Hey All,

I was in a fitness place this week that has a dedicated room for movies while you work out. The current projector, Epson home cinema 730hd, runs non-stop monday through friday and gets shut down friday, saturday and sunday night based on their operating hours.

Obviously that's not ideal. I was thinking about the Epson below. I could get it on the network and they could use the Epson software to cut down on some hours, hopefully shut it down a bit overnight on the M-F.

It is a dark room, so lighting is not an issue. However, they have a 14' wide, 8' tall screen with a current throw distance of 25'.

[Link: epson.com]

Do you guys have a favorite workhorse? I didn't get a firm number, but I'm guessing 5k-6k range for budget, including 2 new subs, plus install, extender and labor.

Thanks,
Tom

Panasonic laser, depending on screen size in that price range.

Indeed. One of the laser/led hybrids makes a huge amount of sense in this context.

Not even close for the budget though.

If you go with the 720P version, depending on what else needs to be done, you could make it work. 3500 lumens bright enough? Check out the ptrw330u.

Thanks Guys!

Fred, I did look at the 330 and the 370, that may be what I quote.

My only question on the laser pieces is what happens at the magical 20,000 hour mark? If/when the laser part dies, what is process and price for fixing it?

The prospect could rack up 20,000 hours in less than three years, based on current use.

Replace projector is best answer, although I have never researched the replacement laser cost. Not user serviceable, I do know.

Consider that you typically are swapping lamps on conventional projectors every 2000 hours. Cost of lamp X 10 should be less than cost of new laser projector.... If you need a rationalization. Yes, it's apples to oranges.

Lasers typically last a long time. Most lasers are rated for 80% brightness unlike lamps which are rated for 50% brightness. Many of the projection systems use a laser firing into a phosphor wheel. Typically it is the phosphor wheel that will fade first and not the laser. They can often be used past their rating but brightness will continue to decrease. They will also often last longer if used in eco mode and not at full power. 30,000 hours would be more common.

The advantage to laser is its consistent light, lamps not only decrease light output over time but their color changes and requires more frequent calibration in installations where that is important.

I am surprised if they are getting 7-10 lamp changes out of their current projector before replacing it. Although many of these lamps are inexpensive is it something they can do themselves or are they paying you a service charge every time it needs to be replaced. We have some installations like schools/ universities where their maintenance staff will take card of lamp/filter changes. So this can be another benefit to laser/LED even if they have to replace the projector every several years.

NEC NP-P502WL gets you up to 5000 Lumens, 1280x800, w/lens shift and built-in HDbaseT for $3499 MSRP in a laser phosphor as well. Prices are coming down pretty quickly. 1080 version is about $1100 more. Lens should work with your dimensions. Has an eco mode as well.

I have had great results with Panasonic Laser/LED projectors. You can keep them on all the time and they are rated to last 20,000 hours no maintenance.

So $300 a lamp x 10 times is roughly $3000 even if they do it themselves. That should be worth something to the customer. Plus I'm sure lamp failure is never at a convenient time! Good luck Tom!