Projectors and home theatre????

[COLLEGERESOURCES]

can you use a projector to watch tv with it also..i was thinkin of gettin a projector and trying to get a home theatre goin with an old room but i wasnt sure if you can connect cable tv to it and watch...and is it a good idea if you can

 

[Pepsi90919]

YOURNAMEISANNOYING

 

[COLLEGERESOURCES]

thanks Pepsi90919 that was real helpful

 

[Stealth1024]

Projectors have problems with noise, bulb lifetime, and startup/shutdown time. Be careful!

 

[HappyPuppy]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
YOURNAMEISANNOYING

I agree, in fact I think I'm going in to convulsions..........................................................................................

 

[Stealth1024]

And of course plasmas suffer from sticker shock, burn in, etc.

My personal choice would be a Samsung DLP

 

[Turkish]

Like everything else, there is good and bad.

If you are going to drop $4K on a projector, I am sure you can find a real good one.

 

[bmacd]

to answer your question, just about all projectors have AV inputs (RCAs) and if you can hook your cable box up to it via those RCAs, then you're in the clear.

-=bmacd=-

 

[Howard]

You can watch TV with a front projector, but if you do any kind of regular watching the bulbs'll go in no time.

 

[Howard]

And please don't drop the 'g' on the participles. :beer:

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

You can watch TV on it all you want but the bulbs are expensive and they usually aren't reccomended for tons of usage everyday

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

ITHINKYOUCANGETTHESECOOLDIGITALPROJECTORSFORCHEAPANDHOOKTHEMUPTOYOURTVIFYOURTVHASVIDEO-OUT. THEDIGITALPROJECTORSALLOWYOUTOENJOYHOURSANDHOURSOFAWESOMEGAMING,MOVIE,ANDTVFUN. THATWAYYOUDON'THAVETOWORRYABOUTBURNINGOUTBULBS. YOUWILLPROBABLYGETMUCHBETTERPICTUREQUALITYTOO. OHWAITDOTHOSEDIGITALPROJECTORSUSEBULBSTOO?

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: FFMCobalt
ITHINKYOUCANGETTHESECOOLDIGITALPROJECTORSFORCHEAPANDHOOKTHEMUPTOYOURTVIFYOURTVHASVIDEO-OUT. THEDIGITALPROJECTORSALLOWYOUTOENJOYHOURSANDHOURSOFAWESOMEGAMING,MOVIE,ANDTVFUN. THATWAYYOUDON'THAVETOWORRYABOUTBURNINGOUTBULBS. YOUWILLPROBABLYGETMUCHBETTERPICTUREQUALITYTOO. OHWAITDOTHOSEDIGITALPROJECTORSUSEBULBSTOO?

LMAO!!!!!

 

[Stealth1024]

Originally posted by: Xiety

Originally posted by: FFMCobalt ITHINKYOUCANGETTHESECOOLDIGITALPROJECTORSFORCHEAPANDHOOKTHEMUPTOYOURTVIFYOURTVHASVIDEO-OUT. THEDIGITALPROJECTORSALLOWYOUTOENJOYHOURSANDHOURSOFAWESOMEGAMING,MOVIE,ANDTVFUN. THATWAYYOUDON'THAVETOWORRYABOUTBURNINGOUTBULBS. YOUWILLPROBABLYGETMUCHBETTERPICTUREQUALITYTOO. OHWAITDOTHOSEDIGITALPROJECTORSUSEBULBSTOO?

LMAO!!!!!

>>>

 

[flot]

You can. And it is fine. There are some new sub-$1000 projectors out that are very good. The two most popular low cost contenders are the InFocus X1 and the BenQ PB-6100. Both are 800x600 and use DLP chips for the display. Both are about $1000. The X1 has been the internet favorite for the last 9-12 months or so, but the BenQ has recently gained in popularity. Both have bulb lives of I think 3,000-4,000 hours. (that's a lot of TV watching) IE if you watch 4 hours of TV a day, every single day, you're still looking at 3-4 years of use before you have to replace the bulb. Bulbs are a couple hundred $.

Do some research and some reading over on www.avsforum.com and you'll find out lots of info.

I just bought the BenQ, and I have to say the picture for watching DVDs and playing Xbox is absolutely incredible. I'm projecting a 50" screen - it looks great, and I have no problem with brightness in a medium-dark room. Most people are projecting 70-80-90" screens which I imagine is equally stunning, but probably not quite as bright. My directv signal on it looks okay, but not fantastic - the big problem being that the high resolution of the projector makes the signal defects stand out. Don't get me wrong, it is very watchable - but definitely doesn't compare to DVD or another hidef source.

Unfortunately for me, the asthetics of using the projector in my living room just aren't working out - the screen looks silly and is ruining all my good feng-shui. And I don't have an extra room to make into a dedicated theater room. So, I'll be selling this guy with about ~20 hours on the bulb. (hey, I had to watch a few movies). Let me know if you might be interested - the projector was $970 shipped to my door, there is a $100 rebate that I may or may not get (as with all rebates) and I dropped about $20 on a DIY ceiling mount at home depot. I'd sell the set for $825 and split shipping with you.

 

[OREOSpeedwagon]

All the stuff my teachers use projectors for at school turns out really blurry, but that might be either they're pieces of crap or just not using them right or at wrong distances from the board. I think I'd rather just buy a big TV so I wouldn't have to mess with all the stuff like buying new bulbs

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: COLLEGERESOURCES
can you use a projector to watch tv with it also..i was thinkin of gettin a projector and trying to get a home theatre goin with an old room but i wasnt sure if you can connect cable tv to it and watch...and is it a good idea if you can

I watch movies on my projector.

Drawback=400.00USD/light bulb.


Admittadly, the bulb lasts for thousands of hours or something, but FOUR-HUNDRED DOLLERS FOR A LIGHT BULB?!?!?!?!?

I thought it had been fried (cheap surge protector+thunderstorm) so I went to buy a new one. After hearing the price, I went home to try the old one again, and it worked. Maybe taking it out and putting it back in reset it or something, but the bad bulb light was flashing before that.

Gah.

But they are GREAT for movies. Nothing beats a projected big screen. The fans aren't that loud on new ones, about the same as an average computer.

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: OREOSpeedwagon
All the stuff my teachers use projectors for at school turns out really blurry, but that might be either they're pieces of crap or just not using them right or at wrong distances from the board. I think I'd rather just buy a big TV so I wouldn't have to mess with all the stuff like buying new bulbs

Hate to tell you, but the new big screen TVs also have bulbs that need to be replaced. (Anything that is DLP or LCD does, anyway!)

Prior to that, you had to replace individual color guns in projection TVs - which I think were anywhere from $300-$800 PER GUN. This is why you always see old big screen TVs at sports bars or whatever that just look god awful.

My point is just that there has always been a price to pay.. only recently it has gotten a lot more affordable. (even 3-4 years ago, a projector good enough for home use would have been $2500)

 

[arod]

I have an old AE100 that lasted me 2.5 yrs of everyday TV viewing plus DVD viewing.... bulb went out the other day and it cost 250 to replace. First one went 2700 hours with a max of 5000 (but is only rated at 3000). I prefer the picture of my AE100 to my dads Mits 65 rear proj inch HDTV (but i spent alot of time calibrating mine where he spent almost none)

see sig for pics of my equip. My site is very out of date but I am working on a refit of my room so wanted to wait to post more pics till the refit is done.