Are projectors worthwhile?

SolarNexus

I'm interested in purchasing a projector to use in conjunction with watching movies, playing games, watching tv etc. but I hear that there are some pretty severe limits to using a projector. Most importantly, a problem I'm worried about is replacing of lamps and ghosting.

perhaps someone more knowlegable can help me?

Wolff

Ive had a projector for the last couple of years - nothing fancy, small sony one I got cheap from a job I left -

Use it once or twice a week for movie viewing and its brilliant - have never had any ghosting and have tested a couple of games on it - but the image is just too big really for games

Watching telly is ok but again unless is a match the image is just too big

Have it running off the PC at using the vga input at the moment using Power DVD and linked to the 5.1 system and the quality is superb

Also had it linked to Svideo output on normal dvd player and quality was fine

So in short projectors are brill for watching movies nothing comes near

Crap for telly and fairly crap for games

Bulb life is entirely dependent on use and can be expensive - Ive personally only used about 1/4 of the bulb life over 2 years

SolarNexus

hmm...

makes sense, I suppose that games would be pretty crap. I'm guessing though, it would be amazing for Sky Digital, and movies etc.

still very worried about lamp costs

smadger

I have a Hitachi TX100 hooked up to my computer which I mostly use for watching movies (using Theatertek). It's fantastic. Great quality image. Demo a DLP one though as the blacks are better and get one of those if you can't see the rainbow effect. I could see it so I went for an LCD model.

I have used it to play games, but only certain types. Playing Doom3 in a dark room with surround sound and an 8 foot image scares the pants off you. Played HL2 as well and that was really good. So for shooters it's good, for anything else it's not worth it, IMO.

I don't watch TV with it as I'd have to run cabling, but I do believe that they're dodgy enough. The trouble with TV is that there are a lot of imperfections in the image that you just don't notice on a 32 inch screen. When that image is 8 foot wide, you really notice the imperfections. Or so I'm told.

Plus you have to reduce lighting as much as possible for the full effect. Not somethng you're likely to want to do when watching Eastenders or whatever.

Maxwell

Agree with all the posters here.

I have a projector and mainly use it for watching movies through a laptop (although I am in the middle of amending this) and the experience is amazing - nothing better than watching your favourite movie in the dark with the surround sound on with an 8ft or so screen - really is brilliant.

As for watching TV - haven't gone there yet as it involves more of a set up that I am trying to arrange.

I would really recommend one if can afford to buy it and only use it for movies etc - therefore your bulb life will last a whole lot longer (also make sure you shut it down as described in the manual - let it cool off properly as this will help increase the bulb life)

Maxwell

Also

As you seem to be worried with the bulb life
- the cost of them is around 300-400 sterling,so it is important to use the projector as intended and shut it down correctly and then increase the life of the blub.

Also - maybe you should check the projector you are thinking of buying and run a search on how much the bulb will cost when it needs to be replaced:

http://www.projectorpoint.co.uk/projectorbulbs.htmhttp://www.projectorpoint.co.uk/projectorbulbs.htm

SolarNexus

what about a projector screen? are they really necessary? could I get my wall painted white and use that?

smadger

Paint it white and see how it goes. If you become really obsesed then buy a screen.

Mine projects onto a white wall and I'm happy with my setup. No intention of getting a screen yet.

The big issue with a screen is that they look rubbish when not in use.

quarryman

was just reading up on projectors myself recently and spotted this one for €362.

http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/product.asp?id=11781&random=&cid=&src=Search

the res is low but it might be half decent. any opinions?

SolarNexus

quarryman wrote:

was just reading up on projectors myself recently and spotted this one for €362.

http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/product.asp?id=11781&random=&cid=&src=Search

the res is low but it might be half decent. any opinions?

two things worry me about that item: 1) it looks incredibly tacky and I worry about its quality 2) what happens if you wear out the bulb? that clearly is not a brand name which is well known, I doubt that bulbs are interoperable and so... you have to buy a new one each time the bulb expires?

EDIT:
in the feature list, keystone correction isnt mentioned, which would mean the projector would need to be aimed dead-centre for it to have a good looking image, elsewise it would be skewed.

Ciaran500

quarryman wrote:

was just reading up on projectors myself recently and spotted this one for €362.

http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/product.asp?id=11781&random=&cid=&src=Search

the res is low but it might be half decent. any opinions?

It doesn't quote the brightness, not a good sign
At 30dB+ its far to loud
"Continuous working time – 8H" Bad cooling?
640x480 doesn't look good when blown up to a big screen. 480x234 will be terrible

quarryman

yeah specs are fairly crap. but its cheap and there's a few reviews praising it (pinch of salt with them though).

SouperComputer

that projector is abolute rubbish. I tried one out a while back.

T
There really is no other way of putting it! It uses a 12v spotlight bulb for a lamp.

its about as bright as a candle, grainy as hell (VGA my ass, ive seen doom look better on a PDA's res!) makes a load of noise and heat.

AVOID! AVOID!

At this stage now, most projectors have more or less the same lamp life. Anything around 1000 ansi lumens is fine. I shine mine on a wall without any problems.

TV looks like poo, simply bacause it usues 300 odd lines. I havent experienced ghosting with games, and its great for scaring the crap out of yourself at 2am.

SolarNexus

at this point in time I'm actually considering a 42" plasma display. Given that a plasma has a much longer lifetime (ie: can leave it on nearly 24/7, whereas to do the same with a projector requires paying for more bulbs, therefore costs more), I have pretty much disbanded the idea of projector in favour of plasma

Ciaran500

Sounds like you were looking for a general use TV, Plasma/LCD/CRT is much more suited to this role whereas a projector is for those special ocasions.

Sparky

well you could always do this
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20041201/index.html

Its kinda interesting to read, i would be tempted.