Question Looking to buy my first projector

[Zevulos]

Hi all,
Im wanting to get a projector to go into my first house but dont have the funds to shell out 5k on a high end projector, i have found a TW7300 locally that is on its second bulb and 2.3k hours into it. The downside is that its 3 years old and has no warrenty.
Apparently the original bulb was flickering after a few months. Epson sent a brand new one which is what is in it now.
Its listed for 650gbp, do you think this would be a good buy ?

Thanks all !

 

[kbfern]

Flickering bulbs are not necessarily a sign a bulb is about to fail. Sometimes if the bulb is being used in eco mode (which is preferred anyway) after a few hundred hours they can start to flicker. If you run the projector in high power (brightest mode) for a few sessions (10-20hrs total) the flickering will usually go away. It can return periodically but just do the same again, it doesn't always work but worth a try.

Regarding this pj, as you say it's about 3-4yrs old and at £650 is about the right sort of price for a machine that was £2200 approx when new. It was reviewed on here back when it came out see below.

Epson TW7300 LCD 4K Enhanced Projector Review

A review of the Epson EH-TW7300 3LCD 4K-enhanced projector

www.avforums.com

Without spending upwards of £1000-1500 used you are not going to get much better.

Is it local enough you can see it in action before you buy if so arrange a demo.

 

[Zevulos]

Flickering bulbs are not necessarily a sign a bulb is about to fail. Sometimes if the bulb is being used in eco mode (which is preferred anyway) after a few hundred hours they can start to flicker. If you run the projector in high power (brightest mode) for a few sessions (10-20hrs total) the flickering will usually go away. It can return periodically but just do the same again, it doesn't always work but worth a try.

Regarding this pj, as you say it's about 3-4yrs old and at £650 is about the right sort of price for a machine that was £2200 approx when new. It was reviewed on here back when it came out see below.

Epson TW7300 LCD 4K Enhanced Projector Review

A review of the Epson EH-TW7300 3LCD 4K-enhanced projector

www.avforums.com

Without spending upwards of £1000-1500 used you are not going to get much better.

Is it local enough you can see it in action before you buy if so arrange a demo.

Yea its only 40 miles away, the only thing that is making me not want it is the fact that its 3 years old and i dont know how long these kind of projectors last ?

I could get a refurbised Optoma UHD51 from the official Optoma Ebay store for 1050gbp that has 12 month warrenty but would the TW7300 give a better image ? and the TW is 400gbp cheaper

Thanks for your reply !

 

[kbfern]

Most pj's will be good for well over 3yrs old but faults can and do occur, it's always a gamble second hand as repairs can be expensive (£200-500 for anything major).

I would not pay the premium of £400 for a refurb Optoma with a 12 mth warranty though, the 7300 would be the better pj IMV.

 

[Zevulos]

Most pj's will be good for well over 3yrs old but faults can and do occur, it's always a gamble second hand as repairs can be expensive (£200-500 for anything major).

I would not pay the premium of £400 for a refurb Optoma with a 12 mth warranty though, the 7300 would be the better pj IMV.

Thanks !
Is there a guide on what i should look for when i go to see the projector in person ? or do you have any advice ?

 

[kbfern]

Look to make sure there are no dust blobs, to see these, project no image on the screen it should show a blue screen, any dust blobs should be seen as 3-4" dia circles on the screen. If you see these and there are many of them getting it cleaned could be an issue. You will find when displaying a moving image these dust blobs will be much less obvious.

Check all the motorised zoom and lens shift functions work correctly and make sure colours look bright and uniform in colour there are no obvious glaring smearing of colours etc.

If the image looks nice and stable and pleasing to the eye it should be ok.

 

[Zevulos]

Look to make sure there are no dust blobs, to see these project no image on the screen it should show a blue screen, any dust blobs should be seen as 3-4" dia circles on the screen. If you see these and there are many of them getting it cleaned could be an issue. You will find when displaying a moving image these dust blobs will be much less obvious.

Check all the motorised zoom and lens shift functions work correctly and make sure colours look bright and uniform in colour there are no obvious glaring smearing of colours etc.

If the image looks nice and stable and pleasing to the eye it should be ok.

How long do you recon i could get out of the projector ? its 3 years old i was hoping at least 3-4 more years

 

[kbfern]

How do you intend to use it, how often and for how long each time you use it.

If it's 2-3 film nights a week for a 2-3hr session a time it should last 3yrs or so. You may have to get a new bulb at some stage but these are cheap enough, somewhere around £100.

If it's going to be on 7 days a week for 5-6hrs a day who knows? some folks have used pj's like this and other than a new bulb have had no problems. Others have had issues with heavy or light use, that's the way it goes with most electronics these days. I would say at £650 it's a no brainer if you want the security of a warranty buy new but not with a 12month warranty at least 3yrs. It will cost you though depending on which pj you get.

I have had 4 new pj's over the years and kept them about 3 years max each and not had any issues and not even had to buy a new bulb. My current pj is a second hand JVC X35 bought of these forums at about 2-3yrs old and have had it for 4yrs now it still has less than 1000hrs on it (use it about 2 films a week). Still works fine and had no issues with it and on it's original bulb, cost me about £950 IIRC and was about £2900 when new.

 

[Zevulos]

How do you intend to use it, how often and for how long each time you use it.

If it's 2-3 film nights a week for a 2-3hr session a time it should last 3yrs or so. You may have to get a new bulb at some stage but these are cheap enough, somewhere around £100.

If it's going to be on 7 days a week for 5-6hrs a day who knows? some folks have used pj's like this and other than a new bulb have had no problems. Others have had issues with heavy or light use, that's the way it goes with most electronics these days. I would say at £650 it's a no brainer if you want the security of a warranty buy new but not with a 12month warranty at least 3yrs. It will cost you though depending on which pj you get.

I have had 4 new pj's over the years and kept them about 3 years max each and not had any issues and not even had to buy a new bulb. My current pj is a second hand JVC X35 bought of these forums at about 2-3yrs old and have had it for 4yrs now it still has less than 1000hrs on it (use it about 2 films a week). Still works fine and had no issues with it and on it's original bulb, cost me about £950 IIRC and was about £2900 when new.

Itd be probably be every other night for 4-5 hours id say.

If i wanted the security of a warrenty richer sounds have an Epson EH-TW7000 for 999 at the moment with 6 years warrenty or the UHD51 for 1250gbp with 6 years warrenty, i guess i could buy 2 of the TW7300 for the price of the UHD51 so if it lasts me 3 years its money well spent...

 

[kbfern]

The 7300 will be the better pj and should throw a nicer looking image. It also has power zoom and lens shift with memory (like my JVC) and this is a great feature to have. It makes setup very flexible and you can switch aspect ratio's for movies 16:9 to 2.40:1 for instance at the touch of a button.

Epson's are much quieter than Optoma's as well, DLP (Optoma's) are better for 3D though but also you can get RBE effect with DLP and if you see it you won't like it.

Avoiding the DLP Rainbow Effect - HomeTheaterReview

Rainbow effect is most commonly, pretty much exclusively, found in single-chip DLP projectors that use a color wheel to create all the different colors necessary for an image. Occasionally, this process can create rainbows.

hometheaterreview.com

 

[Zevulos]

The 7300 will be the better pj and should throw a nicer looking image. It also has power zoom and lens shift with memory (like my JVC) and this is a great feature to have. It makes setup very flexible and you can switch aspect ratio's for movies 16:9 to 2.40:1 for instance at the touch of a button.

Epson's are much quieter than Optoma's as well, DLP (Optoma's) are better for 3D though but also you can get RBE effect with DLP and if you see it you won't like it.

Avoiding the DLP Rainbow Effect - HomeTheaterReview

Rainbow effect is most commonly, pretty much exclusively, found in single-chip DLP projectors that use a color wheel to create all the different colors necessary for an image. Occasionally, this process can create rainbows.

hometheaterreview.com

I wont watch anything in 3d so thats not much of a problem.
Im very tempted to go for the 7300, just need to deceide if its worth the risk
Thanks for all your help !

 

[moujik]

Im very tempted to go for the 7300, just need to deceide if its worth the risk

There's a risk buying a new pj as well, as it can be faulty and returning it is a hassle and lots of wasted time

 

[Joe Fernand]

No mention of the Room, Mounting Options (on-axis/off-axis), Throw distance, preferred Image Size, ambient light levels, Source devices, Why a projector... ?

Purchasing second hand is always a gamble - which can work in your favour but avoid anything where you know there is a potential issue (flickering image etc).

Joe