just got a US spec OPTOMA h30 and want to know what i need to do to power it up in the UK.

[ntslik]

Originally Posted by cosmic

just got a US spec OPTOMA h30 and want to know what i need to do to power it up in the UK.

Not sure what you mean i would have to check the voltage, any reason why you got a US spec machine?

[theritz]

Well as an example, the Optoma H30 is $949.99 from Tiger Direct (Click Here ). That makes it £494....... compared to about £1000 in the UK...... fairly good reason, I'd say.


S.

[inzaman]

Does anybody know what the differences are between the US spec machine and a UK one, also warranty.

I am off to the states in June and 'might' look at the option of getting a US machine, because as the Ritz has pointed out, and after a bit of reasearch myself, the price differences between the US and UK machines are massive, especially when you get higher up the model range.

[theritz]

inzaman,

Projectorcentral.com lists the H30 as being 100 - 240v, so I'm assuming that it doesn't need a stepdown transformer (Click Here for Optoma USA's spec for the H31 - same as regards the voltage.)

The link I listed earlier indicates a 2 year warranty from Optoma USA - you could contact them and see if Optoma do a worldwide warranty scheme. I imagine that Optoma UK wouldn't be anxious to carry out warranty repairs in the normal course of events, seeing as they wouldn't have earned any money on the sale of the projector - I would, of course, be delighted to find myself mistaken in this regard. Essentially the primary issues are warranty and customs, I guess.

Further up the foodchain, the H77 is about £2340, the H79 £3172...... with the latter I'd want to do some research about PAL issues, but the prices are very appealing.


S

[ntslik]

Originally Posted by theritz

Well as an example, the Optoma H30 is $949.99 from Tiger Direct (Click Here ). That makes it £494....... compared to about £1000 in the UK...... fairly good reason, I'd say.


S.

I think your talking about the H30A in the UK (it's the H31 in the US), the H30 is the old machine which i think some old demo models are being sold off cheap in the UK, Optoma UK do have a european warranty not sure how that would effect a US warranty, don't forget though, Themescene projectors are designed for European Widescreen Home Cinema, so you might encounter pal issues

[theritz]

Neil,

The H31 Manual listed on the Optoma US site (Click Here, pdf over 1Mb download says....

�� True WVGA resolution 854 x 480 addressable pixels
�� Single 480p DarkChip2TM chip DLPTM technology
�� HDTV compatible (480i/p, 576i/p, 720p, 1080i)
�� NTSC/NTSC4.43/PAL/PAL-M/PAL-N/SECAM, and
HDTV compatible

If it's PAL compatible, do you know what changes are made to make it

designed for European Widescreen Home Cinema

?

.. not sure what European Widescreen Home Cinema means - is that a new standard I haven't heard of yet or a marketing term?

Readily agree that arranging warranty for an import is the main issue - if it had to be shipped back to the USA for warranty work, one would have to figure that possibility into assessing the cost/benefit of the import in the first place. Any idea what the return for warranty rate (i.e. how many per hundred shipped) is on Optoma/Themescene - even a rough guess based on your own experience would help. If the projector had a very low return rate, then one might take into consideration the reduced liklihood of having to return the projector to the US for warranty work - the converse would also apply, of course.

Regards,

S.

[ntslik]

He didn't buy the H31 he bought the H30

[theritz]

Thank you for your helpful and informative reply.

Regards,

S.

[ntslik]

Originally Posted by theritz

Thank you for your helpful and informative reply.

Regards,

S.

How could i reply to a post about the H31 when the thread is about an old H30 he bought from the US, not sure how that would help Cosmic

[inzaman]

Cheers Ritz, i am going to email Optoma and find out what the situation is in this regard. I said 'might' as i am also looking at a couple of other DLP models, namely the new Sharp, and the fact i will only be on the mainland for a few days before then going over to Hawaii.

[MikeD]

I remember when the H30 was launched Optoma stated in their advertising blurb (I think on their web site) that it was the first projector optimised for european use and PAL.

I wonder if the software and projector default settings differ slightly relative to the country of sale to take into account the broadcasting standard?

Could be worth asking Optoma that question, I've always found their technical support very obliging.

[inzaman]

Right i sent Optoma an email along the lines of;

I am visiting the US and would like to take advantage of the favourable exchange rate, i am therefore thinking of purchasing an Optoma projector whilst i am in the US.
As you are a global company and according to your website very customer focussed i assume that the warranty will therefore be honoured by yourselves when i return the projector to the UK, rather than me having to go through the hassle of dealing with the US side.
Could you please advise that this is the case so i can purchase your product whilst over there.

Thanks etc etc.

The response i got was as follows;

Thank you for your e-mail.

If you buy a projector in the US you will be covered by the US warranty and not the UK warranty (and vice versa).

The technology is completely different and Optoma UK and Optoma US have different projectors.

Kind regards etc etc



This difference must be something to do the European PAL thing then

[theritz]

inzaman,

The technology is completely different .......

*** ?? Newsflash - - - - - - - - Optoma USA enter the LCD market - - - - -



Whatever about PAL compatibility issues (Their own website and User manuals say that they're Pal compatible ),

and Optoma UK and Optoma US have different projectors.

... sounds like a brush-off to me. Some different models, yes, but made by the same manufacturer - spare parts have to come from the same source. Probably more like Optoma US and Optoma UK have exclusive distribution rights and Optoma US can't export into the UK market at cheaper prices. Fairly predictable, really, and a bit like buying from Procejapan - if it goes wrong then it's back to the US to get it fixed. Gotta make a call on whether the savings are worth it, in the absence of any information on what the warranty return rate is like.


Sean.

[Decadence]

I would have thought that with a switchable US/UK power supply on board that it would be fine...you should just need a UK power lead for it to work.

[Joe Fernand]

theritz

If I purchase a VW Golf in the US, Germany, Ireland, UK etc - will they all be exactly the same? I doubt it - each location will supply a 'version' of the model that is optimised/relevant to the local market.

Optoma/ThemeScene do the same across the various continents they operate in - Optoma/ThemeScene UK have an in house technical department that take the standard factory specification and then work with the factory to build in-region specific features; this is no different to what the likes of Matsu****a (Panasonic) do with Plasma Displays; there are for example five regional variants on the PWD7 chassis that I know of.

Personal Import can work for some if your saving Import Duty, Local Tax and not covering local Distribution and Retailer costs/margins; then again your on your own if you have a problem and your product is not covered by a worldwide warranty and you may find the differing specifications and supplied accessories means you have a lesser product.

I also have to ask weren't 'Transferable Warranties' a must have feature a week or so ago - I take it that's no longer on the 'must have' list and certainly not factored into any Import vs. UK price calculations I've seen so far

Best regards

Joe

[ntslik]

Originally Posted by Joe Fernand

theritz

If I purchase a VW Golf in the US, Germany, Ireland, UK etc - will they all be exactly the same? I doubt it - each location will supply a 'version' of the model that is optimised/relevant to the local market.

Optoma/ThemeScene do the same across the various continents they operate in - Optoma/ThemeScene UK have an in house technical department that take the standard factory specification and then work with the factory to build in-region specific features; this is no different to what the likes of Matsu****a (Panasonic) do with Plasma Displays; there are for example five regional variants on the PWD7 chassis that I know of.

Personal Import can work for some if your saving Import Duty, Local Tax and not covering local Distribution and Retailer costs/margins; then again your on your own if you have a problem and your product is not covered by a worldwide warranty and you may find the differing specifications and supplied accessories means you have a lesser product.

I also have to ask weren't 'Transferable Warranties' a must have feature a week or so ago - I take it that's no longer on the 'must have' list and certainly not factored into any Import vs. UK price calculations I've seen so far

Best regards

Joe

Joe, mention anything with Themescene in it and a small few die hard anti-themescene'rs always pop up without fail, you could put a cherry on top of every projector. they would still complain it tastes a bit funny, great point about the 'Transferable Warranty'

Originally Posted by ntslik

you could put a cherry on top of every projector

You mean you don't already?



Only joking

[ntslik]

Originally Posted by Kramer

You mean you don't already?



Only joking

Sorry no, we were going to do the cherry on top or shirt off our back campaign

Originally Posted by ntslik

shirt off our back campaign

Could be good...........any good looking female staff members? Would get me round for a demo pretty quick

[theritz]

Joe,

If I purchase a VW Golf in the US, Germany, Ireland, UK etc - will they all be exactly the same? I doubt it - each location will supply a 'version' of the model that is optimised/relevant to the local market.

I think you'll find that there are physical changes required for cars sold in different markets - the analogy doesn't apply for projectors, which, according to Optoma USA site are PAL compatible.

Personal Import can work for some if your saving Import Duty, Local Tax and not covering local Distribution and Retailer costs/margins; then again your on your own if you have a problem and your product is not covered by a worldwide warranty

See my post # 5 -

Essentially the primary issues are warranty and customs, I guess.

,

I also have to ask weren't 'Transferable Warranties' a must have feature a week or so ago - I take it that's no longer on the 'must have' list and certainly not factored into any Import vs. UK price calculations I've seen so far

See my post # 7 -

Readily agree that arranging warranty for an import is the main issue - if it had to be shipped back to the USA for warranty work, one would have to figure that possibility into assessing the cost/benefit of the import in the first place.

See my post # 14 -

Fairly predictable, really, and a bit like buying from Pricejapan - if it goes wrong then it's back to the US to get it fixed. Gotta make a call on whether the savings are worth it, in the absence of any information on what the warranty return rate is like.

The issue raised in an earlier thread related to the fact that if you pay a for a projector with a warranty in the UK, then that warranty should be on the proejctor and not related to the person buying it - the difference between an insurance policy and a product warranty, well illustrated by the number of projector brands who have a transferrable warranty (other than Themescene who confirmed to me on the phone that the warranty was not transferrable.)

If you buy a projector as a personal import, then the issues of warranty and import duties are prime, as I pointed out clearly in earlier posts in this thread.

Neil,

mention anything with Themescene in it and a small few die hard anti-themescene'rs always pop up without fail

Aaaaw, poor you.............

I have absolutely no bias for or against any projector brand, seen loads of them, loved them all (more or less), would buy them all to have a choice if I won the Lottery ....... so if you were including me in your term "anti-themesceners", then I must reject that emphatically. I haven't seen any Themescene proejctors in action, so I couldn't comment from personal experience on their performance. The fact that someone like Gary Lightfoot thought a H77 a suitable replacement for his HT1000 is, for me, a very convincing commendation of the quality of that projector, and certainly from traffic on the forums here, one comes across very little negative experience with Themescenes.

You're far too sensitive about comments about Themescene, chill out, if they're even half as good as you say then they can stand on their own reputation.

Regards,


Sean.

[Grubert]

Nice display of FUD tactics, mates.

It's exactly like buying from pricejapan... or buying a subwoofer from SVS

You have to weigh the massive savings against the chance of a projector malfunction (in which case you'd have to send the unit back to the US for service). Simple as that.

[indiejones]

Originally Posted by cosmic

just got a US spec OPTOMA h30 and want to know what i need to do to power it up in the UK.

Hi Cosmic
I am new to this forum and noticed your post, I have the Optoma H30 (US spec) which I have had for over a year now and it works fine here with all my equpment(DVD player-Samsung HD745, UK Xbox)all I did is cut of the US 2 pin plug and then connected a UK plug and that was it and pictures are awsome your H30 will come with a VGA to Component adapter so buy some component leads and you will be away in cinema glory, other members are right in saying that Optoma UK will not cover the warranty but me and my family travel to the US quite alot so I had no concerns check out my setup http://www.thedirtynation.com/forum/...asp?albumid=84