Eric_VR-4
Edit. While I can not recommend this unit (I really doubt you can get an acceptable 1080p at this price now).. the seller themselves were INCREDIBLE. the best. I hope to see them again. I improved a lot of things with the unit but in the end 2 for 2 units had a bad keystone lenses. This is also a 1 lcd vs 3 lcd unit which isnt really how they do it. First the bullet points: *LOUD. If this is "x amount" quieter then their old one, they must have used a prop plane propeller before. More likely it is simply "Chinese marketing"...more commonly referred to by the rest of the world as a "lie". (A lot more info on this at the end). *The closer you have the projector to the screen, the more the focus ring moves out. Further out means the lens cap wont fit. Bummer, Ill think of something. *I searched long and hard for the lowest cost 1080p (actual) and this seemed to be it. Days after having this I can find several more at a similar price point (Amazon search is very "fishy" sometimes....most times). *The most important thing to me is the picture quality. The biggest disappointment there is getting it focused perfectly. If I focus one corner, the opposite is out if focus a bit. Im pretty sure this is precisely where the more expensive brand names bury stuff like this. I think there is software that can be used through your computer to help correct this, so hopefully I can fix this. But even if I cant, the picture is much better than my old 73" DLP TV and it is 200 times smaller furniture-wise, and 100% larger screen! So Im happy enough. Maybe. *Noise and sound quality can be fixed with better fans (probably), and external speakers. *It isnt as nice "looking" as pretty much any other unit, but again thats of the least importance to me at the low end price... (But a lit remote would have been nice. EDIT. Its lit) *User interface is the only other thing of big importance to me. The instructions dont explain much at all (what does horizontal correction do?) and it is lacking features there...but acceptable. *Brightness is "OK". I cant say how accurate the lumen claim is, but I wouldnt want any less to work with unless you will only ever use it in almost total darkness. Even then, more gives you options, and you can always turn it down and it will run the system less hard. *One thing I really love is that it is bright enough for me... But uses LED instead of HID bulbs which never last long and are expensive. Hopefully the cooling is sufficient to make it last. *On that note, this was the best warranty I came across (Assuming it is honored. Not a lot of reviews at this time). *For the price this is almost 5 stars, but due to slight picture distortion and UNBEARABLE fan noise I have to give it 4. Still a good buy IMO (as of Nov 2018). ....So... The noise. I measured it and it was close to 60 decibels at the unit. That sucks, because: I have this...."sickness". Where I must modify.... everything. So Im thinking, on the one hand... 5 year warranty that will likely be voided if I mess with it. On the other hand... The sickness... So I tore into it.... (I know I know) The offender is one of the 2 fans. (They could have spent 2 more bucks and sourced a better fan and not forced me to do this)... Ill be buying a different one once I research them a bit, and report how it goes later. It is a 12v 9733 type blower fan only marked 2400s (assuming 2400 speed or RPM). Ill be looking for something 30db or less and as high a CFM as possible. Ill compare the blowing power when I have them side by side to hopefully have similar or even better CFM. (If the seller/designers/manufacturer wants to chime in on CFM info that sure would be awesome... If they dont hate me yet haha!). Heat is a real killer to these things so you want to be careful getting anything that just blows less air. In this case it wasnt so much air being blown creating the sound.. but a whining cheap motor, so I think I can get a better fan to help. While I was in there (sickness), I decided Im never going to use the speakers. One in particular is half blocking what is already unintentionally an unfiltered air inlet, so I pulled the speakers and drilled out the speaker vents a bit more before gluing some filter material in (a vacuum should have no problem cleaning them from outside). This can only help improve airflow and seal the box up from dust some more. For the time being, until I get a new fan, I insulated/isolated the fan from the chassis a bit (you can use filter like foam, or packing peanut material, or rubber etc. Even folded up paper towel chunks could help if your desperate). This alone actually dropped the noise down about 10 decibels to 50. That is still too loud for me and it reads 30 decibels at even the furthest place away from the projector in the room I am using. I will update this "review" over time in case someone else feels like... voiding a warranty. *rolleyes* Update1. Holy balls this thing is so LOUD! I have a new fan coming (pretty sure a guy in a rowboat is making his way from China), but good gawd. My 33 year old truck is quieter. Also the image is pin-cusioned. ALSO, it will only focus if the keystone is off, so I cant get a squared picture. Im thinking a mirror or other optic is not positioned perfectly maybe. Im just the type to try to make stuff work instead of getting something good to begin with... (Stupid sickness)... But for most people... Seriously... find another bottom end 1080 projector and try it instead. The optics arent precise, the fan is unbearable... It also could use firmware with more options... OH! and I cant get it to reproduce an accurate red. Reds look pink no matter what I do... You sure you want to deal with all this still? edit:If you should choose to deal with this model and are handy I recommend doubling the outlet fan so one will be on the outside of the unit. Those ones are quiet. double or change the inlet fans but run them at reduced power for noise. I personally also added another heatsink. It ran so cool it was fantastic but in the end I had to abandon it over the lens issues. I could recommend more things but seriously, go to projectorcentral. They wont steer you wrong. type in your price range and use and distance and screen size etc.. but entry level decent ones start at like 500. I dont think these 200 dollar ones work. More like a kids meal prize in quality