Found a deal in govt surplus warehouse

[Silentheero]

Got a Polaroid 330 lcd projector for $100.00. 😀 I ran through the tests and menus and the lamp life still has 1000 hours left on it (it was a 2000 hour lamp). This is a steal in my opinion. The polaroid brand sold new for $10,000 and the off-brand version for $3,000. Only prob is a new lamp is $500,

Was going there to find a good ohp to start a diy projector and found this.

The specs are here:

MSRP (USD) : $ 9,995
Brightness (Lumens) : 700 ANSI
Contrast: ANSI:150:1
Weight: 13.4 lbs.
Size (inches) (HxWxD) : 5.0 x 14.0 x 11.0
Throw Dist (feet) : 5.0 - 40.0
Image Size (inches) : 27.0 - 320.0
Lens: Focus:
Manual
Zoom: Manual
Optional Lenses: No
Keystone Correction: Fixed
Lens Shift: No
Video: Yes
Personal Computers: Yes
Lamp: Type:
120W UHP
Life: 2000 hours
Quantity: 1
Display Type: PolySi LCD
Native: 1024x768 Pixels
Maximum: 1280x1024 Pixels
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (XGA)
Speakers: 3.0W+ 3.0W
Max Power: 200W
Status: Out of Production

 

[rcavictim]

Well if you only use your home theater projector to watch movies and not for everyday TV viewing, 1000 hours is a LONG time. When the lamp bugs out since you are into DIY, if it were me I think I'd try to stuff a larger, more powerful lamp into that baby if I was impressed enough with the rest of it. 700 lumens is not exactly bright and a dark room will be needed to enjoy that one but for $100, I think you can't go too far wrong for a working projector!

Congrats and welcome to these forums.

Rob

 

[cbm5]

That's good for $100 but I wouldn't say it's worth a lot more than that, 150:1 contrast ratio being the big killer here. I think I'll stick with my DIY projector with 350:1 contrast and 5,000 hours left on a $40 bulb before I start to think "eh, why not change it and get a little brightness back."

In fact, for the cost of one replacement bulb for that projector, you could build one with better specs. Of course I'm not sure about the lumens, I haven't seen a definitive lumen measurement for a DIY projector yet.

 

[Silentheero]

I never said it was the best projector ever. 😉 I am going to make one of my own too, because I have seen and read what you guys have acccomplished and must say that I am VERY impressed. I thought a lcd panel and ohp was the best you could get but i never thought about building one from scratch. I like working on DIY projects but only have dabbled in electronics and wiring so i will need some tech help and can do searches on my own (i do work in a library ) Ace's is the best one i have read about and although i like the design and all, i want to work one out on my own. Buying this projector was just my first step into this project.


BTW- what parts could be used out of a pro projector? I know i want to buy on of the copy lenses that ace has because they are so cheap and look so good. I am going to take it apart and see how a pro one is built and look to see about the components.