FAO Toshiba ET1 owners

hi guys

i am very tempted to get one of thse projectors but before i do i was wondering if anyone here has any pics of theirs in action? pref high res ones

also im a bit worried about the keystone correction has anyone got any opinions?

[Maff et1]

Pictures won't provide any usable information, the resultion will be too low and colour space issues mean you can never trust a picture of a picture.

Keystone correction is digital (it adds or removes pixels to make the image non rectangular so when the picture distorts it looks rectangular). This should be avoided at all costs, as should the digital zoom.

Still, I've had my ET-1 for about 3 weeks now. And its the best 360 quid I've ever spent. Which either means it's good or I should get out more.

I use mine with a 5ft (width) screen. It's not the brightest projector in the world so screen width needs to be limited (perhaps 8ft or so). I've got no problem with screen door either, just soften the focus a little to blend it out. Signal is fed via prog scan with a Pio 575 - I tried it with RGB scart before the Pio arrived (old Wharfedale 750) and prog scan is deffinately better.

You have to be carefull positioning it though. No optical zoom or lens shift means that it's position is fixed by the position and size of screen.

Overall, an excellent value first PJ

If you still want pictures I can take some this weekend, but like I say you can't tell the actual projected picture quality from a photo.

[SJGIL]

Hi Smiley Man,

I have had one of these for two weeks and like maff et1 would agree that it is the best £360 I have spent in a long while. I have ceiling mounted mine pointing at a 5ft screen (from drhscreens) and the pictures on both DVD and Freeview and excellent for what was paid. I have adjusted the keystone correction by a few points so I can have the screen slightly lower and haven't noticed anything major to the picture quality but again I would agree with maff et1 if you can avoid using it do as you are reducing the number of pixels being used.

The ceiling bracket was one of the universal fellas on ebay and paid £28 for it delivered so would recommend this approach as it looks pucker with all the cables running up into the ceiling - no wires - the wife is very pleased!

I have connected my Pio 575 via component (progressive) and my freeview box via svideo and am more than happy with the final result.

I have heard some horror stories over short bulb life but at this price still couldn't resist it.

SJGILL

hi

think i may have to go for it then just need to figure out how im gonna mount it

i know that a pic wont do it justice but please just 1 pic

[Maff et1]

Unless anyone beats me too it I'll get me camera out this weekend then.

SJGIL - Short bulb life; Relating to the ET1 in particular? I hadn't seen anything specific but I think you always take a risk with the bulb, partly a matter of luck how long it lasts. The Epson TW10(?) has cheaper bulbs - about 115 quid, but it'd still take 3 bulbs before being cheaper than the Tosh.

[SJGIL]

Hi Maff et1 - Before I purchased the projector I searched the projectorcentral.com site and there are 12 consumer reviews there (mainly US based) but there was a theme of short bulb life - one guy had gone through 3 in 12 months with less than 4-500hrs on each . Also if you do a search on this site for the ET1 there are also a couple of references to short lamp life but seem to be more rumour based than fact. The positive comments about this projector on the projectorcentral.com site far out weigh the bulb issue but @ £200 - £250 for a new bulb when you paid £365 for the actual projector is a bit much, however, saying that you can afford to buy 3 (@ £200) of the fellas before you reach the original RPP for the projector anyway which is the way I looked at it . If I go through 4 lamps including the one supplied with the projector then I might not be a happy boy but if that time comes and I need to buy a 5th I will probably want to upgrade to newer model anyway.

Smiley Man - I haven't clue how to post images on this site but if I can get some good shots tonight I am more than happy to email you them if you want to PM me with your email address. Also let me know if you want a shot of the actual projector and the ceiling bracket or is it just screen shots you want. One last thing if you haven't done so as yet if you use the review section of this site and search for this model it should bring back 3 different reviews of this projector, one giving it 81% and two giving it 4 out of 5 stars - and this assumes paying £1000 for it so @£365 it's a no brainer mate .

[Maff et1]

Hmm, missed the comments about the bulb life (blinded by the price I suspect), just have to see how it goes. I figure by the time I've had it a year or two I'll had the upgrade bug anyway, and will have a much better idea what I'm looking for. Ofcource if the bulb goes in three months I might have a somewhat different outlook on the ET-1. At the moment I'm still infactuated.

[SJGIL]

Totally agree but if your bulb does go in 3 months use the 90 day warranty and get Toshiba to swap it out - If it is going to go I suspect it will be 3+ months knowing my luck but as I mentioned in the earlier post even if you have to buy a couple, gutting tho it would be its still a bargain and I am loving mine. I'm just following all the best practice guidelines I have heard about to prolong the life - There is a thread on here about this and there is some useful advice. I have included a link to it if your interested, it is worth a read. - Good Luck and enjoy your ET1.

Maximizing Lamp Life

[SJGIL]

Originally Posted by Smiley Man

hi

think i may have to go for it then just need to figure out how im gonna mount it

i know that a pic wont do it justice but please just 1 pic

Smiley Man - A few pics for you - I think I have worked out how to upload. Have included a couple of images of the projector mounted to the ceiling too if interested in going down that route. They are not the greatest pics in the world and don't really do the actual images any real justice but gives you an rough idea - the projected images are much better than presented here.

[kingtj]

Hi smiley man,

I have had the ET1 for just over 2 wks now, but until lastnight hadn't really had time to use for any lenght. Just tested it when it was delivered. Been trying to get the loft ready for it.

Anyway i set it up with a 6ft screen (black out material wrapped around a 1.8 x 0.9 sheet of plasterboard resting on the back of a sofa ) worked very well actually. I have enough material to have a 100" screen in the loft & a 72" for downstairs in the living room (only cost £20). Well lets just say the for the £365 i paid for the ET1 that its simply awsome, i paid twice that for my 32" TV 18 mths ago.
I set it up for a session of Hi-Def gaming on my Xbox (just got the hi-def kit). I played Doom 3, NFSU & Soul Calibur 2 (just amazing the difference the hi-def kit made) i also tested some dvd's (Fellowship, Two Towers & Ice Age) & watched 1 of my favorites Jurassic Park (on the Xbox).
The pj was about 5 - 6 ft from the screen with me sat 9ft from the screen. Screen door was there but its really not a problem. Can't wait to get the loft finished to see if it can do 100"(will be sitting further back) at the same quality as the 72". Worth every penny, so glad i got it.

For the money you will NOT be disappointed.

I was going to take some pics but the batteries in my camera needed charging. If you like i can take some tonight ?

[naunton]

Hi Smiley man and SJGILL

Your thread was an answer to a lot of searching !!
I have just purchased my first PJ (ET1) and decided I would have to install on the ceiling. As the manual gave no help ( Other than employing experts) I started searching yesterday and the only useful info I found was your thread.
So I joined the Forum today,only to find that the thread had grown and now there were useful pictures as well.

Thank you both especially SJGILL who seems to have done exactly what I want.
Two further questions please: How do I get the picture the right way up ?
Did you buy the black adapter?
regards
naunton

[SJGIL]

Originally Posted by naunton

Hi Smiley man and SJGILL

Your thread was an answer to a lot of searching !!
I have just purchased my first PJ (ET1) and decided I would have to install on the ceiling. As the manual gave no help ( Other than employing experts) I started searching yesterday and the only useful info I found was your thread.
So I joined the Forum today,only to find that the thread had grown and now there were useful pictures as well.

Thank you both especially SJGILL who seems to have done exactly what I want.
Two further questions please: How do I get the picture the right way up ?
Did you buy the black adapter?
regards
naunton

Hi naunton

Pleased to hear that you found my info and pics useful - this PJ looks so cool on the ceiling it is the only way to go in my view I am well happy with mine.

To answer your questions:-

1) You need to change the Projection Mode 2 setting in the defaut setting menu to ceiling - page 35 of the manual takes you through this if you need to refer to it. This will turn the image upside down for you.

2) When you say the black adapter are you refering to the ceiling bracket? If so I purchased one of the universal brackets of a company on ebay in the states and it was only £28 delivered and arrived in 3 days I would really recommend you go down this route as it was so easy to install . Both product and service first class - Let me know if you want the details.

I don't know what size screen you are going for, mine is facing a 5ft screen and if you install the lens 161cms from the screen it fiils it completely if you are looking at the same size mate.

[PJTX100]

Must say the pics look excellent (colour perhaps a bit saturated but it may be the camera?). And doesn't it look nifty on the ceiling?

£360 notes? Absolute bargain!

...PJ

[pikkujöpö]

I'm glad to see people have finally found this excelent entry level projector.Bought my TLP-ET1 last year and have now almost 300hours in the counter.I'm watching mostly dvd:s thru rgb sgart but I have plans to update it to maybe pioneer dv-470 prog,sgan.
I'm very close to the screen(1.4:1) and the picture is far from perfect but there is no any screendoor big enough to scare me further away the screen .
After installing the projector to the ceiling I notised the digital keystone correction is useles so i just let the screen "borders" do the job.

p.s. funny to see the price of this projector these days is about the same the spare bulb used to cost .

edit: with ceiling installation the dust filter is pointing up,clean your filters at least every 50 hours despite what the manual says.The dust blobs didn't come out from my lcd panels without the use of cleaning alcohol and plenty of swearing.

[SJGIL]

Originally Posted by PJTX100

Must say the pics look excellent (colour perhaps a bit saturated but it may be the camera?). And doesn't it look nifty on the ceiling?

£360 notes? Absolute bargain!

...PJ

Yeah I know what you mean it must be the camera as the colour levels on the PJ look much better on screen than they did in the photos but to be honest I didn't spend a great deal of time trying to get perfect shots as they will never look anything like the original images. I don't think the camera liked taking shots in the dark without the help of its flash!

I have to be honest I was well impressed with that ceiling bracket, the final result does look superb - £360 - bargain of the year for me