Buying my First Used Projector - $500 spending limit (1 Viewer)

[DanielJE]

like i said before i used a piece of foam board that is used to insulate foundations ($9.25 4x8) and my picture ended up being 7'x4' and this was temporary but after 8 months i still use it. my wife made black curtains to cover up the 6" on each side and a 12" valance on top it turned out really good.
everyone who sees it can't believe it is blue board painted white. i also have seen screen material on ebay.
anyhow, i sit about 8' back and the X1 is about 16' back on the ceiling.

 

[DanielJE]

i have a question for the X1 users.

how important is it to turn off the projector with the toggle switch on the side after you powered down with the remote.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Daniel,

There's information regarding that on the AVS Forum and in the unofficial X1 FAQ. Do a Google Search for "Infocus X1 FAQ" for more information. I personally only use the hard switch, never the remote on/off.

 

[Scott Dautel]

After lots of discussion, it's generally agreed that one should use the hard sswitch if the X1 will be off for more than a few hours. In fact, It's OK to use the hard switch directly (skipping the fan cool-down step) as long as you dont intend to restart the bulb soon (say, 30 min). The reasoning behind this is the the simple fact that it's actually less stresful on the bulb if it cools slowly compared to the faster cooling via the fan.

Heck ... I'd consider selling you my X1 (

 

[Cliff_B]

That definitely might be too big, but I plan on going as large as possible and then adjusting the size until it gets somewhere between the comfort zone and "OMG, this is better than going out to see a movie!"

Nice underground setup Mike! 'Halloween' has got to be one of the cornerstone horror movies of all time, at least I think so.

The foam board sounds like a great idea to try. As far as the screen itself goes, I should probably get into that in the appropriate forum (I've been reading SO much and looking at screen picture tests), but I'm currently looking at doing some sort of BO cloth (possibly painted with Kilz primer and then Behr Silverscreen) stretched over a 2x4 frame which will fold up in the middle and can be easily moved.

Either that or just buy a screen if I can get it as big as you saw in that picture I took, for a non-outrageous price.

Thanks,
Cliff

 

[Eric Hahn]

Not that I am an expert or anything, but I did not see mentioned that a x1 can display 4:3 in a 16:9 window( screen) but the PB6100 does not, if you switch back and forth between them you need to either touch the pj and zoom/ back and forth, or hope your hd box does this feature for you, or use a scaller or something like a dvdo iscan..

this to me is a big thing as I want to run a 16:9 screen, but it may not effect others.

just my .02

also , not all used pj's are junk, I am very happy with my pannie l200u, picked up at the price you mentioned at the start. just keep your eyes open,

hope I didnt confuse you, and it helps a little.

 

[Cliff_B]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the great advice on this.

Sorry for the delay but I live in Florida where Hurricane Charley swept through last Friday and have been without power since then. Just starting to check the mail and try to get back to normal so I'm jumping back into my projector hunt.

After debating and yet more debating, I decided to move up that extra $500 and get the InFocus 4805. I've heard absolutely nothing bad whatsoever about it. Probably won't get it for another month due to having to spend some emergency money the past few days, but I appreciate all the help everyone's provided. I was able to come to a conclusion in a very minimal amount of time. Now I can switch completely over to what to do for a screen for it.

Everyone here rocks!

Thanks again,
Cliff