Buying a projector, ??'s about bulb life (1 Viewer)

[MichaelWW]

I have decided to take the leap and buy a projector. My first choice is the Sanyo PLV-Z1. But I may spend a few extra bucks and get the Panasonic PT-L300U. On projectorcentral.com I see both get about 2000 hours of bulb life. I can do all the calculations I want as far as how long I will use the projector, or how many days a week I will use it but in the end it's a total guess. What do some of you get for bulb life compared to the advertised bulb life? Also, how long did it take you to accumulate that many hours. Maybe this is a dumb question, but I just want to know some real-world numbers. I only see myself watching about 1 movie a week and 2 to 4 hours a week of gaming on it. I did some quick figuring (at 10 hours of use per week), and that came up to just short of 4 years (200 weeks) for 2000 hours of bulb life. Can I really expect it to last that long?

 

[Neil Joseph]

4 years is realistic for that kind of viewing. My last projector lasted about that long and then I sold it even before the bulb needed replacement. I am sure than the 300U has an even longer life than the 2000 if used in econo-mode (cinema black mode) whiich reduces the brightness a bit. I believe it is 3000 hours.

 

[Michael Mathius]

Per projector central

Lamp life in full power mode is 2000 hours, but in low power mode (the preferred way to run it), Panasonic claims you will get up to 5,000 hours.