Newbie help: What is the best projector for £400?

sammyp

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Hi guys.

I am finally biting the bullet and getting a projector after much deliberation, so I come asking for some advice on what one to get.

The projector will be used from a viewing distance of about 10ft and from what I have been reading, the Optoma HD600x is coming up trumps. It will be used solely for an Xbox 360 for games, movies, Sky go, etc.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220904152...t_2977wt_1057&clk_rvr_id=300707030771&afsrc=1

This is the best price I have found for it, is it a good price or in the sales should I hope to get something better.

So, can you guys recommend what projector will be best for me? Thanks very much, and merry Christmas!
 
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I am thinking of buying a projector as well, mostly for xbox gaming and occasionally movies through my sky hd box. I am thinking that as I will be playing xbox then I will want 3d as well, but the xdl 3d adapter is £200, which takes price up to £600 for the one you are looking at.

I think I am going to go for the Optoma gt750, which is £600 with 1 pair of glasses and 3d built in
 
I am not fussed about 3D for now but considering it can be made 3D with the adapter is a bonus for the future. The more I read about the 600x, the more I want to buy it.
 
The main question I have now surrounds the fact that the ebay offer is for the HD600X-VL with the brighter bulb. From my own research, the brighter bulb aids rooms that have ambient light in but the room I am going to be using this projector in will have a blackout blind.

Will this mean that I will find this projector too bright if it is projecting from a distance of 3m? I hope not because £400 for the projector + ceiling mount + screen seems like a really good offer.
 
You could both try finding the Acer h5360BD proj, new for a bit over 500 reciently if you look around, SH obviously less, great proj with 3D built in so no more money later on, 1.4 HDMI so works with all the latest kit.
 
I had the 600x projecting from around 2 metres and was a bit disapointed with the brightness, my room isnt a bat cave however.

If i went for the 600x lv i think it may have been ok.
 
Had a look at a couple of reviews for the Acer this morning Zed. To be fair, I am not really fussed about 3D. I don't have any 3D compatible pieces of kit and won't have any in the foreseeable future. Would it then be best for me to go for the Optoma?

DCUK6, how much ambient light was in your room when you used it? It will be a case of my room will be dark when I need it to be but light will creep in from under the blind and under the door, but I would say the room would be at least 75% dark when I use this projector.
 
The Acer is still a brilliant 2D proj at the same price as the rest, so why not have the option there if you do get some 3D down the road?
 
I can get the Optoma / HD5360 for over £100 cheaper than the Acer? Or am I looking in the wrong places!

There are so many choices it is hard to choose what one to get without advice.
 
up on Ebay the 600x is around £100 cheaper, fwiw I am in a (large) white painted and the Acer is bright enough to use with the curtains open in the day, and still quite visible with the lights on, but £100 is £100 that could be spent elsewhere, I picked my Acer up for £400 (to replace my Optoma HD65, I found it had gone downhill in quality) so the maths was obvious for me :)
 
The Acer should be brilliant but it is around £100 over budget. I've just gone for the Optoma GT750 but that is a tiny bit more again however for the few seconds that i have had it seems absolutely amazing although it will need a filter to reduce the brightness if your using under 40-50" screen.

With the plain HD600x i did try draping a hug black sheet over two pieces of string either side of the projector to see if it helps. I also closed all curtains and on a 70" screen it just didnt have the brigtness to make me go wow.

I did have the GT750 on today running around a 70" screen in the day just inside the windows and i could see every bit of detail but i think it set to the lower bulb brightnes setting. If i had set to to the brighter setting then it may have been slghtly to bright.

The GT750 is 3500 lumens, the 600x-lv is 2500, and the hd600x is 1600. These will be on the brighter bulb setting. I personally now would buy any projector with much less than 2500 lumens. 3500 seems to be good for bright rooms and/or large screens, 1600 seems to me to be not bright enough so i would say from testing both extremes that anything around the midde or above would be brill.
 
I can get the Optoma / HD5360 for over £100 cheaper than the Acer? Or am I looking in the wrong places!

There are so many choices it is hard to choose what one to get without advice.


One thing to check is what acer model you are getting. The HD5360 is cheaper as it still require the 3dxl box but the HD5360 BD doesnt.
 
I am on a pretty tight budget so £400 for the screen, projector and ceiling mount seems like the best offer for me! I have found the HD5360BD for around £470 on ebay on its own as the best offer I can find so far. How did your Optoma HD65 perform before it went downhill?

@DCUK6, you would say that the ideal lumens rating would be 2500 if you had the choice then? Which is good as the 600X-VL is 2500 :D It will be running mainly in a dark environment as it will be in a bedroom and I won't have any chance to use it until the evenings.
 
The HD65 is well loved around AVF quality wise, I also upgraded it to use with the 3D-XL and found it a lot of messing around compared to what I have now.

If you want to save money do as a lot of people do, paint your wall (or sheet of MDF) matt white or go buy a big roll of blackout material, both around a tenner or so to do, as for a ceiling mount that again can be done cheaply, I use a speaker bracket and and others have used TV brackets for around £12 from Homebase, CRT TV Tilt and Swivel Wall Mount - Silver - 14in from Homebase.co.uk (personally I would take the strength of a wall with good screws/plugs than a cieling unless you can find a joist).
 
These lumen figures of 2500-3500 being ideal for a home cinema projector are way off the mark unless you want to view under near daylight conditions or 3D material.

Most home cinema projectors work very well in darkened rooms with under 1000 lumen indeed 1500-2000 lumen would be considered too bright as when you get very bright output projectors the blacks become grey and colours can look washed out.

2000-3500 lumen projectors are generally classed as multimedia projectors that are used in classrooms/boardrooms where rooms are not usually darkened.In fact in a dark room with 2k+ lumens you will find your eyes would hurt after looking at the screen for a while.
 
That sounds reasonable Kbfern, makes logical sense.

On those grounds, what projectors would you recommend I take a look at?
 
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5580659.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=tsid:11527|cc:|prd:5580659|cat:eek:ffice%2C+pcs+and+phones+%2F+projectors+and+screens+%2F

Optoma HD600X DLP Projector 3D Ready 1600 ANSI lumens | eBay

To be honest for a new 720p projector under £400 the 600x is about all there is available just make sure you get the non LV version if you are using in a darkened room.

If you go second hand things open up a bit more and there have even been the odd 1080p model for around £400-£450 Optoma 200x are an example what has sold recently around this price.
 
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These lumen figures of 2500-3500 being ideal for a home cinema projector are way off the mark unless you want to view under near daylight conditions or 3D material.

Maybe mine was faulty or something as it wasnt great. Either that or im just used to screen on the sun tan setting :). Those numbers were just from the testing that i had done.

The colours on the 600x were good and it has some really good reviews, thats why i went for it. I got told similar at the shop i brought mine from but i just thought it needed to be brighter as i didnt get the wow effect that some people had.

I actually said wow out loud with no one in the room with the GT750 :laugh:. They say that talking to youself is a sign of being crazy but oh well.
 
There is nothing wrong with the GT750 but it was designed as a gaming projector for use in ambient lighting conditions and also for use with 3D.

Add all that up and it does need the extra lumens.I have seen a 750 in action and for me was just to bright but then again I watch 2D material in a dark room.
 
Yeah i agree it is probably too bright, i have actually brought a filter for it for when watching on a smaller screen. its way over budget though and was just using it as a example.

I definatly agree that the 600x would be brill but i would still be tempted by the lv. However i havnt used a projector for over a few hours at a time so cant say if it would hurt you eyes for long periods.

If you havent got bright walls then im guesing that the light wont bounce around so much which would reduce the room brightness. Maybe try the 600x and see what you think. Might be worth taking a look in the Classified Adverts section or ebay for one then if you like it you have got a bargain and if you dont then you wont loose any money as you can resel at used price again.
 
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