No HDMI input. Pretty dated machine. Hard to be 1080i/p without HDMI...

comstock1869 wrote:No HDMI input. Pretty dated machine. Hard to be 1080i/p without HDMI...

A very important thing to look for on a projector is the "native resolution." That's the real amount of displayed pixels.

OOH, FANCY TECHNOLOGY, I want a 3D movie theater experience! I'll just plug in my 3D enabled Blu-Ray into the HDMI port. I'm sure there is one on one of the sides... Maybe I'm missing it somewhere. Not on the back, not on the bottom, not in the description, not on the manufacturer's website.

Well, with the money I saved by not buying this, I can go see four 3d movies and have popcorn.

4:3 aspect ratio. That's almost a freaking square!!

Looks suspiciously like a rectangular GLaDOS.

comstock1869 wrote:No HDMI input. Pretty dated machine. Hard to be 1080i/p without HDMI...

Well first of all most of the projectors still have 1024 X 768 as native. Resolution, this projector is really good deal. I am getting two for VJin (one of my optomas is not working)

comstock1869 wrote:No HDMI input. Pretty dated machine. Hard to be 1080i/p without HDMI...

All that matters is the resolution capacity. I have a projector with similar specs that lacks a native HDMI input, but I bought an HDfury adapter to convert HDMI and it works great. 1080i from my Bluray player.

I have multiple projectors, and honestly from 12-15ft away, 1680x1050 looks pretty dang good when it's covering a 110" high-contrast screen. Now, for gaming, be it Xbox360 or PS3 or Wii or PC, having a true 1920x1080 (or better-yet, 1920x1200) resolution makes much more of a difference to my eyes.
I used to have 3x 1200p LED-DLP projectors set up in "portrait Nvidia Surround", because NO BEZELS(!!!) plus 3 110" screens perfectly aligned equals WIN (used slightly-curved projector screens for the two side screens to make a 168-degree image without distortion!), especially for racing games, flight sims(although not my thing), and very immersive FPS's.
That's a 5'-tall display that's a little over 23' wide! Paired with my home theater's 11.3ch surround sound** it makes BF3 feel TOO REAL. Unfortunately the setup is down as I am re-doing some of the room-within-a-room construction (replacing 6" rubber matting with 10" 28-layer honey-combed variable-density sound absorbing rubber matting; 31dB reduction for the old stuff, 52dB for the new stuff! Combined with the other treatments, insulation, etc, and the home theater/studio is inaudible with both doors shut until around 106-111dB at which point the Bass can be felt as it's actually vibrating the foundation at that point!! That's with 18" between the floor of the RwaR and the actual concrete basement foundation floor!).

For the money, these projectors would be fantastic for taking to friends' houses for movies or even video games, watching films outdoors (having neighbors over to watch a movie on the side of a house), or whatever else you can think of! I have a few small projectors that I use to project images for painting walls (patterns that I create in Photoshop, I can simply project onto the wall and trace over with a brush). VERY VERSATILE!!!!!





**(DefTech BiPolar Towers and Studio Monitors, KEF Radiant Speakers, 1x Pioneer Dual-12" Subwoofer w integrated 3000W amp placed as far as possible away from seating, and 2x Pioneer 10" single-sub 850W Subs placed within 5' of seating) sucking power through an array of McIntosh amplifiers (3x 3x450W, 3x 6x200W, 2x 3x600W, 3x 1x1800W/2x900W/3x450W, 2x 4x300W) for a total of 19,050 Watts RMS + 3000W RMS (from Pioneer integrated Class-D amp). Needless to say, the entire room-within-a-room is still more heavily soundproofed than many recording studios I've worked in.... (also, there's a total of 4 speaker setups: 11.3ch film/game, 7.2ch Film/TV, 5.1ch DVD-Audio, and 6.4ch Studio Monitor setup for editing/mixing consisting of 2 channels with 3 3-way monitors per channel each one only about 50% larger than a regular bookshelf speaker but capable of 550W RMS thanks to Carbon-Fiber and Kevlar cones and 6-total crossovers inside each unit, [2 are 0.625"/2.75"/4.25", 2 are 0.5"/2.5"/3.75", and the last 2 are 0.75"/3.25"/5.125"; reason is that the setup is 99.9998% flat up to 29Khz, perfect for recording and editing/mixing] all Bi-Amped complemented by 2x 8in @ 850W RMS/ea + 1x 10in @ 1100W RMS + 1x 12in @ 1800W RMS subwoofers; speakers Bi-Amped with 12GA hex-shielded C110 99.98%-pure-Copper wire and Subs with 8GA hex-shielded C110 99.88%-pure-Copper wire).

Ick. That thing looks like it would have major keystone-related issues (be them keystoning or distortion from correcting for it).

How would you you show TV shows on this?

No HDMI.
Not even 720 HD capable (720 is 1280x720, this is 1024x768).

This would not work terribly well for modern TV or game consoles.

No HDMI or DVI and a resolution lower than most laptops means computer applications would be limited.

Porcelli wrote:How would you you show TV shows on this?

Video input from a non PC or non 15 PIN source is limited to Composite Video or S-Video from your cable box or DVD player. If you need a bright projector for a class room, business or meeting hall presentation - those would be ideal uses for this projector. If you are looking for an HD projector to watch movies, there may be better options out there, just so you know. It can read USB flash drives to show JPEG images without a PC though. Large scale lolcats, anyone?

cfbboyce wrote:No HDMI.
Not even 720 HD capable (720 is 1280x720, this is 1024x768).

This would not work terribly well for modern TV or game consoles.

No HDMI or DVI and a resolution lower than most laptops means computer applications would be limited.

The specs say it can handle 1920 x 1200. With an HDMI adapter for the WVGA input, this could handle high-def.

I don't have this model, but I have a similar projector without HDMI or DVI input, and it shows 1080i just fine with an adapter (an older HDfury).

cfbboyce wrote:No HDMI.
Not even 720 HD capable (720 is 1280x720, this is 1024x768).

This would not work terribly well for modern TV or game consoles.

No HDMI or DVI and a resolution lower than most laptops means computer applications would be limited.

My first Home Theatre projector was a NEC LT150Z which was a 1024 x 768 resolution projector. I was using it on a 96" screen and it looked excellent. Will a 1080 projector look better......yes it will slightly. But then again this is a $299 specialty short throw projector...seems like a good deal to me.

How does woot always know what I want and when I want it?! Scary!

I bought it -- do we know if the bulb is at least new?

Thanks

You couldn't pay me to buy a BenQ projector. We bought around 20 BenQ projectors where I work. Every one of them turn out to be bad. Took ua a year to get a tech at BenQ to agree that the projectors were bad. We sent them in for a 'Firmware' upgrade. They came back with different serial numbers than we sent in. Those too were all bad. So they upgraded us to a 'plus' model. Went through the process of sending all our projectors back in to get the 'plus' version. Those too turn out bad. The worst part was the lack of any serious tech support.

No 2 day shipping......WHY?

ShyGuy91284 wrote:Ick. That thing looks like it would have major keystone-related issues (be them keystoning or distortion from correcting for it).

They are also hard to mount. No zoom so you have to position the projector EXACTLY.

stancol wrote:They are also hard to mount. No zoom so you have to position the projector EXACTLY.

This typically isn't a projector your going to mount. Your going put it on a table 2 feet from the screen / wall.

stancol wrote:They are also hard to mount. No zoom so you have to position the projector EXACTLY.

I agree but it's also just $299.00. Great deal for a non-profit.

I'd love to buy this for playing on the Wii. With the short throw and ceiling mounted it a very safe "TV". Instead of accidentally throwing the controller into a TV, you will hit a projector screen or wall.

When I play Wii using my nice 1080p projector my head and body get in the way of the picture.

Also for those comparing the resolution 1024 x 768 vs 1280x720 vs blah blah blah, you will not notice a real difference between the XGA and 720. What will make a HUGE difference is the Projector Screen. If you only have a low end projector screen or projecting on a plain wall, upgrade your projector screen before considering an upgrade in projector. It will make a WORLD of difference.

At 2500 lumens and 2 feet away -- be prepared for your retinas to burn up! I would recommend using this at the eco-setting.

Can someone suggest if it is required to wall mount it.. can i just use it in on my desk without requiring to mount..

vintech wrote:Can someone suggest if it is required to wall mount it.. can i just use it in on my desk without requiring to mount..

Yes, no need to mount.

aliusa wrote:At 2500 lumens and 2 feet away -- be prepared for your retinas to burn up! I would recommend using this at the eco-setting.

It doesn't work that way. Light scattering due to distance has a very very subtle effect, but the largest factor is screen size. 2500 lumens on a 50" screen will be a lot brighter than 2500 lumens on a 150" screen...

Jaz

3 questions:

Will this projector perform poorer than non short throw projectors if I am not in short throw distance? (i.e. if the projector is 8-12+ ft away instead of 2ft)

I saw this and it made me wonder: "They are also hard to mount. No zoom so you have to position the projector EXACTLY."

Does this projector have to be placed on a table? Are there limitations to mounting that would be different that other consumer projectors?

will the 4:3 native aspect ratio affect my 16:9 content in any way? I'm aware there are multiple aspect ratio settings, but making sure that the fact that 4:3 is NATIVE will not have a negative impact on a wider image.

pjnissim wrote:3 questions:

Will this projector perform poorer than non short throw projectors if I am not in short throw distance? (i.e. if the projector is 8-12+ ft away instead of 2ft)

I saw this and it made me wonder: "They are also hard to mount. No zoom so you have to position the projector EXACTLY."

Does this projector have to be placed on a table? Are there limitations to mounting that would be different that other consumer projectors?

will the 4:3 native aspect ratio affect my 16:9 content in any way? I'm aware there are multiple aspect ratio settings, but making sure that the fact that 4:3 is NATIVE will not have a negative impact on a wider image.

You cannot use this projector 8 feet away. It is a short throw projector with no zoom. At 2 ft away it will throw a 101" image.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-MX880UST-projection-calculator-pro.htm

Looks like replacement lamp cost is about $250 with 3500 normal hour usage (or 5000 econ mode).

http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-America-5J-J3A05-001-Replacement-Lamp/dp/B008TCS5OO

Considering I would only use this when guests are over or if I have a presentation for a small group, I think this could still be worthwhile for my use cases.

Jazman13 wrote:It doesn't work that way. Light scattering due to distance has a very very subtle effect, but the largest factor is screen size. 2500 lumens on a 50" screen will be a lot brighter than 2500 lumens on a 150" screen...

Jaz

But at 2 feet you're only getting maybe 80 inches. That's bright.

pjnissim wrote:3 questions:

Will this projector perform poorer than non short throw projectors if I am not in short throw distance? (i.e. if the projector is 8-12+ ft away instead of 2ft)

I saw this and it made me wonder: "They are also hard to mount. No zoom so you have to position the projector EXACTLY."

Does this projector have to be placed on a table? Are there limitations to mounting that would be different that other consumer projectors?

will the 4:3 native aspect ratio affect my 16:9 content in any way? I'm aware there are multiple aspect ratio settings, but making sure that the fact that 4:3 is NATIVE will not have a negative impact on a wider image.

Don't buy this one. Get an NEC LT245 or LT280 is similar specs, wifi ready, etc. but more applicable for your environment. Around the same price too.

stancol wrote:They are also hard to mount. No zoom so you have to position the projector EXACTLY.

I'll vouch for that. These projectors are incredibly unforgiving when it comes to positioning. I spent the better part of an hour once trying to get one to look right on a screen.

As for specs, as has already been mentioned, 1024x768 is standard PC output resolution for the most part. If you want something for a home theater, this probably isn't it, but for a small board room where it will only ever be used for powerpoint presentations, it ought to do well, as long as it isn't terribly bright.

ZebTheCalvinist wrote:I'll vouch for that. These projectors are incredibly unforgiving when it comes to positioning. I spent the better part of an hour once trying to get one to look right on a screen.

As for specs, as has already been mentioned, 1024x768 is standard PC output resolution for the most part. If you want something for a home theater, this probably isn't it, but for a small board room where it will only ever be used for powerpoint presentations, it ought to do well, as long as it isn't terribly bright.

So you actually used this same model projector and it took an hour to setup? I don't want to seem rude but why would it ever take that long? There really not many adjustments

cmacclel wrote:So you actually used this same model projector and it took an hour to setup? I don't want to seem rude but why would it ever take that long? There really not many adjustments

My projector arrived today and so far not so good. These really are a pain to setup or something is just wrong with the one I received. The test pattern used to set the projector up consists of a screen full of squares. I can get 80% nice and square but the others are deformed in one way or another. I'm shooting this on a projector screen I use for my Epson 1080p and never saw a problem. I'm try to determine if it's the screen or projector at this point......stay tuned.

cmacclel wrote:My projector arrived today and so far not so good. These really are a pain to setup or something is just wrong with the one I received. The test pattern used to set the projector up consists of a screen full of squares. I can get 80% nice and square but the others are deformed in one way or another. I'm shooting this on a projector screen I use for my Epson 1080p and never saw a problem. I'm try to determine if it's the screen or projector at this point......stay tuned.

i set it up in first 30 minutes, keeping it a feet away from the wall using a tea table. the projection is around 85 inches and i move around by few inches if the video is a 16:9 to get a bigger screen. The only reason I am using a wall and thr room is not very big. I suggest you use the feature of auto setup. Also.. i tried the 3D using couple of 3D active shutter glasses and no luck. The ones suggested by Benq are very expensive and i cant take chances paying 99 bucks for one pair. Has someone tried 3D do share it with the forum how you overcame that..happy holidays folks..