I need advice on purchasing a projector

[cloudrat7]

A coworker of mine has quite a few projectors for sale, the prices are insane (1/2 of the initial cost).
i'm stuck on deciding which one to get,

epson powerlite
76c 2000 lumens

or

nec vt 580
2000 lumens

either one would be used for movies and sometimes gaming.

I need some advice, heeeelp! lol

[Ivo]

A coworker of mine has quite a few projectors for sale, the prices are insane (1/2 of the initial cost).
i'm stuck on deciding which one to get,

epson powerlite
76c 2000 lumens

or

nec vt 580
2000 lumens

either one would be used for movies and sometimes gaming.

I need some advice, heeeelp! lol

I'm not sure many if any of the posters here can give you such specific advice. Google a bit for both and try to figure it out, hopefully you can see both models working to see for yourself image quality and so on.

General advice I could think of:
Check and compare the lamps expected lifetime and how much a lamp costs. Projector lamps are rather expensive so you shouldn't forget to think about that factor.

[gradualmeltdown]

Projectors come in many flavors. There are many many factors to look at. Here are the most important.

DLP or LCD?
Native Aspect ratio : 4:3 or 16:9
Native Resolution : 800x600-1024x768, 720-1080p
Brightness in Lumens : 2000-3000
Inputs : can you plug in a composite, component, DVI, VGA?

I bet they are either 4:3 aspect at 1024x768 resolution. Maybe 16:9 at 720p resolution. Even so do not expect 2000 lumens to do very well unless the room is dim. 2000 is enough so it won't have to be absolutely dark.

Most budget projectors are neat but look nowhere near the quality HD set. That said I love my little Sanyo XU78. It is only a 4:3 native at 1024x768 but it is 3000 lumens. Basically it has way less color and contrast than my awesome CRT but its 80" wide! I play most games on it even current gen stuff. Really nice for shmups that use 1/3 of the screen

Pay no more than $800.

[cloudrat7]

A coworker of mine has quite a few projectors for sale, the prices are insane (1/2 of the initial cost).
i'm stuck on deciding which one to get,

epson powerlite
76c 2000 lumens

or

nec vt 580
2000 lumens

either one would be used for movies and sometimes gaming.

I need some advice, heeeelp! lol

I'm not sure many if any of the posters here can give you such specific advice. Google a bit for both and try to figure it out, hopefully you can see both models working to see for yourself image quality and so on.

General advice I could think of:
Check and compare the lamps expected lifetime and how much a lamp costs. Projector lamps are rather expensive so you shouldn't forget to think about that factor.

what is the usual expectancy on the lamp? My friend warned me that the lamps are in the $200 - 300 range,
i know that both projectors have composite a/v input also s-video and vga. i don't remember the aspect ratio. i'll try to get that info.
i've never owned one before, so i feel like a noob asking all of these questions.
thanks again.

[gradualmeltdown]

no problem. This is how we all learn!

Make sure that the projector you purchase can use the VGA connector/input as a component input using a common adapter. Most in that range can but you never know.

i looked at the spec for both projectors. Both are 1024x768 in 4:3 aspect ratio. However they do have a widesceen mode (bars) There is no meaningful difference between the two. In all honesty no matter what you do this projector will be obsolete very soon as they are essentially between SD and HD.. Manufacturers are finally shifting from 4:3 LCD panels to 16:9 and making DLP a little cheaper.. Up until a few months ago it was very expensive to even get a native 16:9, 720p, 1200 lumen projector. We're talkin $2000 for a projector that will only work in a dark room.

Over the next few months we are going to see 2500 lumen 1080p P.J. hit around $1500. You just have to consider how much that image quality is really worth to you. If you are really into movies the cheap projectors won't cut it once you see a good one. For retro games and sports it really won't be a bad deal and you can play in moderate ambient lighting. In my opinion Sanyo are industry leaders in LCD specifically, so if you can get one of those at the same price range get it.

[cloudrat7]

no problem. This is how we all learn!

Make sure that the projector you purchase can use the VGA connector/input as a component input using a common adapter. Most in that range can but you never know.

i looked at the spec for both projectors. Both are 1024x768 in 4:3 aspect ratio. However they do have a widesceen mode (bars) There is no meaningful difference between the two. In all honesty no matter what you do this projector will be obsolete very soon as they are essentially between SD and HD.. Manufacturers are finally shifting from 4:3 LCD panels to 16:9 and making DLP a little cheaper.. Up until a few months ago it was very expensive to even get a native 16:9, 720p, 1200 lumen projector. We're talkin $2000 for a projector that will only work in a dark room.

Over the next few months we are going to see 2500 lumen 1080p P.J. hit around $1500. You just have to consider how much that image quality is really worth to you. If you are really into movies the cheap projectors won't cut it once you see a good one. For retro games and sports it really won't be a bad deal and you can play in moderate ambient lighting. In my opinion Sanyo are industry leaders in LCD specifically, so if you can get one of those at the same price range get it.

i'm not into the whole image quality thing, i know they are pretty sharp, i looked up some specs and they are kinda obsolete, but only about a year old, i'm only paying about $400 for either one, so i think it's a steal. i just dont want to purchase one and then come to find the other one is better..

[Ack]

Here's a couple of info sheets in case you want to check out some other info"

NEC VT580

Epson PowerLite 76c

On a personal note, I've found NEC projectors to be more reliable than Epsons, but most of my experience comes from the large 2-bulb models that NEC manufactures. All in all, I actually prefer Eiki projectors, though in the last year or so my favorite model, the Eiki 986, just hasn't been up to snuff. While I'm pretty sure it had to do with bulb quality, all the ones I used to work with dropped from averaging about 2000 hours to 1000 hours of life per bulb. Bit of a bummer, there.