Advice needed, repair or replace projector? (1 Viewer)

[Will Cunningham]

Hi,

I sent my sanyo PLV-Z3 projector in for warrantee repair and it turned out that my problems (blue splotchy areas) was caused by the air filters being clogged with dust and the projector overheating and frying the LCD panels. That is not covered by the warrantee and will run me about $700 for the repairs and shipping.

I need to decide if I should repair the Z3 or apply that $700 towards a new projector. I am not in a great place to spend tons of extra money, but I use the projector extensively and a little investment might be worth it.

The projector sees 6 hours of continuous use most weekdays and 14 hours of continuous use on the weekends. That is tough on lamp life and the projector in general. It see's use for movies/TV but mostly as a computer monitor....World of Warcraft on a 100" screen is pretty sweet and you REALLY miss it when your projector is in the shop.

My recent experience, while totally my fault for not cleaning the air filters, does leave me preferring DLP technology and it's lack of LCD panels to fry. Does anyone have any suggestions or advise? Should I repair the Z3 and continue on with it till I am in a better financial spot and can get a 1080p projector? I can't remember the last time I was this indecisive about what to do.

Thanks!!!!!

Will

 

[Jim Mcc]

DO NOT have it repaired. You can buy a brand new projector for $700. A couple are the Optoma H27, Optoma H31, Infocus 4805. I'm saving the best part for last: The new Optoma HD72 is $999. It's a 720p(HD) DLP projector, and there's a thread and review going at Avsforum.com. I think you're right to switch to DLP with your uses.

 

[Will Cunningham]

Thanks for the opinion, I really appreciate it. I have been following the HD70 which is the model that is at $999. The HD72 is around $1500 still. I have been considering the HD70 but the 8 bit DAC has me concerned about the vibrancy of the colors. It has made me consider the HD72 because it does have a 10 bit DAC.

I need a minium of 720p to make computer use viable which rules out the 4805, but the panny and even the sanyo Z4 is tempting as well. I think I really do want DLP this time though so I am zeroing in towards the HD72 and HD70.

I need to find more info about how the 8 bit vs 10 bit DAC affects the real world performance of the system.

 

[Jim Mcc]

What is your budget? Another excellent 720p DLP projector is the Mitsubishi HC3000. It also has the 1280X768p resolution, which would be good for your computer use. Art at Projectorreviews.com said it's the best Dark Chip 2 projector he's reviewed. You can also read a review at Projectorcentral.com and a long thread about it and the HD72 at Avsforum.com. The prices for both of these will be dropping again since their replacements are coming out.

 

[Will Cunningham]

I ended up going with the HD72. I very seriously considered the HD70 but I got scared off by the 8bit DAC. I do kind of wish that I had done a tiny bit more research before I pulled the trigger. I love the projector so far...it is a HUGE improvement over the Z3. It is so much better that I am wondering if there was more wrong with my Z3 than just the fried LCD pannels.

I did not realize the HD73 was coming out so soon, it probably will cause the price of the HD72 to drop. I am pretty happy otherwise though. It was a tough projector to place because any keystoning at all made a large impact on the image quality, particularly when running my computer. I have a bunch of tweaking to do but it is already noticiably brighter and more colorful than the Z3 pre-fried LCD.

I am very relieved I did not fix the Z3, I think that would have been a huge waste of money. Thanks for the advice!