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BenQ PB7200 by BenBethel - Mar 13, 2004
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| XGA (1024x768), 2200 ANSI Lumens, 5.6 lbs, $2,195 (MSRP) |
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| Personal Experience |
| Simply amazing at $1725 plus a free bulb! |
| Problems |
| I used to have an ancient Infocus DLP projector, then an NEC LT150, and most recently an Infocus X1. I saw rainbows on the first two like crazy, and I'm very susceptible to rainbows, but didn't see them on the X1, which was good. Now, I saw this Benq PB7200 projector online for $1725, new, and an offer for a free bulb (worth $450 or so!), which brings the rationalized cost down to $1275 so I just couldn't pass it up and went ahead and ordered it - they even overnighted it to me for free since it took them two days to get it in stock. It's much, much smaller than the X1, and much quieter. The fans are in the back, but you really don't hear them - but there is a small amount of light bleeding out of the back of the case - it doesn't bother me but you may want to create a cover or something. The remote is great, with a built-in laser pointer, and there are infrared ports in front and back of the projector so you can use the remote from anywhere. The on-screen menus are nice and sharp and much easier to get around than any Infocus projector I've used. Since this projector is 1024x768 you get 64% more pixels - what slight pixel effect I might have noticed on a 120" image on the Infocus is totally gone, up to about 150"!!! HDTV on the Infocus was great, but on the Benq 7200 it's FANTASTIC. DVDs using a progressive scan JVC player with component cables is much better than the Infocus - almost like HDTV!!! I watch a lot of stuff using my ReplayTV with an s-video cable. The replaytv is set at medium quality which was fine on the X1, but let me tell you that on the Benq 7200 it looks pretty crappy - time to increase the record quality on the ReplayTV - I fault it, not the projector. The carrying case that comes with the Benq is totally compact and cool, just about the size of the projector. The Benq comes with every cable you'd ever need, including a VGA to component cable, VGA to VGA, S-video, audio cables, and several different power cables for traveling to different countries! Now that's a first! Brightness is incredible, the 2200 lumens compared to the X1s 1100 lumens is totally noticeable and welcome in my home, 11 floors up with lots and lots of ambient city lights. The colors are incredible too - I like my colors stunning but not overboard, and this projector does very well when popping in "the family guy" dvds - it looks like artwork on the wall, it's that cool. I guess that's about it - if you have a cheaper projector with lots of hours on the bulb, sell it to a friend - you'll really come out ahead if you get this projector, and it will not disappoint! Oh, and no rainbow effects - this is from a person with 20/15 vision and ADHD, nothing gets by me! |
