Need projector opinions

[iammike]

I've been using an Infocus SP5000 for the last year and a half that I've been quite happy with. I watch with the lights on, actually I'm usually working out while watching, so the trade off in black-levels for the increased brightness was a no-brainer for me. The problem is the HD inputs all stopped working. It doesn't recognize input into the VGA, DVI, or component inputs. It still works fine with composite or s-video though. Infocus wants a little over $400 to fix it which seems kind of steep. I'm trying to decide whether I should bite the bullet and let them fix it, or buy one of the new Mitsubishi HC1500's. They're currently on sale for $949 at Best Buy and they are throwing in a free screen. My thinking is I might be able to sell the SP5000 for some amount of money, the bulb only has around 700 hours on it and it still works fine for DVD's. I'm thinking if I add what I might be able to sell the SP5000 for to the cost of the repair, it might only cost a couple or so hundred more for the HC1500.

Anyone have any thoughts? Am I crazy to think anyone would want to buy the SP5000 as is? The HC1500 gets good reviews for usage with ambient light, but how does it compare to the SP5000

Thanks,
Mike

 

[dfergie]

I have close to 1,000 hours on the HC1500's predecessor the HD1000U can't say on the SP5000 but it replaced a X1 with bumping 3,000 hours on the bulb and the difference was night and day.

 

[Digital Dude]

The 1000 and 1500 are virtually identical. Same lamp, same chip, same color wheel. Only difference is 100 lumens. Love my HC1000, and Mits customer service is outstanding.

 

[iammike]

Dfergie, Digital Dude,

Thanks for the vote of confidence for the Mits. It's interesting. the specs. seem to indicate very similar performance, but at least one review indicates that the HC1500 is a lot brighter than the HD1000. I'm not really sure why though.

Mitsubishi HC1500 Home Theater Projector Review - General Performance

What do you guys think of the HD1000's performance in ambient light? Is there any problem watching it if you have a couple table lamps on? I know it won't be as good as watching in a darkened room, but I sometimes watch it while eating a meal on the couch or while I use the treadmill on the opposite end of my family room.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[dfergie]

I watch mine in a totally light controlled room, having said that there are times when I leave the overhead light on to do things and can see the picture fine... I run mine in Low lamp mode...

 

[iammike]

I watch mine in a totally light controlled room, having said that there are times when I leave the overhead light on to do things and can see the picture fine... I run mine in Low lamp mode...

That sounds pretty good. My experience is that overhead lights are the worst. Of course I've always ceiling mounted my projectors. With a table lamp on I've never had issues except for my old X1. I had one too by the way. I'm sure the light is going to wash out the picture somewhat, but I'm not real picky about having an absolutely perfect picture.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Gregg Loewen]

hi guys!
We are about to launch a power buy with both the BenQ PE 8720 and the W10000 projectors. the pricing will be INSANE!!
Stay tuned

Gregg

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Look for details on this special powerbuy TODAY here at SatelliteGuys!

Our thanks to Gregg and the rest of the folks at LionAV and BenQ for making this special offer possible!

 

[jcflesh]

Did you ever try resetting your projector?.. i have the infocus 4805.. i had an issue a few months back that every HD signal that the projector would receive would just be black, everything else worked fine., reseting fixed the issue. give it a shot, doesnt hurt... (if not) dont loose anything

 

[iammike]

Did you ever try resetting your projector?.. i have the infocus 4805.. i had an issue a few months back that every HD signal that the projector would receive would just be black, everything else worked fine., reseting fixed the issue. give it a shot, doesnt hurt... (if not) dont loose anything

JC,

I did several factory resets via the setup menus on the projector. Is there any other way to do a reset? I didn't see any kind of hidden button anywhere.

I did purchase the HC1500 over the weekend from Best Buy. It really is a nice bright projector. Watching football Sunday afternoon was no problem in my family room. I had the blinds drawn on the window nearest the screen, but the others were open and the 100" picture was very good. Putting the lamp in the brighter mode for sports and the economy mode for tv shows and movies seems to work very well. For what it's worth, the colors are much more vibrant and the black levels are little bit better than the SP5000 it replaced. BB also had a good deal on a warranty. For $199 I get 4 years parts and labor that includes 1 bulb replacement. Since the bulb goes for around $300, I figured this was one time an extended warranty might actually be worth it.

Of course now JC will probably tell me how to reset the SP5000 and it will work perfectly again.

Mike

 

[dfergie]

Congrats! I love my mits... although I haven't had time to turn it on and watch since last week

 

[jcflesh]

sorry iammike (lol) i dont know if theres any other way of doing a factory reset.. maybe upgrade or reinstall the software to latest. i dont recall if you said that you did that..

 

[iammike]

sorry iammike (lol) i dont know if theres any other way of doing a factory reset.. maybe upgrade or reinstall the software to latest. i dont recall if you said that you did that..

JC,

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think the HD inputs are just plain broke. I'll probably just try to sell the SP5000 for whatever I can get for it and stick with the Mits. The bulb has just under 700 hours and the SD inputs still work fine so I'd think someone wanting to watch DVD's might be interested. I'll probably put it up on the classifieds forum and see if I get any interest.

Mike