InFocus X1 vs. BenQ 6100 – any Toronto demos? (1 Viewer)

[Bob Movies]

Hi Everyone,

I’m really excited about buying my first projector, though I don’t have a huge budget to work with. I’m pretty sure that I’ve narrowed it down to these two.

The 6100 can be had for $999 Canadian ($1199 minus $200 rebate until Oct. 26 at Business Depot), and the X1 is $1277. The 3x colour wheel combined with the reduced price seems like the 6100 is the winner, but I’ve never seen either in action. Does anyone know of stores in the GTA that have one or both on display? I’d like to see it first if I can, to avoid the hassle of sending it back.

Does anyone know of a better deal to be had on either of these projectors? If so, I’d love to know about it! Is there another low-budget projector that I’ve missed entirely? If so, please let me know! I’ve heard the 4805 is really nice, but at $2399 Canadian it’s out of my price range.

One last projector question – is there a GTA place that sells a VGA to component cable? What about ceiling mounts? Right now the ones at www.perfectmounts.com seem like the best looking and most functional mounts, and the price isn’t that bad ($135 CDN.)

Any advice would be appreciated!

Bob

 

[Jim Mcc]

Bob,it's a shame the X1 is almost $300 more there. I bought the X1 about 2 months ago and I love it. Did you read the reviews about these 2 at Projectorcentral.com? Is there a store with a trial period/no restocking fee where you can pick one up and check it out? That's what I did at Circuit City. I made my own screen for about $40, using 1X3 pine frame and blackout cloth from Joann Fabrics. I also made my ceiling mount for about $10, using a scrap piece of MDF, 2 pipe flanges, 1 pipe nipple, 3 bolts, nuts and washers. Both were very easy to make. Avsforum.com has step by step photos and instructions. Good luck.

 

[brentl]

You won't be dissapointed with the 6100 for $1000, I paid $1275 about 8 months ago when the going rate was $1500.

I feel like buying another for fun!!

Look at getting your hands on an LG 7832 upscaling DVD player from 2001 audio/video, the Faroujda Deinterlacer makes DVDs look fantastic.

Just make sure you get a production date prior to June(mine is Nov 03) on the 7832. Before that date it would upconvert everything to 1080i, and afterwards only selected titles will be at 1080i.

It will still cost you less, and you'll have a new DVD player to boot.

I think Staples has a pretty good return policy?? You could check out the policy at BestBuy since they sell them now and take a test drive!

B

 

[Bob Movies]

I picked up the 6100 last night at Future Shop. They've got a 14 day return policy, but if you use the bulb for more than one hour, you need to pay a 10% restocking fee. I didn't like that policy too much, but Business Depot doesn't stock them (they'd need to ship it) so I decided to take the plunge.

My big issue was the fact that it's going to take me a lot longer than an hour to set up and configure this thing, but ultimately I don't think it really matters. Heck, I saw in the manual there's a way to reset the bulb hours, so I'd just do that if I needed to take it back!

Anyway, just set up on a folding chair and projected on my wall, a 120 x 75 inch picture from about 18 feet back looks fantastic! I've already ordered the ceiling mount from perfectmounts, and I'm just trying to find a place in Toronto that sells a 20 foot VGA-> RGB (Component) cable. Everything I've read online says that this projector looks even better when connected through the component input.

I've only played around with it for a few hours, so I'll report back when I've used it a bit more!

 

[Alek Hidell]

Isn't the BenQ more of a multimedia projector? How does it stack up as a home cinema? I saw one at a store and I wasn't that impressed, but I bet the one I saw had probably been on for 64 hours, and fingerprints all over the lens and was not properly calibrated. It was also a good hundred bucks more than you bought yours for (congrats on your shopping skills!). Could you post soome picks of it in action? I'd lik to see it set properly!