Optoma HD 20

Ive been wanting to tell people about this for some time. It might be the reason I might become a (heavens forbid) blogger. These few posts might just be a novel way to kill an evening when down with the flu!

So, Optoma and a few other companies released budget full - HD projectors, but thats old news... about a year old. I was in the market for a projector around then, and picked up the Optoma HD 20 after reading reviews.

The reviews were very accurate, but nothing can beat the pleasure of a device surpassing expectations.

So the blacks are weak and slightly grey, but the picture is gorgeous. Needs a little tweaking to get there (and im still tweaking, always unsure what looks best, but happy with tinkering).

So, the good:

1) Great picture, throwing around 80" across at approx 11'. With an HD source, fantastic, with a VGA source (read PC), not too bad. There is some slight cropping when trying to fill the screen with the vga source, but i prefer that to a smaller though complete frame.

2) Bright. Very using even in daylight

3) Optoma service. So my device started throwing a green/blue tint after only about 300 hours. Bloody irritating. And since I got this in from the States, I didnt expect any quick solution. But a few emails and a 2 hour trip to a certified partner & INR 700 later, it was serviced, firmware updated and running better than ever.

4) I like the glowing buttons on the remote.

5) Connectivity options: Ample, I have it connected to an Xbox 360, and through a VGA distributor to my computer, planning to add a PS3 (might as well, its a fun-ner blu ray player). Adding the Xbox was a bitch though. Had to crack open the xbox connector... but those are MS flaws.

The bad

1) Limited positioning. You MUST place it around 8" above the top or below the bottom of your screen, limits ease of use. I had to build a rack above my bed at a height slightly lower than comfortable (I bump into it often) to get the best throw on the screen across the room. But its worth it, whats comfort compared to a 80" HD tv in ones bedroom, yes?

2) The blacks. But no ones stopping you from spending USD 5000 to fix these problems!

3) Runs hot (dont care)

4) Fans a little noisy (turn up the volume if it bothers you)

5) Color bleed. Read about it, very rarely noticed it

Lots of other good but tedious to read through info online. Bottom line, if you have a limited (and by limited i mean less than USD 2k) budget, its a good buy. (about USD 999)

p.s. I dont use Indian pricing because the markups are ridiculous, I saw this advertised for almost USD 2500 in Delhi