help choosing pj / which models are best?

Hi chaps,

I am a curennt LCD owner and have ben attracted to the idea of having a play with CRT perhaps for my 'next cinema'

I have got a contact who reckons he can almost certainly get me an ex corporate CRT PJ v v cheap. However as they could be literally any make/model, how do I know when he has got one that is suitable for me and worth a few miles drive to go and collect.

My requirements are 7ft screen max, ceiling & floor mountable, run from PC and DVD player ideally. Easy to set up and low maintenance (as far as is possible), spares situation, high res, need to spend as little extra as poss (e.g. do any have good built in scalers doublers etc)

Is there a good league table anywhere summarising all details of the common pjs, if not can anyone give me a rough idea of good / bad pjs???

The makes most likely to come up are:

Barco, Sony, NEC so no surprises there

I am guessing I want 7" plus and as new as possible, after that I'm lost what would be great is a sorted list of best to worst

Thanks in advance for any help

Tim

 

I've got a contact that can get a v v cheap used car - doesn't mean it will be any good.

Go for a make that is well known Barco, Sony, Electrohome. I would avoid NEC they were rare and service is vertually gone in the UK now. In fact Sony and Electrohome are getting pretty difficult to deal with now.

Recon on between £500 to £2000 per CRT to replace depending on model.

Loads of past threads on what to check when assessing but above all see it working before you buy this sort of machine and make sure all the functions work.

 

Thanks for the advice,

by v v cheap I meant in all probability free. Additionally I htink it is likely I will every now and then get a call saying?" "we have a XXX about to go in the skip, do you want it"

Apart from general condition history and age...i.e. all else equal, what should I look for?

Are the Barcos ranked like this

600, 7XX, 8XX, 12XX

in increasing sophistication and quality. My contact does not give a damn what it is - it will most likely be chucked away (as I believe he is obliged to do this) however as a one off he will save one for me and keep quiet.

So really I am just wondering which models to get excited about as he seems to think there are plenty to choose from.

Thanks

Tim

PS Roland are the old PJs worth much for spares / scrap? It seems madness that this guy is prob chucking away quite a few servicable machines, or machines with servicable parts.

 

The worst are SONY G90's If your mate wants to "SKIP" one of these, i'll make your day and give you my BG1208, subject to me seeing it work OK first. OK, I confess, SONY G90 is a king.

A 6** is an anologue board (no remote to help set up), so you may want to get a 7** or 8**.

**8s or **9s are best in respective ranges and BG's are higher spec than BD's.

Hope this helps

Rgds

Nathan

 

If you come across any Barco Data600's for free I'd love another. Then I could have them stacked! Oh the possibilities!

 

First one is...

A General Electric with lots of spares...

Will post more details like a model number (cant believe he did not write it down!) when I get it. Are any of the PJ's rebadged OEM type jobs or are they all made by their respective comapny?

Cheers
Tim

 

Just for your information about the Electrohome Marquee series of projectors. Those are currently being manufactured by VDC. Most parts for the Marquee 8500 and 9500 should be availible through them. There web site is www.vdcdisplaysystems.com.