'll probably go with the Optima but is 12 feet enough room for projection with the HD65? That's the widest space available in my apartment. Projector central recommends 13-21 feet but I don't know how much fudge room there is on that. Also, how is it for gaming (PC/wii/360)?
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Nov 6, 2009 20:49
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Distance is related to screen size and nothing else. At 12' exactly you will get a picture between 97" and 107" diagonal. Just be aware of the projection angle - tilting projectors sucks rear end and makes everything look bad. And it's great for games, so knock yourself out.
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Nov 6, 2009 23:25
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Is the epson 400 comparable to the epson cinema 720? whats the big differences?
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Nov 7, 2009 14:43
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Omegaslast posted:Is the epson 400 comparable to the epson cinema 720? whats the big differences? The 400 (released in 2006) is the predecessor to the 720 (released in 2007). The contrast isn't nearly as good, the color calibrations need a little more work out of the box, and the 720 is a little brighter. The 720 has a longer zoom; 2.0:1 instead of 1.5:1. The 720 has a longer lamp life (3000 instead of 1700 hours). It's just an all-around better projector. Let's put it this way: when the Cinema 400 came out, it was a decent projector, but not as good as that year's offerings from Panasonic or Sanyo. When the Cinema 720 came out, it was the best 720p projector of the year, hands-down. And since manufacturers have not been focusing on 720p projectors for a few years now, it's arguably one of the best 720p projectors released, ever.
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Nov 8, 2009 18:14
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I finally decided and bought the Acer H5350, it being the cheapest 720p home cinema projector. €499, free delivery. I´ve had it for about three days now and it´s really nice. I´m projecting on a wall right now, but the image quality is good. I can see the wall structure somewhat though, which gives the image a bit of a pixelated look. I can´t spot a color difference between projecting on my white wall, and projecting on my light-yellow wall, which is good because the yellow one is better positioned. Rainbow effect is obvious, but very dependent on what is shown on screen. It´s most obvious on white, especially subtitles, which I use a lot since English is not my primary language. I´m going to try and have subtitles display in a more greyish color, which would probably lagely eliminate the effect. Apart from the subtitles, the rainbow effect is noticeable in some scenes, but I don´t find it annoying most of the time. Saturday I had a few friends over and we hooked a PS2 to it, which looked surprisingly good for an SD source. Rainbow effect was mostly absent. All in all I´m very satisfied with the projector 
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Nov 9, 2009 10:50
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Omegaslast posted:one thing to keep in mind is epson cinema 720 has a rebate for a free bulb, which if you plan on keeping the projector for a while is basically a free $300. My budget is $1000. I was originally going to buy another 42" TV but I think my media room would look good with a projector. I would like to connect my computer to it (browsing, gaming), regular game systems (Wii, SNES), watch movies, and TV (mostly football). I am hoping $1k is enough to get a good projector. When I bought my TV, I was less interested in size and more interested in quality (bought a Panasonic 42pz80u for those interested). I am interested in the same kind of thing for a projector; quality at a reasonable price. Hence, the talk about the epson cinema 720 sounded interesting, especially if it came with an extra bulb. Which comes to my questions...Is it good for gaming (say, Natural Selection aka FPSs)? Also, Bhphotovideo has a mail-in rebate on the 720. Are they trustworthy (i.e. will actually honor rebates)? If you bought from someone else, would you recommend them? I've normally stuck to Amazon and Newegg, but getting an extra bulb would seal the deal.
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Nov 10, 2009 02:40
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I've been using an HD70 for nearly three years now heavily as one would use a television, and I have yet to experience a problem from long term heavy operation (and it gets used on average 4-5 hours / day), so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Obviously as stated before your only real concern is going to be burning through bulbs, and that expense can add up rather quickly when you're replacing them more often than once per year but if you've accounted for that cost and are ok with it, they make perfectly acceptable televisions. As for gaming - I initially used the projector almost solely for the 360 and its been fantastic, like its been said here already - gaming on a 100" screen in 720p is like nothing else; I often have people who inspect the screen close up because they have misconceptions of what quality projectors are capable of producing.
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Nov 10, 2009 17:12
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Hi guys, sorry for barging in but I have a quick question, we just received an offer on the BenQ MP525 here at work, they're selling for 2990,- nok (somewhere around 500$) which is very cheap here in Norway. It's a first come first serve offer and when they run out of stock the offer is over. Specs: http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-MP525_ST.htm My current projector is a Panasonic PT-AE700U Projector on it's 2nd lamp. Overall this projector has been good enough for my use, I don't have x-box nor ps3 but I do use my Wii now and then on there. Apart from that it's mostly used to watch regular dvds or streaming stuff (sorta like itunes but for movies). It's now got a nasty blue spot on the lower right corner which is super annoying and I think it's time to change the projector rather than gambling on it being a new lamp (which here in norway actually runs me MORE than the 2990,- for the BenQ MP525). Specs: http://www.projectorcentral.com/Panasonic-PT-AE700U.htm I've tried to compare them and overall the specs on the BenQ seems better than the Panasonic (understandably since the panasonic is older) but the price is very different and that sets off my alarm. So basicly, should I jump on this offer or should I heed the warning signs that it's too cheap to be a good offer and wait for something else to come around? Any help very much appreciated
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Nov 18, 2009 16:35
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You're asking about replacing a home theater projector with a business projector. No.
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Nov 20, 2009 01:05
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see, I knew I was missing some detail! Thanks buddy!
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Nov 20, 2009 13:14
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I was hoping to get some input from the projector gray beards. I have been looking to buy a projector for about a week and haven't been able to find anything that feels right. I have been looking at some projectors listed below but wanted to see what the masses thought. Panasonic PT AX200U Optoma HD20 Primary use Playing video games via PS3 & xbox (not 360) Streaming video from computer to ps3 or xbox Playing blue ray & dvd via ps3 Direct connect computer for video or web browsing etc. ------------------------------------------------------- I have some wishes/requirements - I would like 1080p -The distance of my room is 12 from wall to wall so projector distance will be like 11ft from lens to wall -Room has fairly controlled lighting. So, some ambient light -Projector will be suspended above views heads, fan noise may be an issue. -Computer connection is a must. Would like to have dvi if possible ( but I can always get a converter) -Budget is around $1200 -------------------------------------------------- Any input would be appreciated! Thanks sterster fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Nov 24, 2009 |
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Nov 23, 2009 16:35
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