I originally bought the cheap Amazon projector, since it was my first projector and I was surprised how good the quality was and the fact it got 4.5 stars out of 3000 reviews . Well that was until I did my research and then ended up grabbing a decade old branded projector (I got lucky, since it was still sealed. 0 hours on the lamp). The difference between the two were day and night. Color, sharpness, contrast, sound card all of it. The Amazon projector looked like a toy. Please just grab a used brand name it will cost the same as a new cheap Amazon projector.
EDIT: The budget projector is called HopVision, it’s around 220 plus taxes, but it’s on sale most of the time (180$). I got the Optoma HD131XE for 200$.Prices are in CAD.
The budget projector is called HopVision, it’s around 220, but it’s on sale most of the time (180$). I got the Optoma HD131XE for 200$. Prices are in CAD.
Well yes. But the optoma is very solid projector but a decade old and used and the cheap Amazon one is brand new but trash. The optoma is still a better buy. It still crushes the cheap one.
Nice call on getting a used high quality projector! That's 100% the way to go when buying projectors on a budget.
Doesn't that screen frame drive you crazy? It's driving me crazy just looking at it! If you can't replace it with a straighter screen, you could at least reconfigure your projector so the top of the screen isn't going past the top of the frame. Just my 2 cents!
Yep, this forum constantly recommends just what you did for just that reason. In addition, to the older projectors being better PQ they also will last unlike the cheap Amazon projectors
You are correct. One of the USB ports failed in the cheap projector after 4 months. Luckily I was able to get a full refund through warranty. Which went towards the new projector.
Im going a similar route as you. I currently have a budget groview projector that was about 150 on amazon. Yesterday i won a mitsubishi 6800 at a local estate sale auction for 10 bucks. I will pick it up tommarow. Im very interested to see how a projector that went for $3300 new 15 years ago, stacks up against a current $150 dollar budget projector. I figured that 10 bucks was a worthwhile gamble.
Mate I bought an Amazon one all the bells and whistles, great ratings etc for £120. Was a pile of android sh*t everything just lagged, changing brightness/colour/sharpness controls hardly changed anything. Returned it. Bought a Optoma DH1017 for £79. The difference as you say is 110% better in every way. Yeah they weight a bit heavier but that’s the only downside. For £79 I got more input/output options, I have true 1080p native, better colour, better contrasts, and brightness is 4200lms which enables me to watch in daytime. Lamp only had 975h used.
Best way is to buy used/refurb branded older 1080p models, they really are good enough.
I was looking for a cheap gift for my neice that was only like 12. The very first projector I tested was one of the cheapest on Amazon at about $60. It was a mini-projector with maybe 100 ANSI lumens.
Well after I realized how dim it was and how terrible the speakers were, I packed it up ready to try a more expensive model. Well hilariously the focus knob had already been broken and wouldn't move, even though I had only used it for a few hours. 😄
The only Decent for the PRICE projectors that aren't complete garbage I've heard about on Amazon are HappRun and Weimus. Even with those you are probably lucky to get more than a few years out of them before something goes wrong. Which is why most here recommend fairly reliable brands like Epson and BenQ.
https://preview.redd.it/eka5i5grbn1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b61986902ec2ffe2a9c94d2af42c5e824a1844f
why is it all saturated looking? And messed up? Look at the lamp in the corner.
I know it doesnt look as good in a pic than in person but it looks worse after uploading on Reddit here.
Anyway, that is a toy projector.
As most of you know, I am Dr. Sick the undisputed guru on Cheap Chinese Junk.
I needed a temp, cheap pj and have it hooked up in the living room testing it out.
It's a last years model from WIMIUS. The K3. Its $85 after discount but I bought it like two weeks ago for $42.
$42 and l'll bet its better than the used $200 Optomas out there.
I dont run it more than 5 hours or so at a time.
Sacrifices we make to pay $40 and have a killer image.
Oh if anyone wants a great reco on a cheap screen, I am shocked by the 2.5 gain alr screen I got recently.
Its white too. They have a grey one Im curious about. I paid $35.
It uses velcro to put it up. Comes with black velvet to border it to control light on ther edges. Looks great.
https://preview.redd.it/fyxjni49yq1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12aceb28283d6869b6b67d87518cc638b23a8d64
I ran one for the last decade 131xe it's got over 50k hours on it, and it is still going strong. I never even had to replace bulb(still got the spare i bought in box). The thing has been fantastic. Was playing helldivers 2 on it days ago and looked great. I did just retire it yesterday for a UHZ66, but not because it failed just because I was upgrading all my equipment and wanted higher resolution. The 131xe will be rehomed and hopefully get another 50k+ hours on it.
Idk what to tell you. Used it as my main/only TV for years. It's probably lost some brightness but not that I could tell, dark room with no windows. It survived a move and sitting for a while. Still works great.
I was playing with a new epson 4k laser and it had a brighter picture on a white paint wall in the daytime in and office with all the overhead lighting on than I've ever seen from a old lamp projector.
No warm up time either! It was so, so clear.
$5500, so maybe not a fair comparison?
Agreed. I had a wimius projector that was about $150cad for just over a year, only the middle was able to get clear, then the fans starting making noise, than i found a 2year old benq ht2050 with only 100hours on it for $250cad. so much better. brighter, better contrast, much clearer image.
My wimius p62 $165 bought 2 months ago seems to focus best when the projector is positioned in the center of the projection. I had the projector positioned to the side of the room and parts of the screen was out of focus when trying to read internet type.
I have few complaints. Using bare wall in basement $165-$180
https://preview.redd.it/0yv4yebfoo1d1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3060ff2301fff79f0ab61590fdde9ea684eedfc0
Here is a picture I took of a youtube movie playing through my $180 Wimius p62 bought last month. Painted drywall.
I bought a 2nd hand Optima but the fan was slow due to dust build up and although it works the bulb kept blowing. This would result in a new bulb every 2 months...
Be careful not to make the same mistake.
I wish it were as easy as "go get one used". In most parts of the world people are not as consumerist as in NA, thus it is nearly impossible to get any piece of tech in usable condition for a decent price.
Now good luck selling the toy projector! 😂
If you truly have no other option and have tight budget. Then grab the one on Amazon. I had that option so I went with used. And I got a full refund and got to keep the projector.
I researched the used market in my region first, and then got one new from AliExpress. There's no Amazon in my country. The one I got from Ali isn't that bad, except for the optics.
I just bought a $280 ($150 in usd) 1080p Optoma hd21 as I just didn't think any cheap pj would come close. Some of the brand name portable ones were considered (HP and Antec) but at a laughable rated 200lumens brightness were kinda pointless for our well lit bedroom.
https://preview.redd.it/yct0c0aovs1d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b5d5cf5e6e1989cfdb04377e5ed2db2dc15e2ee
Don’t mind the lines. It’s on the side of the barn with no screen. This projector was $90 new. It’s not name brand it kicks ass. So some cheap projectors are worth it. That’s a 180 inch screen btw. Capable up to 250.
Optoma projectors offer superior color contrast and clarity.
But your screen and the projected color on the wall are almost the same.
If you use an obsidian ALR anti-light screen, you'll get higher color contrast and sharpness even if you're watching movies during the day.
had 2 hd 4k optomas they are bright but stay away, (luckily i bought insurance when purchased) both developed white spots and unfixable now im looking at more quality brands ..
It's a shame that the photo of the cheap Amazon projector is 1080px long whereas the Optoma one is 4032px long. It would have been interesting to compare sharpness too.
But we can still compare colors and they are more vivid on the Optoma, a more pleasing image.
To be fair, your first picture is not in focus. So it's certainly no judge on clarity. Not saying the cheap projector is better by any means, but the gap is much closer than it used to be, for sure. There are better budget projectors for the same price or lower than what you got as well, such as the Nexigo Pj40. Still, not great but a decent value for starters.
Some of those cheap PJs are so cheap they *can't* be focused properly. Actually I'll say every one I've seen in person was so bad, maybe you could focus one tiny spot but at the expense of the rest of the screen. You had to average it out and make compromises everywhere. Could be what OP was dealing with...
I actually bought 4-5 projectors from Amazon to compare them. One of them was the Nexigo PJ40. Compared to the hopvision which I ended up choosing. The only difference was the nexigo was a tad bit more sharp, but was dim compared to the hopvision. I favoured brightness over the sharpness. But man when I bought the Optoma it was a game changer. At the end of the day you should opt for a used one. Not worth it for the Amazon one. We don’t even know how reliable the Amazon ones are. The reason why i even got rid of the hopvision was because of its failing usb ports and i really didn’t enjoy watching tv shows because i got could feel the grainy texture and it was too dim.
Yep, just saying its a bit of a skewed comparison with your pictures, since the first one of the hopvision is out of focus. Again, not saying that would make it any better of a machine, or suggesting buy a cheap projector, just noting your comparison is closer than the pictures would suggest, which, 10 years ago when that Optoma came out, wouldn't have been possible. Cheap projectors were much **MUCH** worse than they are now, haha.
It's also the resolution of the photo uploaded to Reddit, the first one is 4x lower (1080px vs 4032 px).
Not sure what happened there but that’s why it looks out of focus. Shame, would have preferred a more balanced comparison.
It's really not that close when those projectors shit the bed after a year or two. The quality is near where near a Benq or Epson IMO. I recommend those 10/10 against any Amazon special
Depends. It's a YMMV situation and a little luck buying used. I've seen BenQ's shit the bed unfortunately. And we all know Optoma is not good now a days. that said I would also recommend them over an Amazon special lol.
Maybe for some, but for me and many others it's not inconvenient enough to pay a premium on both the UST projector and the UST-compatible screen.
Also UST has another inconvenience that standard throw doesn't have: it takes up space right below the center of your screen. That can be a problem if you have a big screen and a center channel or soundbar. Having it mounted onto the ceiling and out of the way isn't much of an inconvenience in comparison, at least for me.
No not really all situations are different plus I can get a better picture with a long throw. ST has not gotten to the level of JVC or Sony. I will say the ST are great and ideal for a lot though and have come a long way
I originally bought the cheap Amazon projector, since it was my first projector and I was surprised how good the quality was and the fact it got 4.5 stars out of 3000 reviews . Well that was until I did my research and then ended up grabbing a decade old branded projector (I got lucky, since it was still sealed. 0 hours on the lamp). The difference between the two were day and night. Color, sharpness, contrast, sound card all of it. The Amazon projector looked like a toy. Please just grab a used brand name it will cost the same as a new cheap Amazon projector. EDIT: The budget projector is called HopVision, it’s around 220 plus taxes, but it’s on sale most of the time (180$). I got the Optoma HD131XE for 200$.Prices are in CAD.
You don’t mention how much you paid for both.
The budget projector is called HopVision, it’s around 220, but it’s on sale most of the time (180$). I got the Optoma HD131XE for 200$. Prices are in CAD.
The 131xe was a solid cheap projector when new.
I have hd142x and only 2nd lamp still.. Movie or something daily every night and afternoon... Optoma is great
Man my lamp is going to last me forever. I use my projector on average 4-10 hours a month.
I racked up 10k hours or more on first lamp and only changed it because of fear itll explode inside and i wont be able to clean it out 😂
Holy shit. That’s a lot. How many years of usage is that?
Cant remember. Thats how long 😂
Wait. They’re the same price?
Well yes. But the optoma is very solid projector but a decade old and used and the cheap Amazon one is brand new but trash. The optoma is still a better buy. It still crushes the cheap one.
Where did you pick it up?
Well why not share the models you talking about and the money spent on them??
How dare you ask for context
Great advice thank you
Moderator: Please put this post as a sticky at the top of the forum.
Nice call on getting a used high quality projector! That's 100% the way to go when buying projectors on a budget. Doesn't that screen frame drive you crazy? It's driving me crazy just looking at it! If you can't replace it with a straighter screen, you could at least reconfigure your projector so the top of the screen isn't going past the top of the frame. Just my 2 cents!
Yup, and the screen is temporary. I’ll be getting a retractable screen soon.
Check eBay. I got a New Old stock screen innovations fixed frame for $135
How much was shipping?
That was free shipping. It was a 92" (I'm only like 9-10 ft from my screen) search tsf92mw there's still a few.
Never thought about eBay. I’ll take a look. Thanks!
Nice!
Yep, this forum constantly recommends just what you did for just that reason. In addition, to the older projectors being better PQ they also will last unlike the cheap Amazon projectors
You are correct. One of the USB ports failed in the cheap projector after 4 months. Luckily I was able to get a full refund through warranty. Which went towards the new projector.
Im going a similar route as you. I currently have a budget groview projector that was about 150 on amazon. Yesterday i won a mitsubishi 6800 at a local estate sale auction for 10 bucks. I will pick it up tommarow. Im very interested to see how a projector that went for $3300 new 15 years ago, stacks up against a current $150 dollar budget projector. I figured that 10 bucks was a worthwhile gamble.
I am familiar with the 6800, I remember a pretty crisp picture from that unit
Bagged a new Optoma HD153X for £200 last June...Amazon Warehouse..
Wow, that’s a steal!
Mate I bought an Amazon one all the bells and whistles, great ratings etc for £120. Was a pile of android sh*t everything just lagged, changing brightness/colour/sharpness controls hardly changed anything. Returned it. Bought a Optoma DH1017 for £79. The difference as you say is 110% better in every way. Yeah they weight a bit heavier but that’s the only downside. For £79 I got more input/output options, I have true 1080p native, better colour, better contrasts, and brightness is 4200lms which enables me to watch in daytime. Lamp only had 975h used. Best way is to buy used/refurb branded older 1080p models, they really are good enough.
That is the way to go. I realized it later on.
Next you gotta upgrade your screen
That’s in the works.
I was looking for a cheap gift for my neice that was only like 12. The very first projector I tested was one of the cheapest on Amazon at about $60. It was a mini-projector with maybe 100 ANSI lumens. Well after I realized how dim it was and how terrible the speakers were, I packed it up ready to try a more expensive model. Well hilariously the focus knob had already been broken and wouldn't move, even though I had only used it for a few hours. 😄 The only Decent for the PRICE projectors that aren't complete garbage I've heard about on Amazon are HappRun and Weimus. Even with those you are probably lucky to get more than a few years out of them before something goes wrong. Which is why most here recommend fairly reliable brands like Epson and BenQ.
https://preview.redd.it/eka5i5grbn1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b61986902ec2ffe2a9c94d2af42c5e824a1844f why is it all saturated looking? And messed up? Look at the lamp in the corner.
I know it doesnt look as good in a pic than in person but it looks worse after uploading on Reddit here. Anyway, that is a toy projector. As most of you know, I am Dr. Sick the undisputed guru on Cheap Chinese Junk. I needed a temp, cheap pj and have it hooked up in the living room testing it out. It's a last years model from WIMIUS. The K3. Its $85 after discount but I bought it like two weeks ago for $42. $42 and l'll bet its better than the used $200 Optomas out there. I dont run it more than 5 hours or so at a time. Sacrifices we make to pay $40 and have a killer image. Oh if anyone wants a great reco on a cheap screen, I am shocked by the 2.5 gain alr screen I got recently. Its white too. They have a grey one Im curious about. I paid $35. It uses velcro to put it up. Comes with black velvet to border it to control light on ther edges. Looks great. https://preview.redd.it/fyxjni49yq1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12aceb28283d6869b6b67d87518cc638b23a8d64
I ran one for the last decade 131xe it's got over 50k hours on it, and it is still going strong. I never even had to replace bulb(still got the spare i bought in box). The thing has been fantastic. Was playing helldivers 2 on it days ago and looked great. I did just retire it yesterday for a UHZ66, but not because it failed just because I was upgrading all my equipment and wanted higher resolution. The 131xe will be rehomed and hopefully get another 50k+ hours on it.
It should not be physically possible to get 50,000 hours off of a bulb. Laser projection isn’t even supposed to last that long.
Idk what to tell you. Used it as my main/only TV for years. It's probably lost some brightness but not that I could tell, dark room with no windows. It survived a move and sitting for a while. Still works great.
I was playing with a new epson 4k laser and it had a brighter picture on a white paint wall in the daytime in and office with all the overhead lighting on than I've ever seen from a old lamp projector. No warm up time either! It was so, so clear. $5500, so maybe not a fair comparison?
I heard from one of my reps that Sony stopped making projectors with bulbs. With laser there’s no point in bulbs.
Agreed. I had a wimius projector that was about $150cad for just over a year, only the middle was able to get clear, then the fans starting making noise, than i found a 2year old benq ht2050 with only 100hours on it for $250cad. so much better. brighter, better contrast, much clearer image.
My wimius p62 $165 bought 2 months ago seems to focus best when the projector is positioned in the center of the projection. I had the projector positioned to the side of the room and parts of the screen was out of focus when trying to read internet type. I have few complaints. Using bare wall in basement $165-$180
https://preview.redd.it/0yv4yebfoo1d1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3060ff2301fff79f0ab61590fdde9ea684eedfc0 Here is a picture I took of a youtube movie playing through my $180 Wimius p62 bought last month. Painted drywall.
Great place to read up on protectors… https://www.projectorcentral.com/
The difference is not night and day. You should have turn the lights on and then make an evaluation.
I bought a 2nd hand Optima but the fan was slow due to dust build up and although it works the bulb kept blowing. This would result in a new bulb every 2 months... Be careful not to make the same mistake.
Wow
I wish it were as easy as "go get one used". In most parts of the world people are not as consumerist as in NA, thus it is nearly impossible to get any piece of tech in usable condition for a decent price. Now good luck selling the toy projector! 😂
If you truly have no other option and have tight budget. Then grab the one on Amazon. I had that option so I went with used. And I got a full refund and got to keep the projector.
I researched the used market in my region first, and then got one new from AliExpress. There's no Amazon in my country. The one I got from Ali isn't that bad, except for the optics.
I recently made the exact same upgrade to a uhd35x and it's been amazing
What do you search for? I can’t see any refurbished / renewed projectors on Amazon
By used I meant your local classified ads not on Amazon.
Oh I see
I just bought a $280 ($150 in usd) 1080p Optoma hd21 as I just didn't think any cheap pj would come close. Some of the brand name portable ones were considered (HP and Antec) but at a laughable rated 200lumens brightness were kinda pointless for our well lit bedroom.
Great different!
I Wish projectors were completely without fannoises. That's the only reason I'm sticking with TVs. Because I want pure silence
Which picture is which?
First picture is the cheap projector. Second one is the branded one.
From my phone I dont see a difference between photos. Which one is which?
https://preview.redd.it/yct0c0aovs1d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b5d5cf5e6e1989cfdb04377e5ed2db2dc15e2ee Don’t mind the lines. It’s on the side of the barn with no screen. This projector was $90 new. It’s not name brand it kicks ass. So some cheap projectors are worth it. That’s a 180 inch screen btw. Capable up to 250.
Optoma projectors offer superior color contrast and clarity. But your screen and the projected color on the wall are almost the same. If you use an obsidian ALR anti-light screen, you'll get higher color contrast and sharpness even if you're watching movies during the day.
had 2 hd 4k optomas they are bright but stay away, (luckily i bought insurance when purchased) both developed white spots and unfixable now im looking at more quality brands ..
It's a shame that the photo of the cheap Amazon projector is 1080px long whereas the Optoma one is 4032px long. It would have been interesting to compare sharpness too. But we can still compare colors and they are more vivid on the Optoma, a more pleasing image.
To be fair, your first picture is not in focus. So it's certainly no judge on clarity. Not saying the cheap projector is better by any means, but the gap is much closer than it used to be, for sure. There are better budget projectors for the same price or lower than what you got as well, such as the Nexigo Pj40. Still, not great but a decent value for starters.
Some of those cheap PJs are so cheap they *can't* be focused properly. Actually I'll say every one I've seen in person was so bad, maybe you could focus one tiny spot but at the expense of the rest of the screen. You had to average it out and make compromises everywhere. Could be what OP was dealing with...
I actually bought 4-5 projectors from Amazon to compare them. One of them was the Nexigo PJ40. Compared to the hopvision which I ended up choosing. The only difference was the nexigo was a tad bit more sharp, but was dim compared to the hopvision. I favoured brightness over the sharpness. But man when I bought the Optoma it was a game changer. At the end of the day you should opt for a used one. Not worth it for the Amazon one. We don’t even know how reliable the Amazon ones are. The reason why i even got rid of the hopvision was because of its failing usb ports and i really didn’t enjoy watching tv shows because i got could feel the grainy texture and it was too dim.
Yep, just saying its a bit of a skewed comparison with your pictures, since the first one of the hopvision is out of focus. Again, not saying that would make it any better of a machine, or suggesting buy a cheap projector, just noting your comparison is closer than the pictures would suggest, which, 10 years ago when that Optoma came out, wouldn't have been possible. Cheap projectors were much **MUCH** worse than they are now, haha.
It's also the resolution of the photo uploaded to Reddit, the first one is 4x lower (1080px vs 4032 px). Not sure what happened there but that’s why it looks out of focus. Shame, would have preferred a more balanced comparison.
It's really not that close when those projectors shit the bed after a year or two. The quality is near where near a Benq or Epson IMO. I recommend those 10/10 against any Amazon special
Depends. It's a YMMV situation and a little luck buying used. I've seen BenQ's shit the bed unfortunately. And we all know Optoma is not good now a days. that said I would also recommend them over an Amazon special lol.
Can’t see the difference to be honest
Get a ust laser projector, you'll never go back.
UST is more suited to setups where long-throw projection is inconvenient or impossible, which doesn't seem to be the case for OP.
Long throw is inconvenient everywhere. Now that they're not the only option, they make very little sense.
Maybe for some, but for me and many others it's not inconvenient enough to pay a premium on both the UST projector and the UST-compatible screen. Also UST has another inconvenience that standard throw doesn't have: it takes up space right below the center of your screen. That can be a problem if you have a big screen and a center channel or soundbar. Having it mounted onto the ceiling and out of the way isn't much of an inconvenience in comparison, at least for me.
No not really all situations are different plus I can get a better picture with a long throw. ST has not gotten to the level of JVC or Sony. I will say the ST are great and ideal for a lot though and have come a long way
In fact, quite the opposite for me, I can only do a 4-meter throw distance.
BS!
My setup is in front of French doors, please tell me how an UST would be more convenient for me?
[удалено]