Infocus Projector, €330 delivered

cormie

I've been in the market for a budget projector and after losing 2 auctions on Ebay in the last 10 seconds, I then came across this which seems to be the best value of the lot.

It's an InFocus X6 projector and was recommended to me and the reviews seem pretty solid too.

It's available for less than €330 delivered to Ireland from Ebuyer.com so for a new projector with a 2 yr warranty and 6 month lamp warranty, it seems like a great deal

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138928

syboit

good price allright, but what do you want to use it for. It would be useless as a home cinema projector. No Component/hdmi inputs, 4:3 native and res 800x600.

pic quality from dvd player/htpc wouldnt be great.

cormie

I'll have it hooked up to my laptop ONLY so no need to worry about the component input. I thought 800x600 was best for movies and stuff and the higher res is only better for business presentations etc?

As long as I'll be able to read DVD subtitles and Pro Evo game menus it should be fine for what I need it for?

syboit

cormie wrote: »

I'll have it hooked up to my laptop ONLY so no need to worry about the component input. I thought 800x600 was best for movies and stuff and the higher res is only better for business presentations etc?

As long as I'll be able to read DVD subtitles and Pro Evo game menus it should be fine for what I need it for?

Laptop would be the best way to go, but for movies 16:9 would be preferable, and also res of 1280x720 (720p) or 1920 x 1200 (1080p I think), but I suppose a lot will depend on the gfx card in your laptop. Just be careful when you setup your laptop, you'll probably want to explorer other options and this projector wont give any more

cormie

Thanks for the input, what do you mean about exploring other options?

I don't think the 16:9 thing will be too much of a problem for me. But I think for €330 it's probably the best deal available? Even €330 is a bit over budget considering I probably wont be using it all that much anyway, just beats watching a movie on a laptop.

I have NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT and 1440x900 res. But isn't DVD's resolution 780x400 or something so higher res wont make a difference and then pro evo is the only other thing I'll be using it for I think

Michael Collins

You're not going to get a HD projector for €330 really. If you're only watching standard DVDs, i.e. not Blu-Ray or HD DVDs then 800 x 600 is probably the best resolution to get as it means less digital messing with the image.

syboit

like you I started out with the dvd player, but once I seen how good it looked, that I was hooked. hd-dvd,360 and a htpc all plugged in now

I think pal dvd is 720 x 576. that 8600 is a good card for games, surely you might start playing better games. I've an 8500GT in my htpc and it perfect for playing bluray movies/.mkv files.

if your only going to watch the odd film from your laptop its probably worth it, but if it was going to become a permanent feature for home cinema I'm sure you can get half decent 720p native projectors for aroun €700-€800, which is a great investment in my mind.

cormie

Thanks for the info folks. Definitely not willing to spend 800 euro. I'm not even sure if I'll be using this all that much anyway, probably just the odd DVD or AVI or whatever. Have no interest in HD or Blue Ray stuff either, not bothered about it just as long as I can see what's going on and read subtitles I'd be happy.

The only game I'm interested in playing is Pro Evo, I'm not a "gamer" and I'm not a movie buff either, this is really just a solution so I don't have to have the laptop on my lap while sitting watching a movie with someone so for that, I think it's perfect for me

Voodu Child

For the money, you're not going to do any better, so I definitely wouldn't worry about the res etc. I'd say it's a good bargain.

At 800x600, that 8600M will do a great job of plenty of games. Get yourself the Orange Box or Cod4, throw them up on a wall and it should be good craic for the money.

cormie

Only interested in Pro Evo

b.harte

I bought a projector on ebay from this lot:
http://stores.ebay.ie/EloutProjection-International
I got the c1200 model, there's a newer c1500 (lumen) one out since last week.
I lost one at auction and as their buy it now price is a bit (lot) higher I opted to bid at about 50 Euro higher than historical prices.
Do an advanced search for completed items and you'll see what they normally reach.
Anyway I won the item at a decent price, 311 Euro plus shipping.
I also got a screen from them, 90" remote control job. 15% discount when purchased with projector.
Delivery took ages but in fairness the seller contacted me to say there was a hold up with it. total for screen and projector plus shipping was 532 Euro.
Anyway, its got VGA, S-video, Video input, co-ax, and Pr/Y/Pb inputs so plenty of choice. It's also got 16:9 and 4:3 outputs, and some fancy chip that can accept and output HD up to 1080i.
It's only listed as 1200 lumen and 600:1 contrast so I wasn't expecting much.
I tried it out in my study which is the darkest room in the house, projecting onto a plastered wall, (really poorly plastered I might add) that's painted white, (dirty white, to be honest) and I was surprised how clear the picture was using the standard VGA input and Standard Video input.
I watched a DVD from the PC and the quality was excellent.
I could only project about 6" diagonal image due to space constraints, and I was sitting so close that I could not see the whole image.
Next I tried the xbox360 in HD and was blown away (really) by the vividness of PGR4 and Assasins creed at the size.
PGR was outstanding and the background detail was unreal.
I also watched the matrix and lord of the rings from the 360, but again I was sitting to close to appreciate it.
With herself at work I mounted the screen in the living rooms on the wall opposite the window. (despite her warning me not to)
I set the projector up to use the full screen size (90"), turned off the lights and closed the blinds.
There's a street light outside the window so there was a fair amount of light pollution but the screen did what it is designed to do and the images were spectacular.
It took a while to get the image bang on as I had the unit on a coffee table but when I had it set, and sitting 14 feet away at the opposite side of the room the results were worth it.
The only criticism I have of it is the fan noise when running in HD. There's supposed to be a low power mode that will only kick in when the temp lifts but it appears to run constantly in HD, not so bad on VGA or video in.
The noise is really bad, I had to turn the volume up loud and play with the equaliser to dull the base and bring up the speech.
Otherwise I could barely hear the speech, I'd guess that if it was ceiling mounted it may not be so bad, I was sitting a few feet behind it so it was between me and the speakers.
Anyway, for what it's worth I think it's a decent projector for small money, video quality is good for the price, lots of options for inputs, and it's got a tv tuner built in.
All I need to do now is sort out a ceiling mount, and a good surround system.
pound for pound it's well worth a shot.
However, I'm annoyed that the seller didn't tell me about the delivery of c1500s that came in before my one was shipped, the prices are similar and I would have gone for the upgrade, he was however a nice guy to deal with.
As a gaming projector its good value, and the fact that movies are good on it too is a bonus.
Sorry for the rambling post.
Bertie

cormie

See another thing is I don't have anything that plays HD or Blu ray and I'm not interested at all in spending money on something that would, even if I did have something that played them, I'd probably give it away and just use my laptop to play DVD's as the HD/Blu Ray player would only be clutter in my eyes

500 euro is wayy to much to be spending on a projector for me, even what I'm going to spend on the X6 is over budget but I'm going wild

For the price, I don't think I can do better...

cormie

Just ordered anyway, €329.14 total

craichoe

Be sure to check out how long the bulbs are rated for and how much they cost, alot of the time, the cheaper the projector, the more expensive the bulbs and they can sometimes cost 50 - 60% of the original price of the projector.

cormie

2,000 hours or 3,000 in saver mode.

That's about 1,000 dvds at least. I've probably watched about 5 in the past year, so it should last till I'm well over 200 years old

b.harte

b.harte wrote: »

However, I'm annoyed that the seller didn't tell me about the delivery of c1500s that came in before my one was shipped, the prices are similar and I would have gone for the upgrade, he was however a nice guy to deal with.

And there was me giving out about him.
I just checked my inbox and turns out he sent me the newer model, C1500 by way of apology for the delay in shipping. Fair play to him.
Checked the unit and sure enough it's the newer one I got, didn't check it in my excitement, and who reads the instruction manual anyway?
Bertie

MrVostro

I have tried afew different projectors out. My main issue with them is noise.

I find it so distracting i cant use a projector. When a silent one that really is silent comes out i'll buy it straight away, but so far they have failed to deliver.

cormie

Would it be easy to just box it up in some soundproofing?

Stephen

No. It needs to be able to vent the heat from the bulb - they get VERY hot.

TPD

Youd think they could come up with some sort of watercooled projector. b.harte, did you get any spare bulbs with yours? From what I gather on the ebay page, the bulbs for that projector only cost €35 which seems incredible! Care to shed any light? Id be immensely tempted to buy one if I knew the only part needing replacing sooner or later was that cheap.

Ghost Train

You can buy or build a "hush box", should be guides on the net how its done, but it would make the projector take up a lot more space I'd imagine. Running a projector in low(economy) or high(standard) lamp mode usually makes it much quieter

b.harte

TPD wrote: »

b.harte, did you get any spare bulbs with yours? From what I gather on the ebay page, the bulbs for that projector only cost €35 which seems incredible! Care to shed any light? Id be immensely tempted to buy one if I knew the only part needing replacing sooner or later was that cheap.

I didn't get a spare bulb with mine, I forgot to order it at the same time as the projector and screen. Yes, the bulb is only €35 but shipping is €12.50 (I think, there's a page there somewhere with the shipping rates to Ireland).
I know for sure that you get a 15% discount on screens and bulbs if bought with a projector, and further discounts on shipping. The spare bulb if ordered is packed with the projector so effectively travels free of charge. Two different couriers delivery the projector and screen, UPS do the screen and An Post carry the Projector, which I wasn't too keen on. However it's insured and signed for delivery, only problem is it can't be tracked after it leaves Holland?!?
Combined shipping (discounted) was about €80, seems steep but as the screen is 2.4Mtr packed it's a bulk item and is charged as such.
I found the ebay seller very helpful, and like I said he did inform me of the delay and gave me the newer model for the same price, so I can't really complain.
The noise factor I mentioned in my previous post isn't that big a deal any more, the projector has a built in speaker so I split my audio input and routed it to my stereo and the projector, with the volume set about 50% the speaker volume covers the fan noise. In fact I been using xbox live (wife won't let me run a long lan cable)the last few nights with the sound coming from the projector speakers and I can't even hear the fan running.
I'd definitely recommend one based on the short time I've been using it, I think it's one of the cheapest packages I seen in a long time perfect for gaming and adequate for home cinema without breaking the bank.
If I get the chance I'll take and post some pictures to give an idea.
I really need to make my posts more concise.
Bertie

cormie

Got this anyway and as I expected, it suits me fine

I just hook it up to my laptop with the VGA monitor type cable and it's fine. At the moment I just have it resting on top of a box, which is on an ironing board so I think I'll have to get a universal ceiling mount from ebay for I think about €30.

One thing though is that I tried to connect it with the SVID and the quality wasn't as good? Is this normal of SVID?

It's not too noisy at all, you can definitely hear it but only in silent bits of a movie etc.

For the money I'm very happy with it anyway and wouldn't spend more on another because this suits me fine!

Here's a snap of it, quality of photo is pretty bad so it actually looks a lot better in reality:


So for an affordable big screen solution, if you're main media centre is your laptop then this is a great option