Rocketman
@eniko We have one from BenQ for watching movies: BenQ W1050 3D
Bought it in 2020 for, uh, 500€? Maybe 600€?
Quality wise it’s no 4k TV, but it does the job. The sound is shit of course, use a Bluetooth speaker instead.
As a screen, we got an old roll-up home projection screen that someone a few villages over was selling on eBay for 20€.
Eniko | Kitsune Tails out now!
anyone have opinions on projectors for home use? i looked around and they go from 230 euros to 2,300 euros and uh, that's a big spread
EDIT: Fwiw we can position it pretty far from the screen (about 3 meters I'd guess) and we have blinds that we can use to darken the room very effectively
Rocketman
@eniko I should add that despite the name, the projector has no 3D capabilities that I’m aware of.
(Ok, the casing is three-dimensional, but that’s it)
Before this we had a projector from Acer. Bought it in 2009, so it seems to have lasted a full decade with moderate use.
Rocketman
@eniko My knowledge may be outdated, but IIRC, the part that breaks most often is the lamp. No wonder, as it gets quite hot. If it breaks, it may not be worth replacing.
The lamp lasts longer if you run the projector for long stretches at a time, rather than turning it on and off several times.
So, good for watching movies, binging a series or gaming. Not so good for a quick YouTube video here and there.
Dan Fixes Coin-Ops
@eniko I've used a projector instead of a TV since I think 2019 and it's been Great.
Bloke on Craigslist sold me a conference room projector for like $300, it was great. Lady on local Buy Nothing group put up an Optoma that didn't work, it just had a knackered colour wheel, ten minute swap job, sold her the old conference room projector cheap, it's Great.
As with anything, used is best; if you spend €250 on a new one it'll be shit, if you spend €250 on one that cost a grand a few years ago you'll be smiling. Office types go through projectors like they go through computers, buy a whole new fleet every few years whether they need them or not so the middle managers look like they're doing something. The old ones show up eventually on Craigslist or eBay or liquidation sites. See what's available in your area and before buying, check prices for lamps (last a couple years) and colour wheels if it's a DLP (last longer, but they're a spinny mechanical part and do eventually wear out). Most importantly plug the model number into https://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm and that'll tell you how well the projector can fit into your physical space. Nearly every projector has vertical keystone adjustment to give you a bit of wiggle room, some have horizontal as well, some do it by moving physical parts (good), some do it in software (usually acceptable), it's best to not need it but it's there if you do.
You can project onto a screen or onto a blank bit of wall if your walls are light coloured. Screens also come up cheap on craigslist. Just like with thin TVs the sound will be shite, you'll want external speakers (fancy 5.1 home cinema systems are great but you can also use a free old BlackPlasticTat hifi system from the 90's outta the skip if it has a line-in and you get a HDMI audio splitter). You'll want to dim the room and the contrast will not be great but yaknowwhat, it's bloody hard to argue with a hundred-inch picture for less than half a grand.
This is another thing I need to make a blog post about on my blog that doesn't exist
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