Hi Arnie G
The IBM is indeed the same as the X1 and you can download the firmware from the Infocus website.
www.infocus.com
The firmware only allows the lamp hours counter to go beyond the 3000 to 4000 hours, so should you reach the 3000 hour mark you can just use the bulb reset to zero the counter and carry on.
There are three issues however to consider anyway, at 3000 hours you may not be too satisfied with the lumens output - there is a reduction over time so 4000 hours may be a bit academic. Also, I believe the version 4.1 firmware (which allowed the counter hours to go to 4000) has now been superseded by v4.2, so there may have been some problems (although not with the 4000 hrs). Therefore, I would wait for the feedback on this version before upgrading. You'll find lots of info about this on the US site,
www.avsforum.com where the X1 is very popular. Finally, if your machine is still under warranty and develops a fault, you may not be able to reset back to the original firmware – it may invalidate your warranty not having IBM firmware. Even Infocus will charge for problems encountered if a firmware update has caused the problem, due to poor installation.
Don't forget the old adage “if it isn’t broke…..”
hope this helps
Paul