Upgradeitis: Replacing my Infocus 4805 with what? (1 Viewer)

I have owned my 4805 since just after they came out and I love the unit, really great for the price However, their are two items that are starting to wear on me.
1) Fan noise:frowning:
2) The black color "shifting" where blotches appear at times during all black or very dark sequences.

Both are tolerable but the noise issue is really my biggest reason to upgrade. But in all honesty, what unit in this price range is a good enough improvement to justify an upgrade?

My main use for this p/j is of course movies via dvd and once in a while a hi-def tv feed or xbox 360 game or two.

Please post all suggestions and their selling points. My upcoming room will be 12'w x 21'l and as far as I can tell the p/j will be somewhere around 12' from the screen, perhaps a foot or two more back at the max, suspended from the ceiling.

PLMK-Thanks!

I'm sure there are lots of other gret projectors out there! I am so happy with my X1 despite it having the same problems you describe above.

I also own an IF 4805 (previous projector was an X1) and am still very, very, happy with the way my 480p DVDs look via the component input.

I plan on waiting until around July 2007 to upgrade again. At that point I plan to either purchase a 1080p single-chip DLP FP ... or, one those new 3 LED driven, one-chip DLP RPTV sets which should represent mature technology by then. (These kind of RPTVs will be all solid-state with no bulb and no color wheel. The three RED-GREEN-BLUE LEDs provide both the light source and the color modulation.) At that time I'll probably buy in to a Blu-ray player as well, assuming that its the clear winner in the High Def wars at that point.

But I digress ... If I were updating today, I would go with one of those new high contrast 720p LCD projectors. At 720p the SDE isn't too bad; there will (of course) be no RBE artifacts; and the contrast ratio is now (at about 2000:1 calibrated) comparable to the IF 4805. These kind of projectors are represented by the Panasonic PT-AE900U (streets for around $2100) and the Sanyo PLV-Z4(streets for around $2000.) Keep in mind that the IF 4805 is available everywhere right now for around $1000.

Infocus just introduced three new consumer projectors at the Vegas CES a few weeks ago. One was a direct replacement for the IF 4805, and one was a 720p projector based on the DarkChip 3 which should compete well with the LCD projectors mentioned above. The problem is, nobody seems to know for sure when these projectors will actually be available for purchase. Speculation is as early as March, so you may want to wait at least that long to evaluate what those projectors bring to the table.

Just make sure what ever projector you go with that it meets your rooms configuration. I mean, you gotta love the Optoma H72, but alas. It won't work in most rooms.

If you like DLP, I would stick with it or you may complain about the differences when compared to LCD.

Todd:

These look interesting.

[url=http://images.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/images/newinfocus.jpg] [/url]

Parker:

Those are the three new Infocus projectors that were introduced at this years' Vegas CES that I mentioned in my post above. I wasn't aware that they were available for purchase yet.

The IN74EX will probably compete favorably with the LCD projectors mentioned above. It will have a little less resolution (I believe its native resolution is 576p?) but due to the better inherent "pixel fill" for DLP vs. LCD, it will probably look about the same.

The IN76, a 720p projector, will probably be a better overall performer than the LCDs' mentioned, but will also initially cost a little more.

I like the new look of these projectors. It would be nice to see how the IN76 looks with a DVI or HDMI connection to it.

Where you able to see any of them in action or were you just told about the fact that they are coming out?

I wonder what this one will cost.

Parker:

I wasn't able to make it to the Vegas CES this year; but there was so much on-line coverage from so many different sites, that I almost *thought* that I was there!

As to the IF 777: This 3-chip 720p native resolution DLP projector (which has no color wheel, and therefore no RBE) has actually been on the market for about a year now. What's "new" with this projector for 2006 is that the MSRP price has been reduced about $10,000. I think that means that it may be available for around $12,000 now! (I don't know for sure since I was going to wait until I won the lottery to check on the price! )

apparently release is about 6 weeks away for these three

froogle has prices around 900-1000 for the 72 and 1900-2000 for the 76, couldn't find the 74

as far as i can tell there is a lot of fuss being made over these based strictly on the Infocus rep for making great pj's

there are plenty of other worthy competitors either out or shortly out

The world of front projection and 1080 is going to get interesting over the next few months that's for sure. I see 2K and 4K front projectors not too far behind them.

Then you have SED, OLED, LED and more on the horizon. It is a good time for the consumer with all the latest technologies out there competing for business. It is also a very confusing and frustrating time. The turn over time between the latest and greatest is so short now that when you walk out the door with your new rig you feel like you should have waited just another couple of days.

I personally wish that we were back to the days when you could buy something and pretty much know that it was going to be current for a couple of years at least.

Oh, well....such is the hobby that we have all chosen.

$12,000 for that Infocus 3 chip. I am with you Joe on needing to win the lotery for that one.