MousePotato's Journal: My Ask /. | Anyone have any experience with lcd projectors?

For the longest time I've wanted an LCD projector for my home entertainment setup. I have the perfect wall in my living room to project it on at almost any size upto 8 ft wide (though I doubt I would try to push it to that large) and it would certainly be much nicer than the 21" tube I have at present. I'm not concerned with daylight operation as I am not home from work until after 10 most weekdays and as such on my day off I have really good blackout shades and curtains to hide from the sun. I just started looking around at projectors again and see there are lots of new options available. Do any of you have any recommendations or warnings that you could share with me as to whats good and what isn't these days?

DIY LCD Projector

[jeepliberty]

I read an article about a "Do It Yourself Projector" project using the LCD screen from an old laptop. Try Googling DIY LCD projector. There's a bunch of links. [google.com] http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=diy+lcd+proje ctor&btnG=Google+Search [google.com] .

Re:

[MousePotato]

Wow! That's an option I had not considered. After reading through some of the sites I am really impressed with what can be done on the DIY front. Thanks for the heads up on this idea!

I was looking to just buy one of the new projectors as I don't have a lot of time to build one of these puppies but it just may be an option/project to seriously consider as this is really an inexpensive alternative and the results appear to be much better than I thought.

Not a Dell

[TechnoLust]

Every Dell projector I've seen overheats an average of 3 times per meeting. Overheats and shuts the bulb off. NOT fun during a movie or deathmatch.

Re:

[MousePotato]

Thanks for the heads up on the dell projectors. This isn't the first time I've heard that about them but hearing it again is a good reminder to avoid them. I've been considering Viewsonic http://viewsonic.com/products/projectors/ [viewsonic.com] as I've had great experiences with thier monitors over the years. My P815 finally bit the dust about 2 years ago after 5-6 years of continuous service in CAD and games. Any experience with thier projectors?

Re:

[TechnoLust]

I find Viewsonic projectors to be mostly reliable, but the quality isn't the best. The Epson projector I used was probably one of the best ones I've used but it was a couple years newer than the viewsonic, so that may play a part. Basically you want the highest contrast ration and highest lumens that you can get for image quality and the highest MTBF for reliability. If you find a Viewsonic with a both of those, I say go for it.

look at the consumables

[cloudmaster]

Make sure you're looking for the availability of replacement lamps, how long they last, and what they cost - esp if you're replacing a TV. You *will* replace your bulb a couple of times over the projector's life. Get your price range nailed down, and try to maximize native resolution (at least 1024x768 if you plan to view HD content at some point), then try to balance brightness in lumens (and contrast ration) with what you'll be willing to spend. It's good to make sure that the thing supports multiple i