[godzilla]

Nothing came up in my searches, so does anyone have experience of both and if so what are the relative merits of each?

My HT300 expired a couple of years ago, but it appears Sim2 are still the DLP masters, so I will try one of their products again, but don't see the point it forking out for an HT one again.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by godzilla

Nothing came up in my searches, so does anyone have experience of both and if so what are the relative merits of each?

My HT300 expired a couple of years ago, but it appears Sim2 are still the DLP masters, so I will try one of their products again, but don't see the point it forking out for an HT one again.

D80 is the same basic hardware as the HT380 without the option of a T2 lens and no colour calibration (there may be a future upgrade to the D80EX). It uses a Unishape lamp and colour wheel that includes secondary colours. The result is a very bright image relative to lamp output when calibrated to D65. Downside is increased potential of RBE due to slower colour refresh/increased brightness. Unishape also allows the lamp to dim for low APL scenes. That said it's low APL performance isn't great but it's isn't bad either. The Pixel Works video processing is also decent.

IIRC the D60 is not manufactured by Sim2 in Italy but is based on a Benq product design. It doesn't use Unishape and I suspect it uses a different quality lens to the T1 used in the D80 to HT3000E models. I'm not sure what video processing performance is like.

AVI

[godzilla]

Thanks for the quick reply Avi.

Has anyone actually seen both perform side by side?
The D60 is ugly, nothing like the rest of the Sim2 range, but it is £1500 cheaper, has the same Darkchip3 and most intriguingly is billed as being only 25db in "whisper mode" (Blue Thunder fan perhaps?).

My main bugbear with my HT300 (other than it's unreliability) was the very intrusive fan/colourwheel noise.

I only sit 9ft away from a 7ft screen, so not sure I need the extra features of the D80 over the D60...

[Gary Lightfoot]

RTFM is a Sim2 dealer and may be able to help you with the comparison info you need (PM him. He is in Horsham and has good demo facilities).

Gary

[tryingtimes]

If I was spending D60 money on a DLP, I'd also look at the Samsung A800. It's a very intriguing product and strangely, the UK seems to be the cheapest place to buy!

[Avi]

Originally Posted by godzilla

My main bugbear with my HT300 (other than it's unreliability) was the very intrusive fan/colourwheel noise.

I only sit 9ft away from a 7ft screen, so not sure I need the extra features of the D80 over the D60...

The D80e may be too bright but I guess that depends on persona taste to a degree. IIRC the HT380 I owned was also rated at 25dB but strangley was noticeably louder than another PJ I owned at the same time that was claimed at 27dB.

As TT mentions the Samsung is an interesting product but I suspect it's black level performance and the fact it uses a DC2 (?) will put some people off.

Personally I think the only way to go is demo.

AVI