I bought a viewsonic pro8100 projector from tigerdirect several days ago. The tape used to seal the package was kinda mess, and the internal plastic bag that hold the user manual is not that brand new. Neigther does the projector give a plastic smell which I guess most new machines would. As I just read several complaints that tigerdirect sold open-box items as brand new, I'm little worry about it. How do I decide if the projector is brand new?

First thing I would do is fire it up and check the lamp timer. Though it can be reset, that is a starting point.

I received mine from TD with extra taping on the outside as well. It seems like they aren't taped well from the factory and either the boxes have opened up, or TD puts on extra tape to keep them from opening. I could tell that mine hadn't been used at all because everything inside was absolutely mint. Check your pj covers to see if they only have one set of creases, if someone took it out then the cover will probably have creases in another place when it was put back in. Check the pj to see if there are any scratches, the case is shiny so it would be easy to scratch. The batteries should be Duracells in plastic, and the hdmi cable has plastic caps on it with foam wrapped around.

Was the inner black cover taped with masking tape in two places and seemed to be pretty old? That was done from the factory. Check to see if there are any other tape marks on it as well.

Check everything, there shouldn't be marks anywhere..the remote, the bags, the manual, etc

Remember this pj was last manufactured over a yr ago, so it won't have that "new" smell.

First thing I would do is fire it up and check the lamp timer. Though it can be reset, that is a starting point.

Yes, acturally that's the first thing I did, but then I found the reset option:o

I received mine from TD with extra taping on the outside as well. It seems like they aren't taped well from the factory and either the boxes have opened up, or TD puts on extra tape to keep them from opening. I could tell that mine hadn't been used at all because everything inside was absolutely mint. Check your pj covers to see if they only have one set of creases, if someone took it out then the cover will probably have creases in another place when it was put back in. Check the pj to see if there are any scratches, the case is shiny so it would be easy to scratch. The batteries should be Duracells in plastic, and the hdmi cable has plastic caps on it with foam wrapped around.

Was the inner black cover taped with masking tape in two places and seemed to be pretty old? That was done from the factory. Check to see if there are any other tape marks on it as well.

Check everything, there shouldn't be marks anywhere..the remote, the bags, the manual, etc

Remember this pj was last manufactured over a yr ago, so it won't have that "new" smell.

Thank you novasol, I'm much comfortable with it now after reading your checklist. Everything look good. Well, I really like it.:D

It is a good projector so I wouldn't sweat it.

I bought a viewsonic pro8100 projector from tigerdirect several days ago. The tape used to seal the package was kinda mess, and the internal plastic bag that hold the user manual is not that brand new. Neigther does the projector give a plastic smell which I guess most new machines would. As I just read several complaints that tigerdirect sold open-box items as brand new, I'm little worry about it. How do I decide if the projector is brand new?

Thats pretty much the norm my box looked like it was kicked out a plane at 40,000' but everything inside was fine.:D