Well, after testing out my $50 nView Viewframe Spectra C projection panel with an AI-1000 OHP, I found that the picture was great when watching cable TV, but for DVDs, it just didn't cut it. Another problem I found with LCD is that you just cannot get nice looking black/dark images. All in all, my setup was a great deal. About $110 (little bit more than that after buying extra bulbs), and I had a 7.5 foot images on my wall! I was quite impressed watching rally racing and what not, but I did not want to invest $180 for a retrofit and $100 for a tv-3000 to get rid of macrovision when watching DVDs.
So on my usual hourly 😉 check for nview panels on ebay, I came across the nView DiaMonD D-400 DPL Projector. At first glance it seemed to be a doa sold as an untested/as-is deal, but after emailing the seller, he explained how he sell items for a company and does not do extensive testing. He said most of his stuff is not DOA and he would be willing to give a no DOA warranty. After a day of watching, I sniped the PJ for $103.54! The unit did not have a bulb, so I managed to find one on ebay for $90 (270 watt metal halide). Here Is The Ebay Link. That brings the total cost of my projector to about $190 (before shipping)! That’s less the cost than many peoples metal halide lighting setup costs alone!
Here is the specs on it from projector central. It is 350 ansi lumens which is not too bad, but the contrast ratio is higher than my nview panel. It also seemed to have some good reviews. One nice thing about DLP is that the blacks ans darks look (real) good!
What do you guys think? Good Deal? Bad Deal?
So on my usual hourly 😉 check for nview panels on ebay, I came across the nView DiaMonD D-400 DPL Projector. At first glance it seemed to be a doa sold as an untested/as-is deal, but after emailing the seller, he explained how he sell items for a company and does not do extensive testing. He said most of his stuff is not DOA and he would be willing to give a no DOA warranty. After a day of watching, I sniped the PJ for $103.54! The unit did not have a bulb, so I managed to find one on ebay for $90 (270 watt metal halide). Here Is The Ebay Link. That brings the total cost of my projector to about $190 (before shipping)! That’s less the cost than many peoples metal halide lighting setup costs alone!
Here is the specs on it from projector central. It is 350 ansi lumens which is not too bad, but the contrast ratio is higher than my nview panel. It also seemed to have some good reviews. One nice thing about DLP is that the blacks ans darks look (real) good!
What do you guys think? Good Deal? Bad Deal?
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An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Hehe... That's not a bad deal. I seriously recomment that you make and anamorphic lens for it because of the low resolution. That way you get 640x480 on widescreen material too. Check the lens-thread in this forum.
I have a NEC HT1000 which uses the new 12º XGA DMD and 4x color wheel. I'm not going back to LCD untill the technology improves. 🙂 Here are the specs for my HT1000: http://www.projectorcentral.com/projector_details.cfm?part_id=1845
Tor Arne
I have a NEC HT1000 which uses the new 12º XGA DMD and 4x color wheel. I'm not going back to LCD untill the technology improves. 🙂 Here are the specs for my HT1000: http://www.projectorcentral.com/projector_details.cfm?part_id=1845
Tor Arne
i think it's a pretty good deal but the specs on it are definitely about as low grade as you could go. 125:1 contrast isn't good, 640x480 is ok as long as you don't plan on viewing more than dvd's and tv, 350 lumens is fairly dark.
on my elmo hp-a305 + nec 1545v + tv-4000, i get a setup with these specs: 1024x768, 300:1 contrast, not sure about the final lumen out but i think 600 would be a conservative estimate. also the tv-4000 has a tv tuner in it which is nice. i spent $580 on these parts but i'm sure i could've trimmed the price had i waited for better deals... but of course i was anxious to get my setup working! overall though, for $190 i think your machine is a good deal.
on my elmo hp-a305 + nec 1545v + tv-4000, i get a setup with these specs: 1024x768, 300:1 contrast, not sure about the final lumen out but i think 600 would be a conservative estimate. also the tv-4000 has a tv tuner in it which is nice. i spent $580 on these parts but i'm sure i could've trimmed the price had i waited for better deals... but of course i was anxious to get my setup working! overall though, for $190 i think your machine is a good deal.
tahustvedt said:
As a matter of fact, I was just reading over your site. Building an Anamorphic lens will probably be my next diy project. I have a handle on the basic idea of it (and yes I cut glass like a pro), but I still need to do some more research. What did the total cost of bulding your final lens?
It only cost me the price of the glass and the oil since I have access to all the aluminium and tools I need at work. Very little money if you use cheap glass. The expensive reflection-coated glass will cost more though, but I'm not sure how much.
Tor Arne
Tor Arne
Have you though about selling these things? Or do they have to be made to the specific projector? From the pics I saw of one of your lenses, I thought it was store bought at first... Until I saw the brand name arnemorph... hehe...
Compared to an Nview, that thing is an awesome steal. Personally, I'm more interested in high-res stuff. I've seen projectors w/ a 400:1 contrast ratio and the blacks are very acceptable.
I recived my projector and It looks to be in good condition. The bulb will arrive on the 25th. I was looking on the internet and came across this review:
No more sleeping during presentations! The nVIEW Diamond D-400 presentation projector works with the lights on, thanks to Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing system. Measuring 7.75 by 12 by 15.5 inches and weighing 23 pounds, the Diamond D-400 is easy to carry around. It can deliver 16.7 million colors in 640x480 resolution, and includes a built-in stereo module and speakers.
$9,995
nVIEW Corp.
800-736-8439, 804-873-1354
Works with the lights on... That REALLY GOOD to hear! I also found a mounting braket for it that costs more that what I paid for the projector... lol.
No more sleeping during presentations! The nVIEW Diamond D-400 presentation projector works with the lights on, thanks to Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing system. Measuring 7.75 by 12 by 15.5 inches and weighing 23 pounds, the Diamond D-400 is easy to carry around. It can deliver 16.7 million colors in 640x480 resolution, and includes a built-in stereo module and speakers.
$9,995
nVIEW Corp.
800-736-8439, 804-873-1354
Works with the lights on... That REALLY GOOD to hear! I also found a mounting braket for it that costs more that what I paid for the projector... lol.
hey Verbose what ever happened to your end of the diy route, I smell someone who mabe a scitzophrenic, what voice was saying NO DIY anymore and what one said Custom plexiglass case? hummmmmmm LOL
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