Optoma HD72 720p DLP Home Theater Projector Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)(Update May 2008) - Still using this (and on my first lamp too) so this has been a very good projector for me. If 720p is adequate for you and you can live with the screen geometry limitations, this projector is better than ever at this price. But if I were buying today, I would be looking long and hard at what Optoma has in a 1080p system.
(original review follows)
This home theatre projector is going to make a lot of converts this year and turn the projector market on its ear. There is nothing out there (at present) with this quality of picture for this low a price.
The HD72 has seriously limited image geometry adjustment but if you can mount it to the ceiling on center with the screen at the correct distance (+/- 20%), then none of these limitations will matter a bit. If you can't you might want to consider remodeling - the picture is that good. Otherwise, knock off 2 stars and prepare to spend a lot more.
The HD72's 1300 lumens concerned me when I bought mine. My venerable InFocus LP350 was pretty dim at 1300 lumens but the HD72 seems to use them efficiently enough to allow low ambient light while projecting a very pleasing 80" image. If I owned a high-brite screen, it would likely be even better.
If this will be your first projector, remember to price lamps. They are expensive and need to be replaced every few thousand hours of viewing. They tend to lose brightness as they get older so you may not get the 3000 hours Optoma claims. Also, research screens; what you project on is as important as what your project with.


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Offering true 720p high-definition resolution, the Optoma HD72 DLP (digital light projection) home theater projector features new technologies to deliver brighter images and truer colors to the projected picture. With a proprietary 7-segment color wheel with BrilliantColor and TrueVivid color enhancement technologies, the Optoma HD72 produces superior color and deeper dark settings at the same time. With native HDTV and HD PC resolution at 1280 x 768 (16:9), the HD72 delivers a 5000:1 contrast ratio at 1300 lumens to deliver subtle color details. And with 10-bit color per channel color processing, the HD72 delivers great color saturation and subtle color details for optimized image quality. Featuring a new, unique design, the HD72 also lowers the noise level usually associated with typical home theater projectors. The patent-pending wind tunnel cooling system is designed for near-silent operation with minimal light leakage.
Features
True High Definition 720p home theater projector
Bright 1300 lumens with 5000:1 (ImageAI mode) contrast ratio
BrilliantColor technology by Texas Instruments delivers higher brightness and more vibrant colors
Native pixel-to-pixel matching for 720p HDTV and 4:3 XGA computer display
ImageAI - Auto Adjusting light intensity output delivers amazing contrast
7 segment color wheel for detailed color reproduction
Input connectors: DVI-I, HDMI, RCA component, Composite, S-Video
Light shield design and ultra-quiet 27 dB operation

What's in the Box Projector, composite video cable, S-video cable, remote control, batteries for remote control, lens cap, userÕs manual, Quick Start Guide, warranty card, power cord, printed operating instructions

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Adaptec FireConnect Kit AFW-4300 Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this card after trying another Adaptec card - the DuoConnect 3121 - which has Firewire and USB2.0 connectors.
My advise: if you run Windows 2000 - stick with the simpler 4300 Firewire card (this card). It is simple and easy to install. No drivers, and the extra software is only needed for cameras/DVDs (I use my card for my new scanner). I have had troublefree service from it so far.
The Adaptec DuoConnect 3121, on the other hand, looks very tempting on paper - but trying to install it on Windows 2000 is an absolute nightmare (if you already have other adapter cards). I had severe hardware conflicts - which caused operating system driver corruptions in the end - and lots of wasted hours.
This is where Adaptec support came in. They gave me really good support, and refunded my money when we couldn't get the DuoConnect 3121 working under Windows 2000. And I bought their AFW-4300 instead.

In summary: The 4300 is a good card. Adapter cards from other companies are cheaper than Adaptec brand down here, but the Adaptec support is worth the extra money.

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A 3-port, IEEE 1394 FireWire iLINK host adapter for desktop PCs and Macs / Up to 50MB per second data transfer The card is 32-bit PCI and provides 3 external 6-pin portsData Transfer Rate -up to 50 MB/secMacintosh Requirements -Mac OS 8.6 or later, running on Power Macintosh 8600/9600 or laterWindows Requirements -Microsoft Windows 98SE or later running on IBM 266MHz class processor or betterPackage includes 6-to-4 pin FireWire/1394 cable, Installation CD-ROM with Windows software and links to Macintosh FireWire software and driversWarranty -5 Years Parts and Labor

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ViewSonic PJD5111 2500 Lumens Portable DLP Projector Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This projector has been great for doing classroom presentations from my laptop. It's very bright (2500 lumens) and alot less expensive than other models. The three negitives are:
1. There's no HDMI input, so this wouldn't be the best projector for a home theater setup.
2. The resolution is limited to SVGA, perfect for business presentations but there are better options for watching movies.
3. The feet used for adjusting the height and tilt of the projector are cheaply made and hard to adjust.
But all of these are a small sacrifice for an affordable projector this bright. It's so bright I can leave the classroom lights on without washing out the image.

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BenQ W1000 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector, White Review

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(More customer reviews)I've owned this projector for a month and a half. It has worked flawlessly with no issues to speak of.
It's quieter than my Optoma HD65 with a much brighter and vivid picture.
With a little or a lot of patience you can tweak the color and image to what ever floats your boat.
The W1000 has terrific color and depth, along with sharpness I've come to really appreciate. This unit does use a 2 times speed color wheel. Those sensitive to RBE may want to look at the HD20 or Vivitek. A LCD projector could be your best bet if you're very sensitive to RBE. The great thing about amazon is the satisfaction guarantee.
This is a VERY bright projector! At the present time it is the brightest 1080P projector available under 3 grand.
This gives you more leeway for ambient light to be present in the room. You can eat at the dinner table and still enjoy your movie or show without trying to eat in the dark because your image is washed out by the ambient light.
I like the fact this unit has its own speaker. My nephew loves to play Xbox. We just plug the Xbox directly to the projector and off we go! Nothing like playing video games on a large screen. The speaker is plenty loud enough without disturbing others in the home.
I've spent many hours tweaking and calibrating the picture. Here's a few settings that may or may not help you.
I've found it to give me the best balance of color, brightness and contrast so far.
These are settings with the projector 14 ft from the screen with lens wide, lamp hrs of 216 and 120 inch Favi matte white high gain screen. Black levels and contrast will deepen as lamp ages. 100 hrs of burn-in will make a difference for the better in skin tones and black levels.
User 2 settings with (cinema mode)
Color temperature fine tuning User settings: (normal)
Brilliant Color turned off
Lamp in Econo mode
Gamma: 2.0 or 2.2 (which ever looks best to you)
White peaking : 1
Brightness: 39
3D color management:
Cyan
Hue 0
saturation 110
Gain 90
Magenta
Hue 0
saturation 110
Gain 130
Yellow
Hue 0
saturation 110
Gain 110
Red
Hue 0
saturation 100
Gain 130
Green
Hue 0
saturation 140
Gain 140
Blue
Hue 0
saturation 100
Gain 140
Clarity control:
Default settings didn't change them at all.
Contrast, Color, Tint, Flesh tones and Sharpness all 0.
I hope this helps at least one person out there.
Peace

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Engineered with Texas Instruments' DLP technology, BenQ's W1000 projecter delivers outstanding HD cinematic enjoyment, with advanced BrilliantColor processing, high brightness, and high contrast ratios.
Outstanding HD cinematic enjoyment. Click here for a larger image

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Sure 2x25W @ 4 Ohm TPA3123 Class-D Audio Amplifier Board Review

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(More customer reviews)This amp board has plenty of power for a 2.1 system with a small passive sub and Im happy with the sound. Sometimes if the included cables are moved around it makes hums and pops, but I'm pretty sure once I make a permanent enclosure for it they will stop. I used the recommended sure power supply.

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Vivitek D513W 2600 Lumen WXGA HDMI 120Hz 3D-Ready Ultra Portable Widescreen DLP Projector (White) Review

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(More customer reviews)Great product! Owned this for 2 days now and love it! Got my Xbox 360, Wii, and computer all hooked up to this baby and am not looking back.
There is definatly a downside which I have mostly remedied, however, most people will not be able to. The thing is that this projector has NO AUDIO OUTPUT. Which is weird considering it has HDMI and such. This means if you connect something with the HDMI, you are stuck using the build in speaker for audio. Bummer. Also, if you connect using the y/r/w cables you are also stuck using the internal speaker, but if you have a stereo like I do, connect it to the stereo and run it to the projector. Not that the internal speaker sounds bad, it actually sounds great, but it's just not the best while watching home movies or gaming.
Great picture quality and projects and image of about 5 1/2' x 7'. Actually is slightly bigger, but roughly that size. I'm very happy with my projector.
UPDATE LOST ONE STAR*- Projector did not work today, first time since I bought it (6 monthsish). Ive mostly used it on economy setting. I hear a rattling like broken pieces of something, and after disassembling it, there might be a big problem. Projector wasn't dropped, hit or anything, it sits far above and out of reach. I now have to hopefully find a resolution, either something exploded inside, or bulb burst. Im 50/50 on which it is right now. Ill update ASAP
UPDATE TO UPDATE-5TH STAR RETURNED- So the reason is my bulb had exploded. First I was upset and believed it to be an equipment issue, but after realizing the extension cord I run this from was unplugged, I put 2 and 2 together. Cord unplugged while running (even in low power mode) will cause the bulb to not cool down while being around the already cool surroundings = BOOM goes the dynamite (bulb). So this was my bad (or another occupant), and not the projector. I'd give it 5 1/2 stars now for doubting it. Ha ha, enjoy and don't accidentally unplug this!!!!

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The Vivitek D513W is a native WXGA digital projector featuring DLP and BrilliantColor technologies to display distinct, vibrant images in a widescreen format. The Vivitek D513W features numerous connectivity options including HDMI v1.3, a brightness level of 2600 lumens, a 3000:1 contrast ratio. The projector is also 3D-ready, ensuring that the D513W is more than capable of handling media applications available now and in the future. Includes rapid on/off features as well as keypad lock feature to avoid accidental setting changes. Ships with AC Power Cord, VGA Cable, Remote Control, Batteries for Remote, Carrying Case, User's Manual (CD), Lens Cap, Warranty Card.

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Optoma TX1080 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the best projector I've owned so far. It is bright enough to work well in ambient light. It looks great with my AT&T U-verse HD and my Blu-ray disks. I just wish projectors used universal ceiling mounts. I purchased a mount for this projector and adapted it to fit the mount already in my ceiling.

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Syba SY-EXPC34-2F1U Combo 1394a(2) + USB2.0(1) 34mm ExpressCard, TI Chipset Review

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(More customer reviews)The card works like a charm. I can plug it right into the PCMCIA Express port on my laptop and can stream my video camera. The ad does NOT say that a cable comes with it, but it does. SO, I'll have to return the cable I purchased separately. Other than that, excellent product.

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Syba SD-PEX-FWB PCI Express 4-Port Firewire 1394a/b Card for Desktop PC Review

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(More customer reviews)This card works as described. I was able to get transfer rates up to 80 MBs through the 1394b interface. I had problems with it cutting out on long transfers though, and it turned out to be because the card was getting too hot. I put a spot fan on it, and that fixed the problem. I was able to transfer several hundred GB at one time with no degradation over time. (averaged 78 or so MBs) I probably would recommend to the manufacturer to put a heat sink or two on this card.

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Vivitek D945VX 4500 Lumen XGA DLP Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)i bought this projector for the good price, but im not happy because...
when the lamp was new it was impressive the brightness , but ..got less bright in a short time. now i compare my 2000 lumens sony projector and is almost equivalent.
and other bad thing is that this projector needs much more distance to get a big image, than others.

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Casio Pen-Based Graphing Calculator Review

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(More customer reviews)I have owned numerous calculators by HP, TI, Sharp, Casio, etc., but this new Classpad 300 Plus that was just released a few weeks ago with Casio's latest operating system (OS 3.0) and Classpad Manager 3.0 is just fabulous. It is now in common use in Europe, especially in Germany and also in Australia and in New Zealand. If you purchase(d) the version with OS 2.0, you can still upgrade electronically to the newest version using the Classpad Manager Version 3.0 directly which has a number of very nice new features/functions. This calculator should also be in common use in the USA as well, but regrettably the financial dominance of TI in our marketplace (and the impending arrival of the new TI NSpire calculator) make the likelihood of its acceptance very soon quite small, unless people like myself write reviews like this to promote educators to really get involved with this new product. The real advantage of both the Classpad as well as the TI NSpire calculator (which is not a pen-based product like the Classpad) is the great software that installs on PC's so that a complete emulation of its operations is possible even without the calculator being physically available. It addition, however the Casio (OS 3.0) will do now do Dirac Delta functions, Heaviside Step functions, Fourier and Laplace Transforms (including Fast Fourier Transforms, i.e., FFT's), First order ordinary differential equations, financial analyses, and of course it already performed complex number analyses, etc.
The operating feature on the Classpad that appeals to me the most however is the pen-based drag and drop operations using the Computer Algebra System (CAS) and the interactive menu between each of the numerous types of submenus on the device. Any operation worked on in one area (Graphs and Tables for example) can readily be copied and pasted into another area (Statistics, Spreadsheets, Sequences, etc) just to name a few of the numerous possibilities. The E-activity submenu on the Casio supports presentations to an audience and is the analog for the Classpad of the TI NSpire's 4 screens of information that can all be put on to a single screen at once (analyzing a problem using a geometrical representation in the form of a drawing or a picture, a word statement of the problem, an analytic or numerical equation solution and a graph of the results). Finally, the results can all be ported back and forth and printed/stored, etc. between the Classpad Manager software/emulator and the calculator itself which is simply fantastic to use. I have had this for almost a month now and I am just begining to appreciate what it can do for me daily in my work as a scientist. If students get exposed to these devices in a late middle school curriculum and beyond (after they first master many of the basics of mathematics and science), in my opinion they will want to continue to grow into math and science in their later years and become excited leaders in science and engineering that this country has been famous for having for most of the last 60 years.

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Vivitek H1081 2000 Lumen 1080p Home Theater Projector Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I believe the projector is less expensive primarily because it is relatively large compared to other similar projectors. Otherwise the projector performs very well on Mac's and Window computers. The ability to show high resolutions for spreadsheets is very helpful. It is the cheapest 2000 lumen 1080p projector I could find.

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Optoma EP721 SVGA 2200-Lumens DLP Multimedia Data Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently purchased a new Optoma EP721 projector on the recommendation of a colleague. It was very light weight and easily carried to my lectures. My colleague had given his Optoma projector to his son and purchase another brand projector to replace it. He found the other projector was twice the weight and did not notice any discernible difference in the images, so he purchased another Optoma projector. In the first test-run at a venue, I was extremely impressed with the brightness of the 2200-Lumens lamp, which was perfect for my presentations. The lecture venue was large enough to seat 60 guests for a luncheon.
I had read in other reviews that the yellow colors were not as bright as with some other brands. While I found this to be true, it was minimal and not obvious to the audience. The wonderful feature about digital presentations, is that one can compensate for color during the editing process of the images using software, such as Photoshop.
The set-up process was easily accomplished after I reviewed the instructions. After one try, I was confident that I could rely upon the Optoma projector integrated with my MAC laptop. Lastly, the Optoma EP 721 was extremely favorably priced and was about half the cost of the competition. As an example of my satisfaction with this projector, I purchased a second one for the organization that I chaired.

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The Optoma EP721 is a multi-faceted digital projector that is unparralled in features and functionality. It is a 2200 lumen DLP data projector with 2200:1 contrast ratio, SVGA resolution, and weighs just four pounds.It features a wide range of connectivity options including VGA in/out and DVI with HDCP.It also features a presentation remote with laser pointer and page advnace features.The EP721 is covered by a one year parts and labor warranty.

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Optoma DS216 2600 Lumen SVGA DLP Multimedia Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)I use the Optoma DS216 as a multi-purpose projector. I take the projector to customer meetings to present PowerPoint slides from my laptop computer and I use it at home for watching sports and DVDs.
The DS216 displays SVGA resolution and does an excellent job of resizing information from my XGA resolution laptop. I typically project a 60" to 80" diagonal image and with the lights on the image looks bright, colorful and focused. This is a budget projector so I use it to display an image by plugging my laptop into the VGA port - there is not an audio input so I use the speaker from my laptop when necessary.
For watching sports from my Comcast box I plug into the DS216 projector s-video input and for DVDs I plug into the composite video input. Although not high resolution the projector does a nice job of displaying wide screen and 4:3 images. In a room with minimal ambient light the images look very good with excellent color. For audio I connect the cable box and DVD player directly to a 5.1 channel AV receiver.
At a price under $400 the DS216 is a great buy and an exceptional performer.


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Small, sleek and stylish, the Optoma DS216 is perfect for business and classroom applications. Featuring 2600 ANSI lumens and a high contrast ratio of 2500:1, the DS216 will capture your audience's imagination. With lamp life of up to 4000 hours, filter-free design and low standby power consumption, the DS216 will provide lower cost of ownership while delivering a perfect, colorful, crisp image.

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Pyro Pci 64R2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Much better stability for home studio recording (Cubase) than when using my onboard FireWire. No drivers come with the card, but it you don't need them b/c Windows has the drivers already. I've tested on WinXP, Win7 x86, & Win7 x64; all worked instantly.
This one uses the Texas Instruments chip, as is recommended by the audio and video vendors I use. It is well worth the price.

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Nu-kote Model NR-40 Ink Roller, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)We bought the cash register from OfficeMax, not knowing they don't sell replacement ink rollers. Thanks to Amazon for being there. Rollers work great and last a very long time!

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