how is this projector?

[jimbob200521]

i picked up the infocus sp4805 for $499 after a 100 mail in rebate at staples on black friday. the reviews on it look pretty good, but i was wondering if you guys had any opinions. thanks.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Nice deal! That projector seems pretty popular around here, I'm sure you'll like it.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: jimbob200521
i picked up the infocus sp4805 for $499 after a 100 mail in rebate at staples on black friday. the reviews on it look pretty good, but i was wondering if you guys had any opinions. thanks.

Excellent projector. Basically, from what I've seen/heard, its about the only projector to even consider for under $1500, maybe even $2000, and even then it fares pretty well considering you're getting into projectors with higher native resolution that can do native 720p.

I have one myself and absolutely love it. Unfortunately I am still without an Xbox360 to play on it, and so I have to watch movies off of my laptop and just play Gamecube games (don't feel like playing them, but they look good). I hate having to use my laptop for movies because of the sound, as it looks great with the 4805. Needless to say, I'm eager to get a 360 to play on it (both for games and I'd like to be able to watch movies with good sound again).

No complaints at all from me. I'm able to get a roughly 100" screen size, and I haven't had anyone complain about screen door or rainbow affect (two common complaints about projectors). Lighting can be a bit tough to control, and I don't have it positioned optimally (because it wants to throw the image at an upward angle, but I have it so high that I have to have the back raised and its skews the screen. I'm gonna try to get some nice thick, dark curtains sometime and also a new stand and then I'll be set. If I wasn't in an apartment I'd consider painting the wall, and might consider doing a homemade screen, but I'm not sure yet, as I'm quite pleased with the image quality (color reproduction) on the off-white colored wall.

 

[xtknight]

Wow, a DLP projector for $500 is DAMN good.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: xtknight
Wow, a DLP projector for $500 is DAMN good.

Its refurbished, but considering the quality, thats still pretty exceptional.

 

[jimbob200521]

thanks for ur replies.

do you see any potential problems due to the fact that its refurbished?

 

[n7]

Find out if they include a new bulb...i'm not sure how refurbs with projectors work.

 

[jimbob200521]

is there a chance that it wont come with a bulb at all? or am i just gettin paranoid

edit: also, do you know if, since its a refurb, it will come with everything (including bulb) that the non-refurbed ones would come with?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: jimbob200521
is there a chance that it wont come with a bulb at all? or am i just gettin paranoid

edit: also, do you know if, since its a refurb, it will come with everything (including bulb) that the non-refurbed ones would come with?

As far as I know if its actually refurbished by Infocus they put an entirely new bulb in, regardless of where the bulb that was already in it is at. They also seem to package everything that you'd get new with it (manual, cables, remote, etc.).

The one I got came in brand new condition pretty much (no phsycial marks or anything, brand new bulb that registered with 0 hours, had the remote with new batteries, the cables and manuals).

I'm fairly certain that Infocus does a very good job handling refurbs. Most companies will just throw all returns and things into the same and call them refurbs. Infocus splits them up. They won't resell demo units as refurbs. I believe they test them and update the firmware on them as well. I'm not 100% certain, but I thought I read that they do a good job with their refurbs and that you shouldn't worry about them being defective. Sometimes you can even purchase an extended warranty directly from them. Might be worth contacting them about at least if you'd rather play it safe (its fairly reasonably priced as well).

Also, its worth noting, that I don't believe the 4805 had any major defects (bad power supplies, other internal components, etc.), so if there was a major problem it probably didn't make it into the refurbs. There was a couple of smaller issues that I think a firmware update resolved.

Try checking AVSforums for more info. They have at least a couple of threads that go very in depth about it.

Also, while I try to be as truthful as possible, I admittedly could be quite wrong, so don't take my word for it. However, I can all but guarantee you'll love it, especially if you haven't had a projector before.

Oh, and it'd be a good idea to read up on it, just to know how to take care of it properly (for instance let the lamp cool down quite a bit before you fire it up again as it can lower the bulbs lifecycle or even kill it).

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I really love mine

As for the best for under $2000, I don't know about that :laugh:

A couple things you might want to check out are the section in the manual on cleaning the screens where dust gathers from the fans.

Another thing to check out if you get some splotchyness around the image is this guide to get rid of dust blobs. I followed the procedure and my image looks excellent again (I had a few blobs on the outer perimeter of my screen)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=556431

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I really love mine

As for the best for under $2000, I don't know about that :laugh:

A couple things you might want to check out are the section in the manual on cleaning the screens where dust gathers from the fans.

Another thing to check out if you get some splotchyness around the image is this guide to get rid of dust blobs. I followed the procedure and my image looks excellent again (I had a few blobs on the outer perimeter of my screen)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=556431

Yeah, getting to about $2000 I'm sure you can find a better one, especially since those should be having native 720p support.

I think that for $1000 and under, it can't be beaten, including HDTVs.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I really love mine

As for the best for under $2000, I don't know about that :laugh:

A couple things you might want to check out are the section in the manual on cleaning the screens where dust gathers from the fans.

Another thing to check out if you get some splotchyness around the image is this guide to get rid of dust blobs. I followed the procedure and my image looks excellent again (I had a few blobs on the outer perimeter of my screen)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=556431

Yeah, getting to about $2000 I'm sure you can find a better one, especially since those should be having native 720p support.

I think that for $1000 and under, it can't be beaten, including HDTVs.

I guess it depends on what you're looking for. For DVD watching and such, I think you're right that it's a great one to get. For under $1000 there's also the Optoma H31 which has very similar specs with the added benefit of native DVI input on it so I'd say in the $1000 range there's at least one other projector that would give it a run for its money.
At $500 though, that's a great price. :thumbsup:

For everything except when you really need HD, these 480p DLP projectors are a really good option.

 

[snizzle]

man $500 for that projector. i love mine sp4805, great quality with my xbox and movies. sigh i paid at least a grand but it was worth the 2 good years of use

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: snizzle
man $500 for that projector. i love mine sp4805, great quality with my xbox and movies. sigh i paid at least a grand but it was worth the 2 good years of use

I paid $999 including a screen about a year ago and that was quite a deal at the time.

It's amazing how these are coming down in price especially when you snag a deal like these.

I'm purposely avoiding video areas of AVSforum and Hometheaterforum so I don't see something new I have to get

My plan is to hold onto this 4805 until there's a lot of HD content out there or there's a nice 720p DLP in the $1000 range.

 

[jimbob200521]

thanks for replies everybody, im glad to know i didnt make a huge mistake purchasing that projector.

also, in case you havent noticed, im new to the wonderful world of projectors, but what do you guys mean by "native dvi support". this projector has a dvi input on it, so cant i just plug my computer into it and be good to go?

 

[darkswordsman17]

No, it has an M2 port, which allows it to be able to handle several interfaces. Its a proprietary thing as far as I know, but I believe you'll need an adapter cable for it, although I'm not totally certain.

I'm sure Yoyo can explain it a lot better than I can.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, the M2 port isn't the same as DVI.

The 4805 comes with an adapter that goes VGA and USB to the M2 to hook a computer up and control some functions. Additionally you can get an adapter from Infocus or some offbrand that will adapt DVI to the M2.

The DVI adapter is about $50 I think.