Budget Projectors (Skytec Equivalent)?

[Sungmin Eric Kim]

Hello,

 

I've mainly been working on high end installs where budget hasn't always been an issue but recently I have taken part in overlooking budget AV setups, the types where people will happily install Skytec speakers or Citronic Line Arrays simply because they do the job.

I've been asked if there were any budget projector equivalents, I've only ever used Panasonic PT equipment so don't really know of any low cost alternatives.

 

Does anyone know of any budget projectors which will do the job in environments such as lecture halls and church setups?

 

 

 

 

Many Thanks,

 

Eric

[Simon Lewis]

Eric,

 

There are brands like Optoma who can sell a 3200 Lumen SVGA projector for £250?

 

I think there's one in a break out room at our church. It's cheap, but works fine for non demanding applications!

 

Simon

[sleah]

From what I've seen (and used in a limited amount) you can't go far wrong with Hitachi for 'desktop' type projectors in the 2500 > 5000 lumen range when it comes to value.

[DaleNAV]

Epson have a good range and much cheaper than Pano stuff.

[richardash1981]

Looking at what are being used round the 'show the words at church' circuit locally, Epson and Optoma are the main ones cropping up. Just be careful that all of them are fixed or nearly-fixed lenses, which doesn't give you much flexibility. And some of the Epson budget ones are 800x600 native resolution ...

[Stuart91]

+1 for Hitachi, we have installed many dozens of them over the years and have been very impressed with their reliability.

 

 

If you are trying to work out throw lengths and screen sizes, Projector Central is a great resource. They have an exhaustive catalogue of projectors and lens calculators for all of them.

 

 

Optoma once lifted a photo from my website and used it in an email advertising shot (which they then sent me a copy of). It was more amusing than irritating, especially since it was a Hitachi projector being used in the photo in question, but these are the kind of capers that put me off a company.

[mojo filters]

Don't Richer Sounds sell projectors as part of their home AV range now? A big benefit of buying from them is the reasonably priced extended warranties - whilst they technically will probably not cover commercial use, I've bought kit there for a local history group that got a cash grant for kit from the council, and the equipment is stored in the houses of the organisers/committee members, who also have the warranty documentation. I had an item replaced under that warranty without any questions regarding its use. I wouldn't want to guarantee others could do the same however, but it may be worth considering.

 

I believe they also sell to educational establishments and other non-profit organisations, so no doubt will accept the specific purchasing/procurement processes such folks require. I would expect any extended warranty will be more expensive than those for domestic customers however.