Who has a projector?

Buchanan0204

Buchanan0204

Buchanan0204

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Joined
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So... I've always wanted a projector, but don't know a great deal about them.

I'd like to know what is needed?

Is it possible to use them daily for general TV watching? Or are they only suitable for movies? I'd love to watch Sky Sports on it!!

What sort of screen should I be looking at? An electronic rolly down one or just a fixed screen? Any good brands to go for and ones to avoid would be great.

P.S. I'd of course like 1080P and be able to hook it up to the PC via HDMI and possibly the sky box at the same time.

I don't have a budget as such. Just looking to spend what I need to without going crazy and being excessive. I do however like good quality and don't want to skimp on quality and buy a £300 job.

If you have pics of your setup. I'd love to see it!!!

Cheers lads.
 
Its not the most convenient for general TV watching but its possible - I've watched a little football on mine and its pretty decent for that (and I always use it for top gear :D).

What screen you have doesn't matter too much for casual useage tho a reasonable quality screen will be infinitely better than projecting onto a blank or patterned wall.

TBH unless your doing much desktop useage or PC gaming (its fine for console gaming) if the projection is under about 80-90" or so you probably won't notice a huge difference between 720p and 1080p for most console gaming, movies and TV.
 
Rroff said:
Its not the most convenient for general TV watching but its possible - I've watched a little football on mine and its pretty decent for that (and I always use it for top gear :D).

What screen you have doesn't matter too much for casual useage tho a reasonable quality screen will be infinitely better than projecting onto a blank or patterned wall.

TBH unless your doing much desktop useage or PC gaming (its fine for console gaming) unless you have over 80-90" or so you probably won't notice a huge difference between 720p and 1080p for most console gaming, movies and TV.
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Thanks for that. Very informative. It would only be console gaming, hooked upto to the PS3 on the odd occasion.

I read years ago about bulbs not lasting a long time and being pricey to replace. Is this still the case?
 
Crikey - with 3,500 posts under your belt you really should know where to post this thread correctly.......
 
Ive always fancied having a projector but they look like a lot of hassle, too much choice and complicated :O. Plus it would be in a small bedroom and the picture would most likely look stupid taking up most of one wall. However i sill want one when i can afford it.
 
Looking to get one myself soon, just for movies and the occasional game.

Think I'm going to buy second hand as lots of people seem to get one and then end up not using it, so plenty of cheap buys available.
 
I got a HC4000 a few months ago. Absolutely cracking 1080p @ 125" screen.

Yeah you can watch TV on it, but tbh I don't tend to watch that much TV. I download all my viewing and use a popcorn hour. It's great for gaming, PS3, or mac book hooked up for bit of windows gaming. Driver San francisco is pretty impressive.

I just project onto a 'slate' wall. Gonna problaly paint it with grey steel 2 over the next week or 2 . Pic below has a bit of ambient lite with Qi that's on just now. The proj shelf will be tided and finished. I run the s-vid into my av amp and it has two monitor outs so I can use my small screen if I don't want to fire up the proj.

proj.jpg

proj2.jpg
 
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Danny091 said:
I'm one of them people that read spec's of things till i cant read anymore and get so confused about which one i should go for :O. So yeh its hassle to me :P.
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i understand that , but there are always certain models that everyone recommends that you cant go wrong with

set a budget and find the best one in your budget, tis not that hard :)
 
Paul11 said:
i understand that , but there are always certain models that everyone recommends that you cant go wrong with

set a budget and find the best one in your budget, tis not that hard :)
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I can do that i guess. I don't have a budget atm though i'm broke! :( Will have to wait till the new year :D
 
Paul11 said:
i understand that , but there are always certain models that everyone recommends that you cant go wrong with

set a budget and find the best one in your budget, tis not that hard :)
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Can you recommend me one please. I have a very wide budget. Just whatever is the best price point.

For e.g. For a good gaming PC your talking £800-£1000 and that is great for everyone. You can spend £3000 but it's a bit overkill and no one appreciates it.

£500 will also get you one, but it wont be great.

I'm looking for someone to advise me what's ample to spend. I don't want to over do it if I don't have to and likewise I don't want to buy rubbish.h
 
to get a 1080p 2D projector 1000 is your minimum.
3D, epson for around 1000 i think, but probably looking at 13-1400 or so +specs + 3d equipment
For £5-600 I think you can get a pretty decent 720p 3D capable unit, lots of choice there.
Technology wise DLP vs LCD, DLP probably more 'plasma' and LCD more 'LCD' if that makes any sense. DLP probably better for games and motion.
 
Buchanan0204 said:
For e.g. For a good gaming PC your talking £800-£1000 and that is great for everyone. You can spend £3000 but it's a bit overkill and no one appreciates it.

£500 will also get you one, but it wont be great.
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Using that analogy i'd say an £800 gaming PC is roughly the equivalent on the new JVC X30 for just under 3k. Here's a review:

http://www.avforums.com/review/JVC-X30-DLA-X30-DILA-3D-Projector-Review.html

I spent some time with it's bigger brother, the X70, which is lush and produces the best projected image i've seen, but it's not worth 7k to me. That's the £3000 gaming rig :)
 
Warbie said:
Using that analogy i'd say an £800 gaming PC is roughly the equivalent on the new JVC X30 for just under 3k. Here's a review:

http://www.avforums.com/review/JVC-X30-DLA-X30-DILA-3D-Projector-Review.html

I spent some time with it's bigger brother, the X70, which is lush and produces the best projected image i've seen, but it's not worth 7k to me. That's the £3000 gaming rig :)
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£3k is just a tad unreasonable I think. I liked the other guys prices better :p

I was thinking £2k tops would be more than enough for a good one and a screen.

Is £3k really necessary to have a good quality unit?
 
Not at all - I was just going by your analogy :) Home projectors go up to 30k!

I would still try and pick up a JVC, though - be it second hand or one of last years models (there should be good deals on the X3 soon as suppliers try and clear stock for the X30 and Richer Sounds have the older HD350 for 1.6k). Under 5k JVC are very hard to beat.

As for screens I wouldn't want to go cheaper than Beamax or Carada. Fixed is preferable as manuals develop waves over time (unless you pay a grand or so for something tab tensioned!). What kind of room is this going in - can you batcave it? :) That's when things start getting fun and you really appreciate the picture a projector can throw.

Check out the forums at http://www.avsforum.com/ if you want more info.
 
Buchanan0204 said:
Can you recommend me one please. I have a very wide budget. Just whatever is the best price point.

For e.g. For a good gaming PC your talking £800-£1000 and that is great for everyone. You can spend £3000 but it's a bit overkill and no one appreciates it.

£500 will also get you one, but it wont be great.

I'm looking for someone to advise me what's ample to spend. I don't want to over do it if I don't have to and likewise I don't want to buy rubbish.h
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Read up on what all the different models offer and then you can make a reasonably informed decision, just asking "what shall I buy?" is a recipe for disaster tbh. Spend some time reading the site I've linked to below, it's chock full of useful info and you'll be in a much better position to decide which setup will suit you and your room best. And as I stated in your other thread, go to the projector section of AV Forums, there are some genuine experts there who will be very helpful.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/hometheaterprojectors.php
 
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