video projectors

For people who want the extra size view without the weight or price of the alternatives . . .

Picture quality - XGA is beautiful; most people should be very pleased. Daylight and other light sources outside of the projector do affect the viewability of the picture, but it is not extreme. Dark parts of movies or games may be harder to see during the day. Different settings - economic, presentation, vivid, video may improve the picture. During dark hours, no problems exist, even in economic mode.

My main reason for going this route for my home theater was to tie the unit in with my computer. I previously installed a tv tuner card and a DVD burner in my home-assembled computer. Since most projectors, including the Benq, have a vga input port (the 6200 even comes with the cable), the connection couldn't be simpler. I also use a 4-input switchbox to handle my VHS player, XBox and anything else that comes along (for example, a regular DVD player, a tv, my son's Gamecube etc.) I set my computer to 1280x1024 which the Benq can handle, compressing it to 1024x768.

Tips -

1) Placement If you own your home, you could work a ceiling mount. I used a very reasonably priced étagère.

2) Screen I can't comment on how good a white wall works, because mine isn't white. I made my own 4:3 ratio screen from 1x2 douglas fir and 2 yds of 54" wide blackout cloth (from a regular fabric store). Many people on the internet offer advice on how to do it. Mine is quite light. I used two plastic anchors and extra long screws to hold the bottom edge of the top of the frame on the wall. Since many alternatives for a screen drive up the price of an economical "luxury" system, they were not for me.

3) Bulb (Lamp) With a lifespan of 2000-3000 hours and the price of a replacement currently running at $400, I am picky about when I plan to use the projector tv - only for special events (when I get an HDTV tuner card for the computer, I might feel differently) . . . Video games - often . . . Movies - virtually every time . . . Computer/internet - occasionally When any of these sources are well done, one is interested on any size screen.

4) Sound The Benq only handles the video signal. I'm using my computer sound card, which can handle 5.1 sound. With my quality 5.1 speakers, I'm in home theater heaven. Which brings to my last item, where I could use a tip.

5) Wires With the Benq projector I have a power cord, a vga cable, an s-video cable, and a composite video cable. Add to that all the cables for the aforementioned items, and you have cable jungle - guaranteed not to please any woman that I know. I plan to handle part of it with throw rugs. As for the rest . . . help!

Lastly, I need to mention two things. First, Benq is coming out soon with a replacement for the 6200 with the latest DLP chip from Texas Instruments. Second, the 6200 keeps track of how many hours that it has been used, which you can monitor from its menu program. It will warn as the hours limit approaches and actually refuse to start at 3000 hours, until you replace the lamp.

I did a fair amount of research prior to the purchase of this DLP projector and found nothing to sway my decision to make this purchase. Generally you can find BenQ offering some kind of special, in the last couple of months they've offered a free lamp (retail cost about 4 hundered) and at the time of my purchase they had a two hundered dollar rebate. By a good margin, you get far more for you're money in this unit than in any other that I could find to compare, including the 1/3 cheaper version PB6100 that has a 800x600 resolution.

After unboxing the unit, I set it up to test on a couple milk crates and shot the image on my wall at about 85" wide. Plugged in to my PC my native desktop of 1600x1200 had to be reduced down to 1024x768 before I could switch the VGA cable over. Checking the image closely I looked for flaws such as blank patches, rainbows, or any other types of problems that would cause a reduction in enjoyment of the picture. I found that the pixels are way more pronounced fully zoomed in from the unit than if I were to just move the projector back to get a bigger picture. I also noticed that the whites and blacks were displaying very nicely considering I was shooting on a semi tan color wall (no screen).

Bulb life is rated at 2000 hours, but from what i've read, if the unit is set in economy mode it will extend the life about 1000 hours. Under heavy usage of 8 hours a day or so, that would equate to approximately an entire year of use. Average use of about 2-4 hours a day would extend bulb life to over 2 years.

Though I havent seen it project over 85" yet (my plans are a 110" screen), the projector is rated to shoot a 300" screen. Feel free to compare any of those numbers to a plasma or projection big screen of any kind. DLP projectors yeild the most bang-for-the-buck available.

I was able to play a video game at 1280x1024 85hz on it and it performed flawlessly. DVD movies are just incredible, I cant wait to get it hooked up in the living room.