Just noticed on TB. Add to cart and add coupon AFL5 for the lowest price I've seen on this well-reviewed projector.

Linkage

720p projectors prices are dropping =)

52club said:As a former owner of a projector just a few tips. One it helps to be someone who likes to 'tinker' a little. The second monoprice.com is your friend. If you have the correct room, like a basement, you'll absolutely love it.

tinker? like with the colors?

eb50 said:720p projectors prices are dropping =)

Finally.. =) I've been eyeballing these for a while. 1080p is just waaaaay out of the ballpark price wise. and looking at this you'd have to have a huge screen for it to even matter.

so... the next obvious questions for those who havent dealt with projectors....

What is bulb replacment cost, and what is the bulb life rated at?

i had an infocus 4805 480p PJ. i'll say just one thing: projectors are FCKINNG amazing!!!!!!!!!! from the moment you get it rolling you will be so freakin glad you got one and didn't just go with some paltry 40" lcd. it really makes enjoying films, games, whatever a completely different experience

it really doesn't take much to make a good pj setup

1. need to be able to darken the windows easily
2. as mentioned, cables are incredibly cheap at monoprice
3. many good cheap ways to make screens. if you're having a 92" or less screeen, you can buy a board at home depot called "do-able" for $15; it's white; it's perfect; you can also paint the wall, use blackout cloth, etc. buying a screen isn't cheap, but then again, the pj is way cheaper than any plasma of decent size anyway

eb50 said:52club said:As a former owner of a projector just a few tips. One it helps to be someone who likes to 'tinker' a little. The second monoprice.com is your friend. If you have the correct room, like a basement, you'll absolutely love it.

tinker? like with the colors?

By 'tinker' I mean running the cables, hanging the projector, addressing light control, and constructing the screen. It is a lot more work than some people are willing to commit too. If you are willing to put in a little work you'll have a set up that will be the envy of all your friends at a fraction of the cost of other alternatives, like plasma or lcd.

Nintari said:so... the next obvious questions for those who havent dealt with projectors....

What is bulb replacment cost, and what is the bulb life rated at?

There are two ways to look at this depending on viewing habits and your budget. For people like myself who lives alone, no kids and not a big tv freak anyway, buying a lamp probably makes no sense. I have the HD1000 which, as someone else pointed out, very similar to this projector. But technology advances at a very rapid rate. I'm 60 years old and have no intention of holding on to something out of date for very long.

At my rate of usage, I will probably get close to 3 years out of the original bulb (unless it starts getting dim prematurely). In three years I will probably be able to buy a brand new projector with this technology for not a whole lot more than the lamp will cost. But in three years, I will be able to upgrade to a more refined and better projector for maybe two but not more than three times the cost of the lamp.

So, in my situation at least, if I can get three years out of a projector that is enough for me and then it is time to upgrade.

It seems like all the deals I see for 6Ave.com suggest using the AFL5 coupon code. I think it is better to use the code COUPONCABIN which is 6% off instead of 5% off.

FWIW, I ordered this projector about three weeks ago from 6Ave. Came promptly and I love it. One word of warning though, this projector does not have lens shift, so you will want to place it exactly where you want it unless you can deal with degraded PQ as a result of keystoning.

Bulb part # is VLT-HC910LP cost is between $304-$460

Bulb life is 2000 hours on standard mode and 3000 hours on saving mode

@ 3000 hours that gives you about 8.5 hours watching time a day for a year

@ 2000 hours that gives about 5.5 hours per day for a year

Of course you always have those rare cases where the bulb dies early or lasts longer but just stuff to be aware of

Anyone have any luck ordering just the bulb and not the whole assembly? sometimes you can luck out like that and spend a lot less, but the bulbs by themselves are hard to find sometimes.

lumenlab.com.. forums on DIY projector building. Interesting project I'm doing right now. Total cost for mine: $100 (resolution=480, Bulb replacement=$10).