So my projector died. I need a new one!

Caporegime
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My Optoma HD30 has died :( RIP - And I have been quoted €1200 to repair it, considering I paid £650 for it in 2014, this obviously isn't going to happen. I may be tempted to source parts for it and try repairing myself but that is a future project.

Anyway, so I need a new one. Rough budget of a €1000ish I can see the Optoma UHD300x being recommended and is doable at this budget. Are there any other alternatives at this budget I should keep an eye on? Black Friday is coming up so I am willing to wait to see if some good savings can be made :)

TIA!
Jake
 
Soldato
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I'd suggest going to Go to Richer Sounds and view them in real life...I recently bought a Optoma UHD51, the picture is fantastic but the light boarder is bothering me...I had a look at the Benq W2700 over the weekend and was really impressed, both are ~£1400...For comparison I did view the £5k sony true 4k, and didn't think it was worth the extra (sure many will disagree!).

(I previously had a Optoma HD25 whic served me very well, thought 4k would be worth it as I'll keep the projector 4-5 years)
 
Caporegime
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I am in Portugal, there are not really any stores here which you can view side by side comparisons of projectors, so I must go by reviews and recommendations :)

Can you show me the light boarder which is bothering you? I am curious about that. On paper the UHD51 does look excellent.
 
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Man of Honour
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Optoma UHD300x reviews pretty well to be fair - some people who are susceptible to the rainbow effect find that projector worse than many others for it though.

EDIT: Have to say though I'm not sure it feels like a near £1000 projector despite doing a pretty good job of representing 4K - more like a £700-800 projector IMO.
 
Soldato
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I am in Portugal, there are not really any stores here which you can view side by side comparisons of projectors, so I must go by reviews and recommendations :)

Can you show me the light boarder which is bothering you? I am curious about that. On paper the UHD51 does look excellent.

Here you go:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/projector-issue-beam-of-light-off-screen.18869347/

To be honest it's made worse in my set up as the light boarder hits white gloss paint!

The Benq W2700 also looked excellent to me, not much between the UHD51 and the Benq...

Cheers,
 
Caporegime
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Hmmm that is damn odd and weird they would put out a product that would just do that but it doesn't seem to be specific to the Optoma from what I read?

My screen will likely compensate for that as I have a black felt boarder which absorbs any light it hits but its just whether or not it hits the boarder or goes past it.
 
Soldato
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It's apparently the first gen. 0.47 chip that is used in Projectors of this price range, the Benq is second generation and addressed this, but it was still visible in the Demo I saw yesterday, although not as bright as the Optoma I have.

I may well swap more Optoma for the Benq...still mulling it over (I was very impressed with the Benq W2700 colours)
 
Caporegime
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The W2700 sorts the light border issues out, my W5700 has 0 issues.

Said it in other threads but i think the W2700 is at a good price to performance point, great looking projector and reviews favourably, just be aware your mounting location and offset will need to change which is a PITA.
 
Caporegime
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Looking at reviews tonight and the Optoma & Benq trade blows. Looking at direct side by side comparisons it seems out of the box the colours are a bit more saturated on the BenQ while the Optoma is a slightly darker/more natural looking image. But both projectors have adjustable calibrations so that is neither here nor there.

One thing that is favourable to me right now is that the Optoma has a lower operating noise of 25db, also the brighter lumens and contrast are also more favourable to me as well.

I totally forgot about mounting offset. I'd rather not put yet another 4 holes in my ceiling if I can help it. I shall have to compare both of them to the HD30 in terms of sizing. I also need to check throw ratio/distances.
 
Caporegime
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Spent the evening thinking on this. a UHD51 would be a baller of a projector (the W2700 just wouldn't work due to the throw ratio and I am reluctant to move the ceiling mount), however. As mentioned in other threads, going 4k at this budget does have its downsides, so I would rather a really decent 1080p instead.

I went looking and have found an HD50 on eBay. Currently listed at £499 - this was the successor to my HD30 and is well rated, the dimensions are borderline identical to the HD30 and the throw ratio matches up so ideally, I can just bolt it straight onto the existing mount, and et voila, presto.

I have made the seller an offer for £450. Lets see if they bite :)
 
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