Cheap Projector for Laptop?

cormie

Hi,
Just thought it might be good to have a projector I could hook my laptop onto and display the image on my white walls instead of watching stuff when it's on my lap.

Any recommendations on a very very cheap but watchable projector for hopefully under €200 (2nd hand/ebay is not a problem). Just as long as the bulb will last and if it needs replacement, will be cheap to do.

Haven't got a clue at all. Wont be watching stuff during the day at all really so sunlight isn't really an issue if that makes a difference.

Any feedback appreciated

jmal

Unfortunatly you won't be getting a new projector for anywhere close to the €200 mark. Don't think you'd even get a projector lamp for that money.

Most basic Business/Education PJ's start at about €400. Second hand will be your only option. Most projectors have a 2000 hour lamp life as standard. When you are buying second hand, you'd probably need a minimum of 1000hrs to get a couple of years of moderate use.

Replacment lamps can cost anything from €250 - €500+ depending on the make and model of projector. Maybe Ebay or Buy & Sell etc?

cormie

It wouldn't be something I'd bother buying new. I wont be watching many hours at all, 1,000 hours could take me years to rack up anyway. How can I know what is a good 2nd hand one on Ebay though?

If there are any on Ebay for under €200, could you recommend one please?

Ghost Train

how about ebay item no. 150216556942

it's a UP-1100, very old model though and not really any way to know what the picture quality would be like

Seller has a few projectors for sale, you could check projectorcentral.com, see if any are any good

Agree with the other poster that you won't find much for 200euro. There are some cheap lcd projectors with built in tv tuners that use cheap bulbs, but I have heard there not much good

Bulbs are the big problem, they usually cost a lot, theres no way of knowing how long they'll last, even with new projectors you'll usually just get a 90 day warrenty on the bulb.

cormie

Will all projectors work with a laptop do you know? It's a Dell Vostro 1500 if that makes a difference?

cormie

Just had a look at that ebay item, looks good and says it can hook up to laptop. How big could the image go on that do you know and will it only work in the dark? How far away does a projector usually have to be from the wall I'd be viewing it on?

Ghost Train

heres the screen calculator for the same projector, just rebadged i think http://www.projectorcentral.com/Proxima-UltraLight_DX1-projection-calculator-pro.htm
from the calculator, 9-13' (12-16' with zoom) from wall would be the ideal for this and would give 60-90" picture for 16:9 content
closer to the wall get brighter but smaller picture, further back even bigger picture but not as bright
If you want a picture with good contrast and blacks you'll need the room to be fully dark

heres new infocus basic projector, 2 year warrenty for €430 for comparison (ibood had a better model for a bit more a week ago)
http://cgi.ebay.ie/InFocus-X6-Projector-Beamer-Videoproiettore-INFOCUS_W0QQitemZ260201816217QQihZ016QQcategoryZ48653QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

cormie

Ok thanks a lot, you think it's worth the gamble to buy it at that price?

Ghost Train

cormie wrote: »

Ok thanks a lot, you think it's worth the gamble to buy it at that price?

Feedback for seller looks good, spec and reviews of the projector seem pretty good. Really love my own projector, had it for 2 years (just over 1000hours). Chances are it will be fine, but you never know

kaisersose77

The older a projector is, the dearer the lamps get it seems

that infocus x6 isnt HD (its native resolution is only 800x600) so at that price it isnt much of a bargain.

Dixons.co.uk had the optoma hd65 for about £416 delivered in the Uk up until recently (seems to have gone up to £500 now) and that would be the best budget HD projector and a lot more future proof than something like that Infocus x6.

cormie

Damn, that UP1100 has been bought now

Any other suggestions on a budget one for Under €300, I really couldn't spend more than €300 on this. Was hoping to spend €200 max.

All I need is one I can hook up to my laptop and get a good bit of life out of.

cormie

Ok screw this, budget upped to €400 max including delivery. How does this look:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/SHARP-XR-10X-XR10X-DLP-MULTIMEDIA-PROJECTOR-HDTV-DVD_W0QQitemZ110223757650QQihZ001QQcategoryZ48653QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
?

Ghost Train

Here's another same sort of spec, uk only but maybe seller would do ireland, reviews not that great though

ebay no. 290207744628

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sagem-MDP_2000-X.htm

http://www.techradar.com/products/audio-visual/projectors/sagem-mdp-2000x-123580/review

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=6065

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=6223

EDIT: after reading the reviews again, probably not something to go for

Ghost Train

if your budget is now €400 maybe you should look at getting native 16:9

From the US won't you also have to pay import duty

cormie

Was the infocus x7 on iBood recently a really good deal? http://www.ibood.com/site/eu/forum/index.php?action=vthread&forum=1&topic=1354

Is the sharp one I linked to above not pretty much identical to it for a better price? I'm really clueless about video stuff like 16:9 and stuff, how would that make a differnce?

Ghost Train

Yeah the sharp looks about the same as the infocus,
the xga (1024x768) projectors (Not HD ready btw even if they say they are), when playing 16:9 content will only use 1024x576 pixels and the rest will be black bars on the top and bottom. So you get 25% of the light wasted projecting black bars.

There is also the option of a 16:9 854x480 dlp projector
slightly lower resolution, but might be more suited to dvd playback, and maybe have a digital input which the sharp or x7 don't have. This is a great video projector and sort of what I'd be thinking about for around the 400euro mark, always had great reviews http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280200234718&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018

16:9 projectors will usually be better for home cinema, because they are designed almost soley for video playback, good colour, good black level. 4:3 Office or dual purpose (like the x7/sharp) projectors may suffer a bit, because there design is slightly different... because they have to be able to be brighter for use in offices and for presentations (maybe by having less segments in colour wheel)

It sort of hard to explain, why a lower resolution 16:9 might be better than a higher 4:3, but colour and contrast is usually more important than resolution when it comes to picture quality

your other option is to spend more and get a HD projector with 1280x720 resolution

cormie

thanks again for the response.

The main use I'd have for the projector would be videos and then maybe a bit of Pro Evo aswell. Everything I do will be from my Dell laptop so I'm not sure if this matters with the resolution thing, but my res on the laptop is 1440x900.

Would be displaying at night mostly on a wall space of no more than 2 metres wide and would be sitting maybe 2 metres back from this.

As far as I know, my laptop isn't HD ready or anything so this wont really make a difference to me and I'm not that fussy when it comes to quality anyway.

Do you reckon if DVD's/Pro evo is my main use to avoid the sharp and keep an eye out for the same infocus you linked to?

Ghost Train

infocus 4805 (or newer infocus IN72) probably a better projector for video than the sharp.... lower resolution but better projector

gaming, i'm not sure about because resolution usually important with games

maybe you should read up more on the types of projectors, get more of a feel for them

avsforum.com should have tons of info
should be a good few articles at homecinemachoice.com

cormie

how does the resolution effect it when watching a movie though? Just more pixels so a better picture or would it not really make a difference? To be honest, I'm not too concerned about the quality when playing Pro Evo. I just want a decent cheap projector to use with my laptop

Ghost Train

well dvd resolution is 720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL), if your watching divx or avi files they'll probably be lower resolution than that

if you have a projector with a higher resolution than that of the video you're watching you don't really gain anything, if the projector resolution is lower the the video resolution you start to loose some detail

cormie

Ok thanks, so it wont really be problem if DVD's are 720x576 maximum if the projector is 800x600 or whatever they are? When would the resolution have an effect then? Just when I get out of the DVD menu and I'm on the windows desktop or whatever? This wouldn't matter at all really. What would I ever be watching that would be higher res than this? Is HD DVD and all that jazz higher res or something? Not an issue really since I don't have that technology and amn't bothered with it at all. I'm happy watching DIVX instead of a DVD and everything.

Is a projector bound by the NTSC/PAL thingy too or does it just depend on what's connected to it?

So going by what I'm saying, would anything over 720x576 be fine for me? What about the lumens, I see the in72 only has 900, where as the x7 on ibood had 2,000? Would the x7 be MUCH better? It was only 460 euro delivered on ibood I think.

So you reckon an in72, 4805 would be best for me?

Ghost Train

800x600 is 4:3 so for widescreen programs 16:9 it uses 800x450 pixels with black bars

lumens for an office projector will be higher, because they need to project in brighter room, also manufactures measure there specs in different ways, so you get big differences in what some manufacturers say the projector will do and what the projector does

cormie

Ok thanks again.

So should I just stay safe and keep it to a in72, a 4805 or an x7 if I can find one at the right price?

Would these all be better than the UP-1100 you linked to do you reckon? Probably a very slim chance of one of them appearing soon again so should I just stick to looking for the 3 mentioned above? Which would be the best? X7, in72 and then the 4805?

Ghost Train

yeah they'd be better suit to movies than the up-1100

i don't really know much about the x7, it's new and there arn't much reviews

infocus in72 and 4805 are known to be very good
in72 is new model of 4805, should be a bit better

optima h27 or h31 are similar to the in72/4805

projectors can be a bit flakey, more mechanical parts than tvs, so if you can get something with a years warrenty if you can, might be a good idea

cormie

Ok thanks, I think I'll just keep an eye out on Ebay for either of the 3 then

Is DLP definitely the only way to go as opposed to LCD?