a decent projector (1 Viewer)

[Axel]

I discovered this forum just 2 days ago. I have been dreaming of my own home theater for years now (and still i am only 19 years young). The main problem is money. For working-guys it is very easy to save some money for a more or less expensive hobby like "home-theatering". I always thought it could cost me at least 3000 euros (1 euro is more or less eaqual to 1 dollar) for a decent home theater system. But as i grew "older", i realised that i have a very nice room at home which fits perfect for my own home theater (believe me, more than perfect), i have some spare couches and i can even gather a more than well enough sound system. With all that available, my little dream can come true, just one thing is needed: a decent projector. I am not buying a cheaper 16:9 tv, nope, not at all, a projector is what it takes to have the real cinema-effect at home and i have a perfect large room for one.
As always, there is a "but". Projectors are very expensive for a 19-year-old guy like me. I estimated that i could have saved about 1500 euros this july/august, for the projector alone. Are there any good projectors in this price-category? I am considering in buying secondhand material, but is this thrustworthy and at what should i pay specific attention when buying one secondhanded? What are the first things that can go wrong with a projector? I know that i shouldn't expect a superb projector for that kind of money, so could you guys give me some advice about the scpecifications a decent one of about 1500 euro should have? What are the main specifications i should look at? And one last thing: is a resolution of 800x600 more than good enough for a great image quality or should i consider one of 1024x768 at least?
I would really appreciate some good help.

 

[Fred Seger]

I just bought a infocus X1 for $1400 which includes shipping. It is a 4:3, 800:600 resolution, DLP projector, 1000/700 lumens. It will be arrive in about a week. it will be replacing an older Toshiba Projector, TLP711, 1024x768, 1400 lumens, LCD.
I've always had a problem with the black levels on the Toshiba and I hope the X1 will remedy that. According to what reviews I've read it's a very good projector for the money. also check out the avsforum.com for much more projector info than this forum. ( note: I prefer this forum for everything else though)

 

[Axel]

I must say that your infocus X1 has some great specs. Decent brightness, high contrast, good resolution and a long life time for the bulb. And 1400$ is more than affordable for me. 1 question: it has a 4:3 ratio, but does it also support 16:9 (i am totally new, so please clear this out)

 

[Fred Seger]

when feeding it 16:9 info in will end up cropping about 3% of the picture off because of the way in scales the picture.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Also, a native 4x3 projector will display black bars above and below the image.
What can go wrong with a projector? If maintained well, it should last you for years and years but some of the things that can happen are bulb replacements (in digital projectors - every 1000-3000 hours depending on model), dust particles on LCD panels (requires a cleaning), dead pixels (1 or more pixels on all the time). Just make sure you always allow the projector fan to cool the bulb (never remoce ALL power until the fan stops). Keep the environment as relatively dust free.
800x600 is a fairly decent resolution but I would not go lower. Other contenders include the Panasonic AE100, AE200 & AE300 which are native 16x9.
Take a read through a post I wrote Biginner's Primer and FAQ

 

[TanT]

Hi Fred.

You have PM.

Thanks Fred.