Who has a projector?

Joining this thread kinda late, but seeing as I'm sat here on OCuK in 720p@130" on my wall... :)

Had this projector since 2005, its a hitachi PJTX200 which has survived 4 house moves and gets used 2 or 3 times a week, often for many hours at a time.

I'm on my 2nd bulb, the current one costing £150 from the bay. If I was buying one now, I'd look for 1080p, but I'd also check difference in picture between DLP and LCD - when I was buying I found the DLP rainbox effect was annoying - have they solved that now?

Unlike a telly, placement and lighting can be an issue so think about those before you buy.

Just make sure your projector stays powered on long enough after use for the fan to cool the bulb down properly and it should give you many hours of fun.
 
screenborder.gif
 
So guys. For arguments sake.

If you had £800 and £1500.

Which two projectors would you buy for they budgets? Also how far apart are the performance?

Any recommendations on screen models and brands?

Will 100" be OK at 150" (3.8m) away?
 
Have a look at this thread over on the avforum http://www.avforums.com/forums/projectors/1549172-epson-tw3200-3600-owners-thread-part-3-a.html

I've had my wires in and been ready for a pj for a couple of years, been and demo'd some great pj's from sony and jvc and set my heart on one of those ....then the crunch kicked in and put me off blowing £3k for the pj and £1k for a screen ... but i was still itching to get one, so i read up on some cheaper alternatives and decided to go for the epson tw3200. It's lcd so no rainbow effect and you get 3 years warranty on the unit and the bulb. Can i tell the difference between my mates £6k jvc on his £3k stewart screen ? .... not enough to warrant the price difference.

I got my projector / ceiling mount / electric screen for £1250.00 inc vat and delivered..... and i'm very happy.

btw, mines in my living room .... white walls and ceiling and with blackout curtains .... works great in the daytime on the 'living room' setting and its even better at night on the 'cinema setting'.
 
If I had 800-1500 I would look at the Epson TW6000 and the Optoma HD33, which is what I am looking at :D

From hearing from other peoples experiences the rainbow effect on DLPs has pretty much gone even for the over sensitive. The epson above is 3LCD and the Optoma is DLP. I have an optoma hd700x at the moment and I have never seen the rainbow affect even when running my eyes left to right and vice versa
 
Last edited:
I understand rainbow effect doesn't effect everyone, unfortunately i see it whenever i move my eyes across a screen with dlp pj's :/

I've demo'd the hd33 at sevenoaks and it was just as noticable for me as any other dlp i've seen .... i've also seen it on pj's costing £10k plus at the recent av show in manchester ....

Perhaps a demo is the best place to start when deciding which way to go .....
 
You should go for the 3LCD models if it is that noticeable for you then. If I saw the rainbow effect it would just negate the point of even having a projector for me.
 
negger said:
I understand rainbow effect doesn't effect everyone, unfortunately i see it whenever i move my eyes across a screen with dlp pj's :/

I've demo'd the hd33 at sevenoaks and it was just as noticable for me as any other dlp i've seen .... i've also seen it on pj's costing £10k plus at the recent av show in manchester ....

Perhaps a demo is the best place to start when deciding which way to go .....
Click to expand...

A demo is a must I think. Don't fancy buying one of these without seeing it in action.

Where can I go. I went to Richer Sounds and asked and they don't do them... not enough space!

I'm near Glasgow btw.
 
what you should do is, find out how much a replacement bulb is at current market cost. Then divide that by the "average lifespan" which should be around 2-3000 hours. Once you do that, you may suddenly reconsider if a projector is what you really need for "general" viewing.

Yea, i didnt really factor in the bulb lifespan/cost before i got mine. I ended up getting an "average" flat panel (32") and only using the projector for movies/sports when mates came round.
 
frosty03 said:
what you should do is, find out how much a replacement bulb is at current market cost. Then divide that by the "average lifespan" which should be around 2-3000 hours. Once you do that, you may suddenly reconsider if a projector is what you really need for "general" viewing.

Yea, i didnt really factor in the bulb lifespan/cost before i got mine. I ended up getting an "average" flat panel (32") and only using the projector for movies/sports when mates came round.
Click to expand...

I wont be using it for everyday viewing. My plan is to keep the 50" TV behind the electric projector screen... I can watch the TV as normal and just roll down the big screen for occasions or movies.
 
frosty03 said:
what you should do is, find out how much a replacement bulb is at current market cost. Then divide that by the "average lifespan" which should be around 2-3000 hours. Once you do that, you may suddenly reconsider if a projector is what you really need for "general" viewing.

Yea, i didnt really factor in the bulb lifespan/cost before i got mine. I ended up getting an "average" flat panel (32") and only using the projector for movies/sports when mates came round.
Click to expand...
This.

Mate did exactly the same thing - bought a projector, started using it for everything including just having the TV on in the background when he was cooking, etc. 2-3 bulbs later he bought an LG LCD TV which is in the same room for that sort of stuff.

The bulbs seem to be the real money-maker for these things, they often run into several hundred quid and as stated above seem to be rated to last for 2-3000 hours before they have lost nearly all of their effective brightness.
 
I have a vpl-hw10 and I must admit I could not go back to a tv now although it's not the brightest thing. I wouldn't worry too much about the bulbs as it'll likely take you quite some time to get through the hours.

I originally bought it for 1250 with a free spare bulb and bluray player, then the economy when **** up and it's still worth over 2k today.
 
I just recently bought an Optoma 600x-LV for £360 and can honestly say for the money its brilliant. All I use it for really is Xbox in my room, I can get about an 80inch screen from the distance I'm projecting and its so much better than the 40" lcd tv I was using before.

For my use this is a perfect projector, I don't need an expensive one as it is just for casual gaming and at this price it is the best option for gaming IMO.
 
sHo0sH said:
I just recently bought an Optoma 600x-LV for £360 and can honestly say for the money its brilliant. All I use it for really is Xbox in my room, I can get about an 80inch screen from the distance I'm projecting and its so much better than the 40" lcd tv I was using before.

For my use this is a perfect projector, I don't need an expensive one as it is just for casual gaming and at this price it is the best option for gaming IMO.
Click to expand...

Just youtubed your projector and it's pretty damn good for under £400.
 
I have an epson TW450 and its awesome for the price. Roughly 500 quid and I purchased a screen for about £90.

It does 720p and looks brilliant. Screen is about 90 inches and I sit around 3m away. Really feels like being in the cinema when I use it! Very good value for money.

I had to send the 1st projector I bought back, due to it being a DLP and I noticed the rainbow affect badly, nearly destroyed my eyes!! :)

Good luck.
 
I've got the Optoma hd700x, its a DPL, not had any rainbow effects or anything. Only use it for watching movies, the odd tv show and for the xbox. Only an 86" projection @720p on a white wall, but its very sharp, love it. easily the best thing i've bought in a long time. Had it for about 2 years and im not even a quarter way through the bulbs life! Remember you'll need some kind of sound source too. I'd say for long term an AV reciever and speakers would be best. But i use headphones for gaming and have an amp and speakers commected to the pc for when i watch tv shows/movies
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom