Philips Monroe discontinued?

[Griggsy]

I have been following the threads for a few months now in preparation for purchasing a new pj. It basically boilded down to choosing the Philips Monroe on the price, long lamp life, low fan noise and progressive scan capability.

I e-mailed a few retaillers but got a surprising response from av-sales.com (see below)

"Thank you for your email, but unfortunately the Philips Monroe has now been
discontinued and is no longer available."

I then checked on their archive list and lo and behold the Monroe appears on their discontinued list.

It seems strange that a new(ish) product has such a short lifespan considering the good reviews it has had over recent months and was wondering if there was some kind of problem with the machine?

Having been completely focused on buying a Monroe I am now having a rethink about what to buy now.

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this or has had any problems with this pj?

Many thanks

[Chris Frost]

AV-Sales.com are wrong. Monroe is alive and well and doing some very nice business throughout Europe.

UK home cinema dealers haven't woken up to the product properly yet. This could be because Philips supplies its products to dealers via distribution rather than direct to each dealer.

If you need to find your local dealer then please send me a PM.

Regards

[Griggsy]

Thanks for your reply Chris, you've put my mind at rest.

It sure looks a good projector.

Regards

[tjcronin]

Chris,

I have been thinking that if you are only going to use a HTPC with a projector, then a CSmart would suffice, rather than a Monroe.

I gather that the Monroe is a CSmart with enhancements in the video processing, and that this is necessary for dealing with the various outputs from DVD players at various resolutions.

A HTPC could be configured to run at exactly the native resolution of the PJ using powerstrip.

Any thoughts much appreciated. - Tim

[Chris Frost]

Originally posted by tjcronin
Chris,

I have been thinking that if you are only going to use a HTPC with a projector, then a CSmart would suffice, rather than a Monroe. Tim

Haven't tried it myself, but probably right.

Regards

[Nick Odgers]

I bought mine from Projectavision at Bude. Mail order only but next day delivery, and no pixels missing. 01288 331159. As per other post have noticed picture going dim on recorded Sky films, would be interested to know if you have similar problem if you buy one. What Hi-Fi gave it an iffy review but other mags like it and I am pleased with it as well.