My comment is they best match the 4805. If they price it higher, they will make less money. For a minute, we will say overall PQ is equal between the 4805 and h31. Of course, this can be debated but, as of now, I believe (consensus of opinion and probably shown in total sales at this price level) the 4805 is the one to beat or, at least, equal. Bottom line, to have any chance of gaining sales on 4805, Optoma will have to be priced at $1299 list. I would not pay anymore for it. But, at same price, would consider it. I kind of see both of these projectors very close in overall features and specs and PQ. Of course, a buyer would be able to get a discount from list price..happens on everything these days.

Originally posted by mangopony
My comment is they best match the 4805.

I agree. It will be arguable at best as to which has the better picture, so a higher price for the H31 may make the decision for many.

what's a good cheap? progressive scan dvd player to match it with?

I agree with Tom's recommendation of the Q50. It's one of the few low priced players you can still find with the Faroudja 2200 series chip. You could also try and find one of the old Pannys (RP-62, 82, XP-30, 50) on Ebay, but they're rare. The new Pannys are not bad for around $100 and even they will outperform a non-progressive scan DVD player. If you want to spend a few more dollars, go with the Denon 1910.

Thanks for the infos.

How about a JVC XV-N510BK ?

1 - How would it compare to a Q50 or old panny?
2 - My current 5 year old Toshiba?
3 - Zenith dvb318 upscaler?

The 510 would be similar to one of the new Pannys. What's nice about the JVCs is that they have a clean picture with no chroma upsampling error. I used an old JVC XV-S60 for awhile with an H30 before moving my Panny RP-82 over and it wasn't that great of an improvement. The JVCs don't have the motion adaptive deinterlacing of the other players mentioned, so you can see some artifacts with certain DVDs.

Originally posted by donaldgelman
I just purchased the H30 for slightly under US$ 1,000. However, I just started reading all of the comments about bulb issues that people have had. (I am not sure how I missed this during all of my research). Is this a problem with all projectors? Should I return the H30 and get a 4805 for $300 more? I spent a while looking at the two projectors, everthing seemed so similar that I figured that I would save myself some $$$'s, but if I am going to have problems I would rather spend a little extra money.

Also, I have had one good experience with optoma service, I am currently studying in the UK, and I called up optoma service to find out where I could purchase a UK power cord, and they told me they would ship me one for free today. I was a bit worried that he also asked me if I had any problems with the unit (as if he was expecting some), but all in all he was very nice and helpful

Thanks for any responses.

I can't speak highly enough about Optoma UK customer service.
I'd had the H30 for a couple of months but complained about an incompatibility problem with a Thomson DVD/hard drive recorder that I'd just bought, they arranged to collect my H30 the following day.
They sent back a brand new unit in under a week that completely cured the problem and all at their own expense.
Another time I had cause to complain about the remote control not functioning correctly.
Without any fuss they just sent me out a new one and I didn't even have to return the old one, now that's what I call first rate service.
It's just another reason why I will almost certainly go with Optoma again when I eventually upgrade.

Regards, MikeDes

tzzoooma

I had the JVC N50BK, which I presume is the previous generation of the DVD player that you are interested in. I went through 2 of them thinking they were defective, but as it turns out it had a bug: in progressive some scenes would not play smoothly. Actors would suddenly start walking a little too quickly, etc.

This may have been corrected with the newer model, but just to be safe, I'd buy from a source that will accept returns.

I currently have C05, worked great for me with table mount. But, now that I ready to ceiling mount, I'm wondering if one of the newer firmware versions might work better. The PJ will be about the same height (or just a hair below) as the _top_ of the pulldown screen. I'm concerned there might be too much offset with C05. Advice Please?

I want to have _close_ to flush mount to the ceiling, is Panavise best option?

Oh, 2200 hr. on the bulb, and still going strong... (knock on wood).

Thanks for your help,

John F

2200hrs, you hold the record for most hours used. I still at about 575. The C08 firmware will shorten the offset to 13" from 22" in my setup.

14' back to for 92"wide screen. Panavise is the best cheap option.

Thanks Tom, buy.com had the (I hope) recommended 826-06 for $17 & change.

I'll need 25' from DVD plaver to PJ - can I use this to get away from the DB15 to component dongle supplied with the H30?

http://www.av-cables.net/VGA-component-video/HDTV-Cables-1.html

Or should I go with a straight component w/ dongle? That thing is just a little large and fragile looking (although it hasn't broken yet.

It'l be interesting to see how the High-Power will appear with the PJ ceiling mounted - I know I'll lose a great deal of brightness, but maybe will gain a little contrast at the same time...

Sounds like I'll need the firmware upgrade to avoid (too much) keystone adjustment - The PJ will be mounted just a couple inches above the top of the screen, but I'll put it off till I'm out of town for a week.

Thanks for your help,

John F

After a lot of waiting, my H30 is finally here!

I've been working all day so I haven't had a chance to fire it up yet.

Anything I should do or not do before I fire it up?

Originally posted by allkingz
After a lot of waiting, my H30 is finally here! I've been working all day so I haven't had a chance to fire it up yet. Anything I should do or not do before I fire it up?

You mean besides taking the next day off work? :D

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

i've got 12'3 wall to wall. Figuring a 11' throw onto
a 7'9" wall. what's a good distance down from the ceiling
to mount, if I plan to show on a white wall for now, with
about 92" diagonal / 74" wide picture?

John, I use a similar 25' vga breakout cable. Connection is clean and the picture is clean. 25' is a recommneded length, if you start going with the 50' lenghts than It might be best to use the components.

Today I'm grinning ear to ear. My H30 showed up on my doorstep yesterday. I couldn't get the package opened up and get it plugged in fast enough yesterday. I am absolutely elated with the picture this baby throws. I am sooo glad I went with this instead of the X1 that I demod. I was up until about 1:30 last night watching movies.

I am shooting onto a 120" 4:3 ratio Hi-Power Model B. At my throw range I can't throw that big of a picture (about 12'6" back), but I wanted the extra real estate in case I move and get a chance to build a bigger Theater room. I'm using the panavise mount, which works really well, especially for the money. I think I may look into getting the firmmware flashed to one of the newer versions, as I had to tilt it up a bit to get the picture where I wanted it on my screen. Either that or I may try mounting the panavise forward by a few inches and angling it like a Z to get the projector closer to the ceiling.

Thanks everyone here for helping sway me in a direction that at least for now I couldn't be happier I went.

Sounds good, colors colors and more colors ;)

Sheesh I would hv thought by now all the available H30's would have the later firmware. What firmware do you have or where does the 16.9 image go in the 4.3 frame, top or bottom of the screen?

Originally posted by entropy
You mean besides taking the next day off work? :D

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

Already taken care of. :D

When I set it to Windowed, the 16:9 image is somewhere in the middle of the 4:3 screen. I guess it is probably offset a bit towards the top. When I left it in 4:3 mode, the 16:9 image was closer to the bottom.

Originally posted by tzzoooma
i've got 12'3 wall to wall. Figuring a 11' throw onto
a 7'9" wall. what's a good distance down from the ceiling
to mount, if I plan to show on a white wall for now, with
about 92" diagonal / 74" wide picture?

okay to answer my own question, tell me if it sounds right: )

based on this:
http://www.fallenturtledesign.com/random/h30_throwangle.gif

the throw angle is a constant 4.9 degrees.

using this:
http://www.1728.com/trig.htm

if the throw is 11', H' or the distance from the lens to the top
if the image would be .9 feet. So if it were mounted 6' below the
ceiling, the top of the image would be 17" from the ceiling.

Originally posted by SpenceSTL
When I set it to Windowed, the 16:9 image is somewhere in the middle of the 4:3 screen. I guess it is probably offset a bit towards the top. When I left it in 4:3 mode, the 16:9 image was closer to the bottom.

First congrats on an excellent setup, 4.3HP screen with ceiling mounted H30. Set your DVD player to 16.9. Use 16.9 native on the PJ for HDTV and Widescreen DVD's. Use 4.3native on the PJ for games or standard TV or any classic & music 4.3dvds you may have. This is why you get congratulated, you have all the bases covered plus a great screen gain that doesn't show waves with video.

If you have C05 the 16.9native image will be a the bottom. If you have C08 the 16.9native image will be at the top. letterbox will be used for non-anamorphic widescreen movies, but there's not too many of them out there these days.

Report back to where the 16.9native image falls? I got a little confused when you said -
"When I left it in 4:3 mode, the 16:9 image was closer to the bottom. "
Confused because you should be using 16.9native and it didn't make sense that using 4.3 on the pj would shoot the image to the bottom. I would think it would expand it out of shape.

Perhaps the excitement, late night, and Scotch clouded my understanding a bit last night. This weekend I'll get a chance to really spend some time setting everything up right, making any adjustments I need to the screen/projector height, and go from there. I'll post back next Monday what I come up with. Is there a place anywhere in the menus (service menu?) to verify firmware revision?

Turned on my H30 for the first time.

I want to love it, but I've having a little difficulty. Hopefully someone can give my some insight and advice.

I'm running component video cables from a Toshiba SD-1200 DVD player. The DVD player is roughly 4-5 years old and is nonprogressive.

I also have it hooked up to a PS2 using Monster component video cables.

The H30 is shelf mounted 11 feet from the screen. Seating position is 9 feet from the screen. I'm using a 80" 4:3 Da Lite Insta-Theater screen.

I do notice a very slight amount of SDE, but I believe this is from the close seating distance. I really only notice it on almost entirely white screenshots.

I noticed rainbows right off the bat. What I don't understand is that I didn't notice them when I demoed the FP in the store. Could it be that I'm just hypersensitive to rainbows or are my seating positions/equipment are to blame?

Picture quality with DVD is good, but I'm willing to bet it could be better. I'm sure a better/newer/more expensive DVD player will make a noticeable difference, but how much do I/should I expect to spend?

Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome.

Did we ever find out if the C08 firmware had the digital shift adjustment?

I recently bought a Cambridge Audio 540d dvd.cd player. Had in for a month; has done flawlessly so far. picture is great and audio is excellent as well. I do not know if seeing rainbows has anything to do with incoming signal...how pure, clean it is.

You can cut down rainbows by viewing steady and not glancing away. Maybe because you're sitting close you're moving your eyes around. Tune it up with Avia or the THX optomizer on THX dvd's. Use the PJ's Cinema and Film modes, decide which gamma and color temp you like, start with CT2 and gamma 2. Its best to look at a grayscale pattern, they have it on the THX opto brightness pattern. Choose the colors temp which shows grays as gray. DVD players many like the Zenith 318 upscaling model, not sure of the px maybe $200.

Digital shift won't be coming, I got that word along time ago. sri

Originally posted by guitarman
You can cut down rainbows by viewing steady and not glancing away. Maybe because you're sitting close you're moving your eyes around. Tune it up with Avia or the THX optomizer on THX dvd's. Use the PJ's Cinema and Film modes, decide which gamma and color temp you like, start with CT2 and gamma 2. Its best to look at a grayscale pattern, they have it on the THX opto brightness pattern. Choose the colors temp which shows grays as gray. DVD players many like the Zenith 318 upscaling model, not sure of the px maybe $200.

Digital shift won't be coming, I got that word along time ago. sri

Thank you for the reply.

I think I'm noticing rainbows because I'm looking all over the viewing area instead of just relaxing and enjoying the material.

I'm almost sad to admit that I put away the Insta-Theater and projected onto the wall behind it. This increased the viewing distance to just shy of 11 feet and the throw is now roughly 13 feet. I love the Insta-Theater for viewing 4:3 material such as PS2, so it's a keeper for now.

I'll look into the Zenith 318, but hear any other suggestions for DVD players in the $200-$300 range.

allkingz: you do enjoy the insta-theatre? Is it 80+ inches wide? A very good picture in a no-lite room?

Originally posted by allkingz
I'll look into the Zenith 318, but hear any other suggestions for DVD players in the $200-$300 range.

Denon 1910

I wouls also wait for the new shootout coming shortly from our friends at HomeTheaterHifi, but in the meantime, take a look at their ratings here (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi).

The problem is the some of the highest rated players are no longer available.

Greetings all! Been away for a week on biz travel and then sick as a dog once I got home. I look forward to hearing more from the new members of the club and offering any opinions that I can after I've had an opportunity to more closely read the last weeks worth of posts. I remember this summer when I was gone a week- I think it was 12 pages. At least we're not at that pace anymore :)

Cheers!

Welcome back gotta. I'm sure you're probably going through some H30 withdrawal having been gone for a week.

I'm looking forward to watching my pj again...been 5 months since I last saw it: bulb blew at the worst possible time. Now, I've got the latest firmware, a new "engine" courtesy of Optoma, and I'm getting a new lamp and new component cables for Christmas. Should be interesting.

Originally posted by mangopony
allkingz: you do enjoy the insta-theatre? Is it 80+ inches wide? A very good picture in a no-lite room?

It's a 4:3 screen. 80" diagonal so the viewing area is 64" wide by 48" tall.

I went with the Insta-Theater because I needed something that could sit right in front of my RPTV. Because of it's design, it only sits about 6 inches infront of my RPTV and audio rack. The material is very thin, much thinner than I imagined, but I have no complaints about it.

I think the Insta-Theater is great, but in hind sight, I wish I would have purchased it after getting my PJ. I probably would have went with a larger size because of my viewing distance and the PJ's throw distance.

Keep in mind that these are my impressions after one day of actual use. After I've had more time to evaluate it, I'll post a review with screenshots in the screen section.

I am deciding for a yet to be purchased projector whether to get a screen that pulls up from floor or a tripod screen. I need to move it from one floor to another easily. Wonder which system would hold the screen the tighest over a period of time.

I would get a 16 x 9 format screen..something like 82" x 45' or close to that.

The insta theaters come with one screen type ,wide power, it's high gain and comments have been made that the sides will curl a little. That wouldn't matter if when there's video shown on it you won't see a wave effect. Someone that has the screen will have to chime on about that.

You won't be too distracted by a wave effect with non-tensioned screens, (like a tripod screen) with the High Power Material because of the way it reflects. When video is on it waves will just about disappear. Dalite has another material that waves won't be too distracting with video, mat white which is what I use.

Originally posted by gottahavapj
Greetings all! Been away for a week on biz travel and then sick as a dog once I got home. I look forward to hearing more from the new members of the club and offering any opinions that I can after I've had an opportunity to more closely read the last weeks worth of posts. I remember this summer when I was gone a week- I think it was 12 pages. At least we're not at that pace anymore :)

Cheers!
Did you see a page or so back someone showed up and happend to mention he has 2200hrs on his bulb. I'll bet there's a ton of guys like this. They don't post around too much and are just enjoying video more. 2200hrs that's some serious viewing time. :)

I actually only watch a couple of movies per week. However, I've got a comforatable sofa with laptop on coffee table, so I do all my email, internet, document composition, etc. on it (work at home mostly). More often than not it is on all day from 6am on, and much of the evening - screen saver kicks in when I'm not using it. If I go to bed late, well, it is on all night. I notice no difference in brightness (of course it would be so gradual that it would be tough to notice small changes) but it still seems very bright to me.

I wonder how much bulb failure is due to frequent on/off cycling?

I've noticed I can leave my thermostat turned down a couple of degrees with the added heat <g>

I'm not recommending anything here, I know I'll pay in the long run, but I'm so lazy it is pitiful.

John F

Originally posted by guitarman
The insta theaters come with one screen type ,wide power, it's high gain and comments have been made that the sides will curl a little. That wouldn't matter if when there's video shown on it you won't see a wave effect. Someone that has the screen will have to chime on about that.

You won't be too distracted by a wave effect with non-tensioned screens, (like a tripod screen) with the High Power Material because of the way it reflects. When video is on it waves will just about disappear. Dalite has another material that waves won't be too distracting with video, mat white which is what I use.

The sides do curl slightly on my Insta-Theater, but it doesn't affect the viewing area at all.

John F

I think you may be on to something. I used to power mine off after every use (once every other day or so), and the lamp went out after about 240 hours.

Has anyone used an anamorphic lens with H30? Just wondering if the throw might be too short.

I am thinking the 'on' of these bulbs does the most to kill it. Just think: when does a light bulb blow? Never as it is lit just always blows when you snap on the switch. The rush of ac, I think, contributes most to blowing a bulb.

is a line conditioner recommended?

I plug all my equipment into a 'Brickwall" Do an internet search.

So far it has been an awesome PJ (my first) and has converted a handful to the realm of Front Projection. Well my PJ this weekend decided to tell me that the bulb may be bad and recommends a replacement. It says so in a little white box in the middle of the screen with red text and doesn't go away (figured out how to get rid of the box after a bit of poking arund in the standard menu). Mine is nice enough to tell me before it breaks, lol. It's at ~1500 hours now and am wondering if it will blow. Has anybody else had this happen to them? The only other problems I've had so far are:

one green bar incident (couldn't get it to do it again for some reason, but that's a good thing)
one time of not striking properly (fixed by unplugging for 30 mins and starting it up again, hasn't done it since)
a short time with a buzzing noise (fixed by a can of air and blasting all the dust out)

Do y'all think a call to the Optoma Customer Service is in order to possibly get a free new bulb? I'm also trying to decide to just wait and see if it does blow and then get a replacement or to get a replacement now and then have it ready on stand by for when it does eventually blow. My only concern about the later is that if I buy the replacemnt now and the current bulb doesn't die till after 90 days then the replacemnet bulb will be no good to me if it dies early. Hmmmm what to do.

So after spending a bit more time with the projector this weekend (as much as I could get away with to be exact), I have a few more observations. First, I confirmed that I do have one of the newer firmwares, as my 16:9 screen is at the top of the screen (which is what I wanted). My confusion earlier was that I realized I hadn't watched any 16:9 material on it when I first posted, only 2:35 material (LOTR), which appears to be more towards the middle of the screen.

The grin that I had at first still hasn't faded one bit. The picture this thing throws is stunning to me. One thing that blew me away was watching Attack of the Clones this weekend. The scene where Obi-Wan is walking to Jango's room on Camino. The contrast of the Absolutely white-white walls and floor with the glossy, inky black sections on the wall was amazing. The blacks this thing throws are like deepest darkest depths of hell blacks. Guitarman says the H31 throws even better blacks in the H31 thread, that seems almost incomprehenable to me.

I think I'm going to pick up an Avia disk and try to give this thing a calibration. One thing I notice is the "mosquito noise" in some really dark scenes. I remember seeing a fix on the H30 FAQ, I'll need to print that out and try it.

Sometimes I get the buzzing problem- it usually corrects itself but it had annoyed me lately.

How do you fix it? Can of air? How does that work (where do you blow the dust out)?

Originally posted by RyanJNielson
How do you fix it? Can of air? How does that work (where do you blow the dust out)?

Just using a can of compressed air (the type used for computers) to blow out all the dust and other assorted stuff. I have two dogs and their hair tends to get into everything. The air in a can usually has a long skinny tube that can reach into crevices via the vents on the PJ. Basically I try every nook and cranny till no more dust comes out. If you open up the area where you can replace the bulb there are two fans that can be cleaned if you remove the bulb first. Just be careful on blowing too hard on the fans as they can get upto pretty high spin speeds if you blow too hard on them. This can cause the bearings on the fans to burn up or even cause a blade or two to break. The first time I cleaned mine was after I had it for 3 months and there was a good amount of dust coming out of it. It's just good maintenance like on a computer. It's also probably best to blow it out once the PJ has had proper time to cool down. Sometimes the air in a can will spray an extremely cold blast of visble air (especially if you hold it upsidedown). If this hits the bulb while it is still warm/hot then the thermal contraction due to the decrease in temperature may cause it to crack or shatter.

Spence, just lowering the brightness can help lower the dithering. Did you use the THX optimizers brightness pattern? At least till you get Avia.

Kimocal, If you're worried about the bulb. You get the new bulb and use it right away because of the 90day warranty and keep using it. The original bulb will be the back up. It will be the back up for all the new bulbs you buy.

But most likely you'll get upgrade fever, it's inevitable. :)

Originally posted by guitarman
But most likely you'll get upgrade fever, it's inevitable. :)

Especially with your recent review of the H31, lol. The bug bit me when you first started mentioning all the new things about it (H31), but I fought it back especially when I use my PJ for 1/3 DVD/HD, 1/3 satellite (S-Video) and 1/3 Gaming so the 4:3 ratio is a big plus to me. I'm also using a HTPC for DVD and HD so I can control the aspect ratio and tweek other things through that. I've also self imposed a time frame till I can upgrade the PJ. I really have no objective reason to do so now and this one has been more than awesome and should last me a long time. I'm just waiting to hear back from gottahavaPJ on his contact for the repalcement bulb.

I'm also interested in how long it will take the current bulb to blow (the Engineer in me) but using it as a back up is what I'm most likely going to do. Going to have to wait till after Christmas to buy the replacement. 1500 hours isn't so bad either. Was hoping to reach atleast the 2000 hour mark. Atleast it's made it this far, :rolleyes: lol.

Cheers,

James

People will end up getting over $3,000hrs but how much dimmer will the bulb be is the question. At 1500hrs would you say your picture is dim?

good question

Hello All,
I have been truley loving my H30 since September, but now a problem has arisen and I hope someone here can give me their input. About 93 days after I bought it, it won't work anymore. I think it might be lamp as do the Optoma service people, but I'm not too sure. (and the lamp warrenty is 90 days!)

I turn it on and I get a weird buzz noise while it trys to start up. I can see a slight flicker in the lens area, but nothing. It tries this about 3-4 times, then the orange lamp light and the fan come on. However the green power light is always on and the manual says that if the lamp is bad the green light goes out and you can't re-attempt a power-on until the lamp is replaces, however mine will let me attempt a powerup all I want after it powers itself off after a little while of the fan running. I can send it in and hope that it isn't the lamp, so I don't have to pay for shipping for nothing, or I can buy a lamp and see if it works, if it isn't the lamp, then I have a good lamp for when it oes go bad.

I guess what I'm asking is can anyone tell me what the signs of a bad lamp may be? I did have occasional buzzing at intervals in movies sometimes, but mostly within the first half hour to hour of being powered up.

THanks for any help.

P.S. I for got to mentoin, the bulb only has about 180 hours on it, do they still go bad that quickly?

Originally posted by guitarman
People will end up getting over $3,000hrs but how much dimmer will the bulb be is the question. At 1500hrs would you say your picture is dim?

Hard to say really. I've always used it in Eco Mode. But with the recent incident I tried it in normal mode and it still "seems" bright to me in either mode. If it has been getting dimmer I can't tell as it still a light cannon to me (even in econo mode) lol. Still amazed to this day in the picture it throws. I've had mine since April.

Hey! Wow what a busy couple of weeks. I'm having H30 and AVS withdrawals.

Kimocal you have a PM on the bulb.

Natelutkjohn- sorry bud but that is exactly how my bulb/H30 acted after it blew the bulb. I replaced it with a new one and it fired up fine. 180 hours and 93 days.. ouch

Cheers!

natelutkjohn ,

--- Sounds like a lamp failure to me too :( .

--- With the Outstanding customer service that Optoma provides I would be willing to bet that a 93 day lamp would be taken care of [ I seem to recall another H30 having almost the same (lamp) hours/days of use and Optoma replaced the lamp under warranty ;) ] .

--- Best of Luck :D ,
------- Jason

Thanks for the replys guys! That does make me feel better to know that you had the same symptoms gottahavapj, at least it makes sense now that is most likely the problem like Optoma suggested as well. I will see what they say about the 3 days past Warrenty (but now that I've waited about a week from the dead bulb day, hopefuly they will bend a little), but if not, Oh well, I'll get a new bulb hopefuly by mid January (No movies on my winter break!!!!!! :( )

Thanks again.

Guess I can not understand why some bulbs last 200 hours and some bulbs may last 10 times that. Whatever the problem, the companies must work on this if projectors are ever to move 'somewhat mainstream'. They now have the very good PQ at around $1200. Now, we have to get more reliability in the bulb. Many consumers will not go for a new expense of $400 after a mere 90 days on the projector. I believe they should last 2 years or 2000 hours.

Hey tell me about it. I'm about to spring for a JVC DLiA rptv tomorrow and I'm already having nightmares of bulb death. It's just part of the game.

We may see prices on lamps come down within the next year or so. I'm amazed how DLP and LCD RPTVs have taken off just within the last few months, and if this trend keeps up we may see the premature demise of CRT RPTVs (their superior resolution notwithstanding). One thing you can bet on is that many of these buyers don't REALLY understand the lamp issue. To most consumers the notion of a $300 Television "consumable" that must be replenished once a year or so must be very foreign. And given the average viewing habits of around 5 hours or so a day (with holidays and vacation quite a bit more I would say), that one year figure is probably not too far off. Given the sales numbers of RPTVs over FPs, economies of scale alone should slowly drive lamp costs down, even with current lamp technolgy. Add to that a certain consumer dissatisfaction I'm expecting when those "Lamp" LEDs start coming on all over America within the next year, and I'm definitely expecting an accelerating downward trend on lamp prices. I think 2005 might be the year of the Great Outcry because I think sales of these new digital RPTVs seem to have really taken off this holiday season.

"consumer dissatisfaction I'm expecting when those "Lamp" LEDs start coming on all over America"

ROTFLMAO, good one

Tom: You need a Panny commercial plasma display. Took me months to decide and now I never look back. I was ready to buy a rear proection but you can never forget a magnified picture and you can always sort of see an electronic haze looking sharply 'into' the picture. On great quality HD the plasma gives you almost a window on the world sort of picture. I look at the plasma everyday..comapare it with our Sony direct view HD..and marvel at the magic of its' pq.

I installed one for a client several months ago. The First one quit after a week, the replacement quit last week. I sent in and they replaced the "engine". when I got it back, the "lamp" light came on. A call to Tech said you bulb is out.. Hmm. this was not the problem when I sent it in..

So I called and e-mailed management with no luck and still await contact. anyone have a reliable contact at Optoma to Share?? I'll never buy another Optoma Product.

Has anyone made their own ceiling mount for the H30? If so, I could really use some info and pics if available.

The have a ceiling mount available unless costs are your issue.

Well I did talk to Raymond Mar @ Optoma. Very condescending and only offered me a discount on a new bulb.

He claimed that is is not practice to tell the customer what was repaired on the machine. This is very troubling.

Didn't seem to care that I would no longer sell Optoma.

Very dissapointing experience.

Originally posted by drhutch
Has anyone made their own ceiling mount for the H30? If so, I could really use some info and pics if available.

Many use the Panavise mount it's in the $20 range.

seems as bulbs are the biggest concerns (problems) in the front projectors. I have heard quite a number of people have had problems with them during first 6 months. This is a cost I do not want every 6 months. The 90 day warranty should be a big clue right off the bat..as to how long a bulb 'may' last. There is zero upkeep of my plasma. And screen 1/2 life ( 50 percent brightness) is 60,000 hours. This is 15 years plus. Even if my plasma only lasts 10 years (without any upkeep) that is ok with me. Costing $2000, that is $200 a year..not bad.

See "Optoma Customer Service" thread for my story.

Thanks Tom, I'll check out the Panavise mount.

any step by step for mounting the panavise?
is a plate needed to first mount the PJ to, and that to the mount?

They just use the one tripod screw to the PJ and the pj's very light. Then theres a plate that goes to the ceiling.

Bulb Life is troubling I'm coming a bit under 100 hours and to me the bulb should just be getting broken in not blown up. I don't power watch mine I might watch 3 movies a week. In fact last night I was so mad at myself I watched a movie, was going thru the extras, and at some point I fell asleep, I awoke 4 hours later H30 still running, talk about a waste of bulb I was so peeved at myself. I'm hoping that I continue to have good luck, but its almost like you're always waiting for the other show to drop everytime you fire the thing up.... good thing I have a Backup RPTV.

I wouldn't worry about it. If there was a poll on bulb failure across the board it would be 98% no 2% yes. Thats will all the projector companies.

Does the h30 still come with the 16:9 lens cap?

Yes, it is a lens mask that increases contrast slightly. It can be used with both 4:3 and 16:9 images.

Originally posted by tzzoooma
any step by step for mounting the panavise?
is a plate needed to first mount the PJ to, and that to the mount?
The H30 is very light so you don't need that much bracing. If you can get two out of the four mounting screws into a ceiling joist and the other two just use sheetrock anchors- this is more than sufficient.

I think you get the best results when you take the Panavise apart and rough up the two balls (ouch :)) and remove the paint from the sockets with emery cloth. This allows the unit to lock tightly in place when you crank down a set screw.

Cheers! Happy Holidays all!

Merry Christmas to me. My projector bulb died tonight, (Christmas Eve) after 250 hours of use. It's not blown but it won't fire. Add me to the list of PO'ed owners because of short bulb life. I didn't use economy mode so I expected less than 2000 hours but come on. Perhaps a DLP TV is in my future or something else. Anyone want an H30 on the cheap? Just buy another bulb...

I received the projector drop shipped directly from Optoma on 8/31 so I am 24 days past the 90 day warranty. I have sent them an e-mail expressing my problem. We'll see what happens but I was having a party on new years eve for people to come and watch a movie etc. Not a happy camper.

Went downstairs today, and the projector wouldn't light (bulb failure light came on.) I've had this projector for all of 5 months, if I watched it an average of 20 hours/week I would be shocked. This is my second H30 (the first was exchanged because it was shipped to me with dust blobs.) I am very disappointed with this state of affairs; while I recognize that the 2000 hr bulb life is an estimate, I certainly expected mine to make it past 25% of that time.

11:50 pm - Followup question: In reviewing this thread, I see that several of us have had the same symptoms; namely that at power-on the color wheels spins up, but the bulb won't strike, and after 4 tries the bulb fail light comes on. Some posts seem to imply that this might not be a bulb issue, but a power supply issue instead. Is this a reasonable possibility, or does this usually turn out to be a dead bulb? I have noticed that the lamp hasn't been striking on the first try recently, and I have always had occasional buzzing at startup, but it goes away pretty quickly.

When a company gives the consumer a waranty of 90 days, that says something loud and clear how long the bulb will last.

Originally posted by Vox Humana
11:50 pm - Followup question: In reviewing this thread, I see that several of us have had the same symptoms; namely that at power-on the color wheels spins up, but the bulb won't strike, and after 4 tries the bulb fail light comes on. Some posts seem to imply that this might not be a bulb issue, but a power supply issue instead. Is this a reasonable possibility, or does this usually turn out to be a dead bulb? I have noticed that the lamp hasn't been striking on the first try recently, and I have always had occasional buzzing at startup, but it goes away pretty quickly. [/B]

I had exactly the same problem about 6 weeks ago at which point I had the projector for 7 months with 300 hours on the bulb. My dealer sent it off to Optoma UK (I'm in the Netherlands) and after 3 weeks (!) it came back with the simple message 'lamp failure'. I had to buy a new bulb. Because my dealer gave me a good price on the bulb it was 'only' 240 euro. It seems a lot of bulbs are failing at around the 6 months / 300 hour mark and I suspect that either Optoma used a bad batch of bulbs in the past (which I hope) or they are using bad bulbs altogether, which don't live up to their claimed lifetime at all.

I made it clear to my dealer that I'm not willing to spend >=240 euro on bulbs every 6 months. And he agreed with me that if this happens again within such a short timespan he will get the bulb replaced at no cost and will work something out with Optoma. I think in general we need to put much more pressure on the manufacturers regarding premature bulb failures and their ludicrous 90 day warranty. Then maybe the bulb manufacturers will finally start improving the reliability of their product. I don't think they have enough incentive to do that now.

Beside the bulb issues I absolutely love the image this projector throws and I'm back to enjoying the picture more than ever. But the whole bulb-episode put a serious dent in my confidence in this projector. When I invite people over to watch a movie I pray the bulb doesn't fail halfway through the evening.

Yeah, imagine if Optoma (or any other projector manufacture for that matter) listed the bulb life as; "Bulb life expectancy: 300 to 2,000 hrs"

That would certainly put a dent in yearly sales figures.

Seems to be a dirty little secret in the projector sales market.

Fleaman

The bulb manufacturers will not make a better bulb until much pressure is put upon them. Why would any company want to cut down on their profit by selling less product? I may not even buy a new projector until this situation gets much better. Afterall, I have a plasma display that serves us very well. And it operates completely quiet with nothing to replace every year or so.

About bulbs: They operate under same temperature, I would imagine. If some bulbs last 3 months and some 2 years, that should tell us something. All bulbs are not created the same; in other words, where is the tight quality control? These flaws in some bulbs should be mostly eliminated. At times, car and trucks are called back to undo bad workmanship. A top quality pprojector should be easier to produce than a modern car, which is really very complicated. The pressure should come from the consumer and the manufacturuer of these projectors. to bring a better bulb to the marketplace. The manufacturer of these projectors have a duty to their customers to see that these bulbs all last 12, maybe, 18 months (or x amount of hours). 90 days is really no warranty. Of course, it does show that all parties involved have no faith in bulbs lasting. It seems to be a random thing just how long these bulbs last. And this goes back to quality control at the plant. A few bulbs last up to their rated hours; many more should.

We do know of the hr king at 2200hrs and me with two pjs at the 700hrs mark, plus there's probably many thousands of others.

Well, while I would of course want a longer than 90 warranty on the bulb (I'm beyond that yet I only have 180 hrs on the lamp), there still are enough bad lamp returns within the 90 days that the manufacture has to deal with.
And they don't want to have to deal with it, so even on this one, I'm sure they are well aware of the fact that poor QC on the lamps can affect their bottom line into the negative in the long run. Law of diminishing returns, every big business has a pretty good grasp of it.

Maybe Optoma have (or will) learned their lesson on this one.

I would think lamps should/could be consistent enough for all projector manufactures to offer say a 700hr or 1 year (which ever comes 1st) warranty on.

But hey, I'm no expert on projector lamps. Maybe someone can chime in on why the logistics of this is not practical.

Fleaman

IMO, Optoma is doing the same trick that printer manufacturers have been doing for years. They give away the printer, but get you on frequent ink refills (think inefficient printers, and expensive ink cartridges that store a very small amount of ink). Optoma sells the projector for cheap with a minimal profit, and make their money on expensive lamps that don't last long. I bet optoma makes a killing on lamps.

It's a poor strategy for long term. They're pissing off a lot of customers and the bad reputation will It's going to catch up with them.

I personally haven't had a problem with my lamp @ 400 hrs and 9 months but can't help it but think about it everytime I turn on my PJ. I wonder if it's the last time or if it'll come on at all.

SB

SB,

I hear you man. Even though I own the X1, and it apparently has a stellar reputation with regards to lamp reliability as well as a 4000 hour estimated life, I sometimes wonder if it will power up as it always has. I only have about 700 hours on the bulb in 1 1/2 years but replacing the bulb, especially in Canadian dollars would probably cause me to consider going to a brand new projector.

I've been following this thread and have read most of it. I am presently trying to decide as to whether I wish to 'upgrade' from the X1 to the H30. Some posts make me drool and others make me want to go over and hug my X1. I am quite concerned about the quality control issues with the H30. Especially since I have a projector which works flawlessly and has since the first time I turned it on back in June of 2003. I have a dust blob which only bothers me a little bit on dark scenes but other than that and the infamous Infocus slightly loud fan, I am happy.

But as Tom has mentioned, perhaps the bulb problems are largely conquered now. I expect that there will be possibly another price drop on the H30 in 2005. I'm watching closely for this. At that point, I may take the plunge. Here in Canada, the lowest price I've seen is slightly over 50% more than the U.S. M.S.R.P. You can understand why I'd like to see another drop in the price.

Wayne

anyway, the early bulb failure is unexceptable with Optoma, I have heard less of this problem with 4805 on this Forum. Of course, there is the noisy fan on the 4805. Again, it comes down to price and the Infocus is $300 less than h31.

IMO, Optoma is doing the same trick that printer manufacturers have been doing for years. They give away the printer, but get you on frequent ink refills (think inefficient printers, and expensive ink cartridges that store a very small amount of ink). Optoma sells the projector for cheap with a minimal profit, and make their money on expensive lamps that don't last long. I bet optoma makes a killing on lamps.

It's not the same as printers. Optoma doesn't make the bulbs and their cost is what sets the prices on them. I've never heard of a projector manufacturer making their money on bulbs. Long lasting bulbs are a benefit to them, not a liability. The bulb manufacturers also will likely only provide the projector manufacturer with replacements in a short time frame (like 90 days).

I find it hard to believe that anyone is building projectors/lamps in a shoddy manner to make money off of lamp sales. Doing a pricegrabber search with the H30 lamp part number and you'll find ~25 places selling the lamp and the lowest price is around $318 + shipping. This tells me that the lamps probably cost Optoma and these distributors about $305-310 and that the lowest distributor is happy making $10 off each one. Nobody is buying these things for $165 and making a killing off them.

I've read that the manufacturing failure rate on these high pressure gas lamps is very high which keeps the price up on them. Projector Central just published an article about lamp pricing and that new owners of sub $1K projectors need to be prepared for a lamp replacement that can run as high as 50% the price of the projector. I was hoping he would dig into the details about why they cost so much though.

I personally believe that Optoma got a suspect batch of lamps from Sylvania or whomever that is responsible for some of these early failures. It would be nice if Optoma could do some kind of prorated lamp replacement thing if they know of a bad batch but without the backing of the lamp manufacturer- that ain't gonna happen. I find it hard to place any blame on Optoma for this one.

Cheers!

You have to look around more about bulbs dying. 4805 bulbs died, Ryan who switched over early on from the H30 to the 4805 had his bulb die plus there's been many others. To see you'll have to go thru the whole thread. Z9000 bulbs died, benQ bulbs died, so on and so on. Hey I'm intrested in a digital RPTV and these guy have been having bulbs die an early death and they rate those at 6,000 to 8,000 hrs.

I did a Google Froogle search on the replacement lamp for the H30.
SP.80A01.001

Lots of sites are stating they are rated for 200-300 hours in economy mode!
WTF???

Yes, Tom, and I so glad I have a plasma with no fans to make noise and no bulbs to burn out...one half brightness life at 60,000 hours...almost no burn in anymore...

becoming discouged about buying new projector!

Originally posted by mangopony
becoming discouged about buying new projector!

The bulb game is a part of the deal you'll have to accept if you want the full sized theater in you house. There's tons of long time users of all different models of projectors here and they're not running for cover. They continue to enjoy and upgrade all the time. Name of the game.

As far as my second HT idea I'll probably go with another CRT/RPTV. Since I consider that system as a back up work horse thing and the full theater is for premium use. New moives, big event HDTV etc.

IMO, there's no comparison between plasma and projector. I was shopping for a plasma tv myself before I stumbled upon this forum and thread. I'm very happy I went with a projector. A well calibrated projector in a light controlled environment is so much better (and bigger too) then a plasma TV. No comparison IMO.

The fact that a handful of people have achieved the advertised bulb life in no way excuses the fact that quite a few people haven't. Nor does the fact that other projectors exhibit the same pitiful bulb reliability in any way make the performance of my Optoma acceptable.

Look, when I purchased this unit, the estimated 2000 hr bulb life (3000 in econo mode!) factored largely into the decision to spend the money. While I understand that it would be unreasonable to bank on hitting those marks, I do not think that getting under 25% of the stated life is acceptable. Perhaps it would be understandable if I was the only "unlucky" one, but I count at least 9 people in the last two months in this thread alone to suffer the same fate.

If Optoma has in fact switched suppliers for bulbs, I would argue that it can be taken as a tacit admission that the advertised bulb life was overstated.

Originally posted by guitarman
I'll probably go with another CRT/RPTV.
I think that's the smart RPTV choice right now. We were talking with some friends over Xmas how CRT RPTVs have been dropping in price since DLP and LCD are the hot items now. There are some downsides to CRT (viewing angle, hotspots, size and weight, burn-in), but it's still the only affordable way to 1080i, and you can pick up a brandname 50+" set for the price of a 4805.

Uwe, yeah I think it's the bargin deal right now also. I'll save my bulb worries for the full theater setup.

Originally posted by guitarman
I'll save my bulb worries for the full theater setup.
Smart move. I have some secondary set problems of my own, though of a differen kind. I have a Sony 35" Trinitron which I love for SD (I think it's one of the best tubes ever made), but it's a bit of a honker size-wise. My den is fairly small at 14 ft length, and if I drop a pull-down screen in front of the Sony for the FP, my viewing distance will be, well, not so much of a distance anymore. I've pondered chucking the Sony for a plasma to gain 3 ft or so, but I'd be spending close to $2K to replace a picture I'm perfectly happy with, only to gain space. I've even toyed with the idea of a mechanism to lower the TV to floor level when not in use, but that's pretty ridiculous for a set weighing as much as a grown man. I could also mount the FP screen higher and watch movies "in the sky", but my wife WOULD kill me. Or I could switch to the FP for all viewing and just live with more frequent lamp replacements (the den is quite dark with burguny walls and negligible ambient light). She may still kill me, but at least at a later date, when the next lamp is due.

As I have mentioned before, a 90 day warranty should give you an idea on the 'faith' in a bulb lasting its' rated hours. Most all numbers (specs) are inflated on equipment; the bulb is certainly no exception.

sxxb:..bigger, yes. Better, no....Remember you can not have size and top PQ in same piece of equipment. You must settle for one or the other.

thinking...just perhaps will not accept the bulb game!

Sure there's always the problem cases, but this particular projector seems to exhibit failure rates significantly more often and at lower hours than other projectors.

What is up with the 200-300 hour rating though on replacement lamps? Did I discover something about these bulbs that was never known before? Is Optoma trying to hide something? Do these particular bulbs really only last that long and is the description of the H30 that Optoma provides completely not realistic if they're inflating the expected hours 10 fold?

Originally posted by gottahavapj
I personally believe that Optoma got a suspect batch of lamps from Sylvania or whomever that is responsible for some of these early failures. It would be nice if Optoma could do some kind of prorated lamp replacement thing if they know of a bad batch but without the backing of the lamp manufacturer- that ain't gonna happen. I find it hard to place any blame on Optoma for this one.


This is not meant in an offensive way gotta but this is precisely the attitude that supports projector manufacturers with their warped bulb warranty. If I buy an Electrolux vacuum cleaner which happens to have a Philips motor in it and the motor fails after 6 months usage I'm going to blame Electrolux for it. And I won't accept some sorry explanation about Philips supplying them with a bad batch of motors. If a company makes an enduser product they should accept full responsibility for it and not only for certain parts.

This is probably the problem to begin with: projector manufacturers are not used to selling enduser products. Traditionally they sell to businesses who will just write off a 300-hour bulb failure as a business expense. Endusers will not accept this and the manufacturers need to address this problem if they want to continue to expand their market.

By the way, I really think you are right about the bad batch of lamps. My H30 had a 300-hour bulb failure but it didn't blow/pop, it just didn't start up anymore. The bulb looked fine and brand new actually but when I started the projector it would try to strike the bulb 4 times and then give up with a 'Lamp' warning light. Before the failure it frequently happened that the H30 would take 2-3 strikes before the bulb came on so I guess this was an early warning that something was wrong with the bulb to begin with. Havn't had it with the new bulb so far (about 50 hours now, fingers crossed). I get the feeling that most of the early bulb failures with the H30 had the above symptoms.

I don't think they'll ever change the 90day deal, it's been around too long (from the bulb mfg). If they blow before the 90days we got em.

Not that this forum is the all end for the mass H30 owners, but we could start up a poll to see how many are out and how many are in.

Count me as 3 on the in side.

I've had my H30 a little over a week now.

Initially I was disappointed. I saw RBE right away. This was odd because after demoing the H30 in a local HT store, I couldn't even force myself to see them. After I fired it up for the first time, I couldn't stop seeing them. However, since it didn't give me headaches or make me feel sick, I decided to give it time. I was hoping that after a period of adjustment, I would notice it less as I become more "engulfed" in what I'm watching.

Almost a week later, I'm glad I decided to wait it out. I still notice RBE, but not nearly as often as I did at first. And I've "learned" to be less distracted by it. Even though I was coming from a 43" RPTV, I really feel as if I needed time to adjust to a larger picture.

The H30 brings a huge smile to my face everytime I get to use it. It's is definitely a keeper. Best money I've spent all year.

Maybe this has been asked before, but I couldn't find it in this thead.

Is there a time limit to the 90-day bulb warranty? For example, if I use my H30 more than xx hours in 90 days will the warranty expire sooner?

Good question. I havent' seen a how many hours used meter, just the 90days. So if you could chalk up 1900hrs and the bulb blows before the 90days you should be covered. Although it you ran the projector straight 24hhrs a day they might call it abuse. :)

According to the manual, it recommends 8 hours of "rest" for every 8 hours of use. So yes, 24 hours straight would be "abuse." :)

I've been enjoying my H30 for about 4 hours a day, and I'd hate to put enough mileage to expire it's bulb warranty before 90 days.

I am seriously considering buying the Optoma H30, since it appears to be the most bang for the under $1K buck, but was wondering about this firmware update. If I order this week, will I get a newer machine with the update, or whatever's on the shelf, possbly an older one that needs the update?

Tom, can you state for sure which unit you would buy: the Optoma H30 or the BenQ 6200?

Thanks for all your help, no one wants to make a thousand dollar mistake!

There's no way to tell which firmware version you would get. there's nothing on the box, nor do they release that information to resellers.

The BenQ 6200 has higher resolution, so if your viewing is predominantly HDTV, it might be a better choice. For DVDs and SDTV viewing, I prefer the picture of the H30, but both are good choices.

Azreal, your description about your bulb before and after the failure was exactly as mine was. It would take three stikes most of the time to fire when it did fire. No breakage the bulb looks fine but it won't fire.

I bought a new bulb which I am putting in later today. I couln't reach Optoma because they are closed till Jan 3 and I need it now for an event at my home. If I can get one from them it will be an extra one. Maybe I'll end up just trying to sell the H30 and opt for the H31 since they use a different bulb.

Reiterating what other bulb shoppers have noted about this item it is wierd that several resale sites for the bulb say 200-300 hours. I can only assume that is a typo??? and that they copy each others descriptions when listing product atributes because when they list the hours in other places it indicates the 2000 or up to 3000 info.

Originally posted by bushfilm
I am seriously considering buying the Optoma H30, since it appears to be the most bang for the under $1K buck, but was wondering about this firmware update. If I order this week, will I get a newer machine with the update, or whatever's on the shelf, possbly an older one that needs the update?

Tom, can you state for sure which unit you would buy: the Optoma H30 or the BenQ 6200?

Thanks for all your help, no one wants to make a thousand dollar mistake!

I've never seen the 6200 but I have an idea on how it's colors will be being a presentation 4/colorwheel model, and that would be that the colors are not all that for home theater use. After reading HTmags shoot out between these projectors and seeing everybody picked the H30 over the 6200 for everything, HDTV and DVD/shadow detail, colors etc

I wouldn't mess around and would pick up the H30.

You have to understand the power of the RGB/RGB color wheel. A year and half ago we were paying around $3995 for this feature (Z90). And a year farther back $5995 for the RGB/RGB SVGA's (Seleco HT200).
enjoy your bargain now :)

Replaced bulbs today, and looked at the accumulated hours on the old bulb. 244 hrs. I had the projector in econo mode from day 1; so that's less than 10% of the advertised bulb life. Pathetic.

the Optoma is slowly fading from my list of 2 projectors to buy. I hear less complaints about the 4805s' bulb failing in 'months'. So, it seems, I am leaning toward the 4805 and its' somewhat noisy fan over the fast-failing bulbs of the Optoma. Is there any valid reason to believe the bulb will last longer in the h31? I should know, much too soon to really get an answer to this question. Is the manufacturer of the bulb different?

Originally posted by Azrael
This is not meant in an offensive way gotta but this is precisely the attitude that supports projector manufacturers with their warped bulb warranty. If I buy an Electrolux vacuum cleaner which happens to have a Philips motor in it and the motor fails after 6 months usage I'm going to blame Electrolux for it. And I won't accept some sorry explanation about Philips supplying them with a bad batch of motors. If a company makes an enduser product they should accept full responsibility for it and not only for certain parts.
You make a very good point here Azreal, one that I did not stop to consider. OK- I'll join in the lynch mob headed toward Milpitas if someone else will lead :)

I just don't know what our recourse would be when the bulbs are lasting longer than the warranty on them, pathetic as it may be.

I noticed the 2-300 hour thing on Pricegrabber when I initially searched there as well. I would think that is a simple typo.

Cheers!

How about this, RPTV DLP's can rate the bulb for 10,000hrs at a re cost of $250. :)

Like they say, "what are you gonna do"

You're either in or you out. ;)

Not trying to add fuel to the fire, but for those that have several months and/or several hundred hours on their H30, is there anything "special" that you're doing that you believe contributes to longer bulb life?

Is there anything in the use of the H30 (start-up, period of use, or shut-down) that can contribute to premature bulb failure? For example, some owners seem to use their H30 more frequently and for longer periods than other owners. Could using the H30 for a 4-hour period be better than a 2-hour period be better for the unit? Could completely powering down the unit after proper cool-down help preserve it as well?

From my point of view, if something fails prematurely, it is either because of poor materials/construction or it is because of improper use. I'm only wondering if there is something that isn't in the manual or believed to be "common sense" that some of us are not doing but should be.

First, I am considering buying an H30. However after reading all these posts about lamp life, I may postpone the purchase until some answers shake out.

A couple of pages back, someone remarked on leaving his projector on for long periods of time -overnight sometimes. I wanted to say that I work in television and the engineers always say that you should slmply leave electronic equipment on all the time if possible. Simple logic says that if you put a surge of hot electrons through a cold component (like a lamp) then that is when most of the damage occurs. Once warmed up, everything flows right along, but that initial surge is what kills things.

Not practical to leave things on all the time, but I often leave my television on for weeks at a time and I have never had a problem. I realize that you can't do that with a projector, but there has to be a better way than getting 200-300 hrs out of an expensive lamp! Professional lighting equipment (some types) have a pre-heat element that warms things up a bit before the big power surge comes on to strike the lamp. Those lamps cost $800 and up, and believe me, if they failed at 200 hours, nobody would be using them.

Hope I hear soon that Optoma has resolved the lamp issue, 'cause I can't wait to buy one!

Thanks all, especially Tom!

Originally posted by bushfilm
First, I am considering buying an H30. However after reading all these posts about lamp life, I may postpone the purchase until some answers shake out.

A couple of pages back, someone remarked on leaving his projector on for long periods of time -overnight sometimes.



I just bought my used Optoma H30, even with the bulb issues pending. It has the C07 firmware, Im not sure if a particular firmware has had more or less issues with the bulb. The bulb had about 80 hours on it. Its working fine.

I did notice that the warranty card said DO NOT LEAVE THE PROJECTOR ON FOR MORE THAN 8 Hours at a time. This voids your warranty!

So advice about leaving it one all the time is not good advice, though you pointed out that its not practical, its also not considered 'normal usage' under Optoma's warranty.


-GK

I've had my PJ since April and have been using it as my normal TV for everything (DVD, Xbox, PS2, HD, Satelitte, HTPC). The bulb (the original) is almost at 1500 hours and has been in Eco mode for 99% of the time. Just the past week (see earlier post) I got a pop up on the screen telling me the bulb may fail soon and suggested a replacement. Since then I've been using it in Normal mode. Hey if it's going to blow might as well get as much out of it as I can :D . Once the replacement gets here (Thanks GottahaveaPJ :cool: ) I will be using the original as a back up and so to the closet it goes until it's needed again.

As far as startup/shut down I just turn it on/off normal with either the remote or buttons on top. It's plugged into a power strip/surge protector (no UPS) along with the Dish receiver, xbox, PS2, HTPC and Surround sound receiver. I keep it plugged in at all times. I also occasionally use the HIDE button when I know I won't be using for a short amount of time between viewing and would rather keep it on rather than turn it off/on repeatedly.

As mentioned previously the only major problems I've had were: the bulb did not strike properly once, one time with the green bar incident and some buzzing noise due to dog hair that infiltrated the insides. Other than that I get tons of enjoyment out of it. If you know all the pros and cons of a PJ versus a RPTV,Plasma or LCD and know that the bulbs are going to be replaced eventually (some sooner than others :rolleyes: ) then get a PJ. As with anything expensive there will be upkeep costs. For me the cost to enjoyment ratio was no contest. Here's my personal pro/cons list:

PROS
HUGE image (80"x60" in 4:3) great for gaming (especially 4 player games) and old movies
COST - Screen size to cost ratio cannot be touched by anything else
Amazing colors, contrast, image quality especially with DVDs and movies played through the HTPC
Extremely portable for gaming on a neighbors garage and can be carried/moved by one person
DIY Screen cost me $30
One dead pixel return policy
Excellent Customer Support (based upon other people's experiences)
the look on peoples faces when they first see it and then the look afterwards when I tell them how much it cost


CONS
Light control is neccessary
Light bulb has low life expectancy and replacements are expensive ~$300+
Only SVGA resolution but HD looks awesome on it
a $1000+ item


I wanted the biggest and best image I could get for the least amount possible. With a PJ I can do that.

I've noticed on some people's wall/ceiling mounts in the gallery here, that the pj's don't look like they're getting enough ventilation. Just a thought.

I checked on the net, and there are many places to buy projectors. One being B&H in NYC. I just wanted to ask if anyone knew of a better price or better service than what is listed using a search tool like pricetool or nextag? Thanks!

the big online shopping site that starts with an 'A'

Lets be careful about being to descriptive about where to buy other than AVS forum sponsors. I think the mods have given this thread some pretty healthy leeway on this matter which we don't want to abuse.

I saw a very good price on the H30 from the reputable place I bought my replacement lamp. PM me if interested but I won't post it here.

Cheers!

Here's something I've noticed lately.

There's a "smudge" or something on the inner lens of my H30. At first I thought it was just an imperfection in the paint on the wall, but after using a portable screen, I noticed the "smudge" shows up in the same location.

When looking into the lens (with the H30 off of course) I can't see anything that would cause this.

Is there a safe way to use compressed air or open it up to try to fix this?

I'd hate to go through the hassle of sending this into Optoma for something that isn't noticeable 99% of the time, but it does bother me when I see it.

Sounds like it could be a dust blob. :(

I have a light circular spot which only shows on dark scenes such as credits. I only see it if I look for it or there is not much else on the screen but darkness. I may someday take apart the lens assembly to try to clean it but I'm not willing at this point to risk making matters worse somehow. The spot doesn't bother me horribly so for now I'm living with it. If I get another one, then I may send the pj (I have the X1) in or attempt to get rid of the blobs myself.

Okay, at long last, and with the help of so many of you, I have decided to buy the Optoma H30 from eCost, one of the alliance members. My last question (well, for now anyway!) is about the seller - anybody have any bad experiences that I should know about?

Again, thanks everyone for the help, and have a Happy New Year all!

Nope I bought a Kenwood THX receiver that blew up when I first turned it on. They did a quick exchange, no problem.

Who wants to join the Official H30 Lamp Blowout Pool?

Originally posted by bushfilm
Okay, at long last, and with the help of so many of you, I have decided to buy the Optoma H30 from eCost, one of the alliance members. My last question (well, for now anyway!) is about the seller - anybody have any bad experiences that I should know about?

Again, thanks everyone for the help, and have a Happy New Year all!
I have no experience with them. Nice job on giving the biz to a forum sponsor, something we all should make every effort to do.

Enjoy that thing!

Tom

Are you able to pass on an email address of your Optoma contact? I have tried contacting Optoma re purchase of an H30 in USA and the warranty question used in australia but cannot get a reply.
The price difference here is unbelievable. I would be able to buy in the USA and import paying taxes and duties etc for a 1/3rd of the price here.

That is just not on. There is no way I would pay that much when the infocus 4805 can be bought here for about half the price. of the H30

Hope you can help

Thanks

Originally posted by mystery
Sounds like it could be a dust blob. :(

I have a light circular spot which only shows on dark scenes such as credits. I only see it if I look for it or there is not much else on the screen but darkness. I may someday take apart the lens assembly to try to clean it but I'm not willing at this point to risk making matters worse somehow. The spot doesn't bother me horribly so for now I'm living with it. If I get another one, then I may send the pj (I have the X1) in or attempt to get rid of the blobs myself.

I thought it could be a dust blob, but having no previous experience with projectors, I'm not sure what a dust blob looks like. Like I said, I don't notice it 99% of the time. It looks more like a mark on the wall or screen. I can't bring myself to send it in for something so minor.

Besides, a day where I can't use my H30 is a sad day, indeed.

Originally posted by Whew!
Tom

Are you able to pass on an email address of your Optoma contact? I have tried contacting Optoma re purchase of an H30 in USA and the warranty question used in australia but cannot get a reply.
The price difference here is unbelievable. I would be able to buy in the USA and import paying taxes and duties etc for a 1/3rd of the price here.

That is just not on. There is no way I would pay that much when the infocus 4805 can be bought here for about half the price. of the H30

Hope you can help

Thanks

Your ? was ansered early on by and Ausie user. He found out the warranty will be good in the USA. The PJ would hv to be sent here and you would hv to cover the long distant ship charges, both ways.

Originally posted by allkingz
I thought it could be a dust blob, but having no previous experience with projectors, I'm not sure what a dust blob looks like. Like I said, I don't notice it 99% of the time. It looks more like a mark on the wall or screen. I can't bring myself to send it in for something so minor.

Besides, a day where I can't use my H30 is a sad day, indeed.

I've got one on mine too. I would have never have seen it had I not put up a full 100IRE pattern a few weeks ago. It shows up as a 5" diameter light gray "dirty spot" on the screen. It's almost undetectable in regular use, but still annoying now that I know it's there!

Mike

I just received a DishNetwork 811 receiver and I have some questions regarding format on the H30.

When I select 1080i on the 811 and a 16X9 format, it is a little picture (lots of pixels turned off). Also SD programming is too skinny. Black bars at the side. How do I set this so I get HD reception on the HD channels and the SD programming shows properly, with the least pixels turned off.

Our old receiver filled the screen when 4X3 native was selected as format.

Just for all you people reading all these posts about bad bulbs, i just want to let you know, i purchased an H30, have like 450 hours on it, I use it alot, for TV, MOVIES, and for my computer, i got my h30 at the end of august, so about 4 months now, and i have had no problem what so ever i guess i average about 30 hours a week on it, and works great, i recomend the H30 for anyone who want a pj, great price, i couldnt ask for more :D

Arty

Hey, what's a good cheap and easy DIY screen for the H30? I read somewhere in this exceedingly long thread that the Misty Whatever is overkill. The trick is, my brand new H30 (my first projector) is arriving next week, but I'm going to have very little money for a screen for a couple months. And my wall is two-toned, changing colors halfway down, so I don't want to just project onto that!

I made a screen with 1x3 strips of pine and blackout cloth for about $49.
You can see pictures of it in my gallery.

Originally posted by Dreamwriter
Hey, what's a good cheap and easy DIY screen for the H30?

Parkland Plastics - about $14 at your local home center. Nice white surface and very easy to clean. Add a little masking with some black velvet and you're set.

Blackout cloth and 1x3 strips of pine. Works well for me. And some light absorbing black felt to cover the pine and give you the black boarder. Look in my gallery for pictures of my screen.

Or maybe take a look at these screens:
http://www.elitescreen.com/wheretobuy.html

The price is the cheapest I have scene but I have never used one.

I think AVS even sells them.

Quick question:

Is it bad for my projector to use it upside down, IE, resting on the top of the unit, using some foam to compensate for the odd shape?

And secondly

While upside down is it ok to have it tilted upwards?

I can't find any specs in the manual about safe operating angles etc.


Some background if you want it:
The best place for me to place my projector is in the back of my room on a shelf that is about 6 feet high. Right-side up and the image is displayed mostly on the ceiling, upside down and the image is too low on the Wall, however I can get the image exactly where I want it if I use some foam to level the projector upside down, as well as tilt is upwards, basically to get a screen that is almost level with the lens.

Is there any way to change the throw angle, I have read something about a service menu, but I assume the throw angle is all in the optics


Thanks
-Greg

The more I use my H30, the more I love it.

The colors are great and the image is crystal clear. It only took a little tweaking to get the picture to really come alive.

It's brought a whole new level of enjoyment to watching movies. I don't think I'll ever set foot in a movie theater again.

Originally posted by donaldgelman
Quick question:

Is it bad for my projector to use it upside down, IE, resting on the top of the unit, using some foam to compensate for the odd shape?

And secondly

While upside down is it ok to have it tilted upwards?

I can't find any specs in the manual about safe operating angles etc.


Some background if you want it:
The best place for me to place my projector is in the back of my room on a shelf that is about 6 feet high. Right-side up and the image is displayed mostly on the ceiling, upside down and the image is too low on the Wall, however I can get the image exactly where I want it if I use some foam to level the projector upside down, as well as tilt is upwards, basically to get a screen that is almost level with the lens.

Is there any way to change the throw angle, I have read something about a service menu, but I assume the throw angle is all in the optics

I ok to flip it upside down for shelf mounting. C08 firmware has about a 12" offset, C05 is about 22". That's from 14' back but it wouldn't change too much if you move a little closer.
enjoy


I have my H30 back up in the ceiling mount right now and I can see why I was so excited when I first received this PJ a year ago. First on the list, very low screen door for a SVGA projector creates a smooth looking image. Colors look natural, blacks & black detail are excellent. 551 hours and still looking very bright in econo.



Thanks
-Greg

My lamp died today with only around 420 hours and 8-9 months of use. I used the projector in ECONO mode for 97% of the time and have taken every precaution to prolong the life of the lamp.

While this was not a shocker given all the other people on the forum having trouble with the lamps, I'm very disappointed. What's worse is that we have an aniversary this Saturday and made a wedding movie just for this event to show our guests. I only hope I can get a replacement lamp before Saturday. I think its simply unacceptable that the actual life of a lamp IS ONLY 15% of the stated life!

Quick question: does anyone know which manufacturer made these defective lamps and if the new lamps or lamps from a different manufacturer are more reliable?

Thanks

Originally posted by sxxb
My lamp died today with only around 420 hours and 8-9 months of use. I used the projector in ECONO mode for 97% of the time and have taken every precaution to prolong the life of the lamp.

While this was not a shocker given all the other people on the forum having trouble with the lamps, I'm very disappointed. What's worse is that we have an aniversary this Saturday and made a wedding movie just for this event to show our guests. I only hope I can get a replacement lamp before Saturday. I think its simply unacceptable that the actual life of a lamp IS ONLY 15% of the stated life!

Quick question: does anyone know which manufacturer made these defective lamps and if the new lamps or lamps from a different manufacturer are more reliable?

Thanks

$1000000 question.
I'm sorry for your loss.

15 hours on mine so far, guess couple hundred
to go if I'm usual.

In the time I have been on this Forum it seems, to me at least, more problems arise from early bulb failures with Optoma h30 then with Infocus 4805. Does it seem this way to you? I do not want added expense of replacing a $400 bulb during first year of operation.

Is it possible Optoma is taking lowest bid from a bulb manufacturer and getting what they paid for at the expense of the consumer? ..just a thought.

Originally posted by mangopony
In the time I have been on this Forum it seems, to me at least, more problems arise from early bulb failures with Optoma h30 then with Infocus 4805. Does it seem this way to you? I do not want added expense of replacing a $400 bulb during first year of operation.

Total guessing game, first the H30 is twice as old as the 4805, you'd have to go thru each page of each model to take a count, plus you'll hv to wait until the others reach the same age. Looking at the under 3.5k pj area I see an X1 pre mature bulb failure thread.
Bottom line bulbs are risky business, imagine what the future holds for all the newer digital LCD and DLP, DLIA RPTV buyers. But one thing RPTV's do give a year on their low watt bulbs.

No one's happy when their bulb blows after warranty. If I had a nickel for every unhappy customer for all the different models I'd be a rich man. You should see in the up 3.5 they want a class action due to the Sharp bulb flickering all the time.

Tom: I understand all this but just makes me think..if I really want to follow thru with a purchase of a projector. Afterall, my Panasonic plasma is doing me just fine and zero upkeep for as long as I have it. (I am talking about 'replacements' such as bulbs). I guess a person does need a warranty (or buy from Costco) on one of these digital projectors. By the way, thanks again, for the good advice you pass on. It is appreciated by everyone.

A afterall thought. Digital projectors (as they are now with early bulb failures) will never go mainstream. In fact, as of now, neither BB nor CC have the 4805 or h30 on their shelves. This probably goes for Sears as well. The problem is the hi end shops do not carry these models either. They can make much more money selling the expensive projectors. I have seen these and, for the most part, they do not even come close to demanding the money they want in comparision with the under $1300 projectors. You pay a lot more money for slightly better pq on the screen. And I suppose the bulbs in these may even cost more!

The reason CC or BB don't have them is that they take up too much space to display vs. the small return on one of these projectors (less than 10%). Unfortunately, that will prevent the masses from seeing that they can have a movie theater experience in their home for less than half the cost of most RPTVs and 1/4 to 1/5 the cost of a decent plasma.

The bulb issue is a ridiculous one IMO. They should have a much higher life expectancy for their price. BTW, the bulbs in the higher end projectors cost the same or $100 more than the lower cost projectors.

and, in BB and CC none of the salespeople know anything about front digital projectors. They have a limited number of 'business' projectors. From CC you can buy a 4805. They are sitting in their warehouse. They have a price of (still) $1499 on the 4805. With constant complaining from me (and many others no doubt) , it took our local BB and CC years to even get HD content thru their HD displays. Finally, the 'bosses' woke up about 1-2 years ago. They could still do better on displaying their displays with better and more constant source material but are doing quite well these days.

Originally posted by guitarman
Bottom line bulbs are risky business, imagine what the future holds for all the newer digital LCD and DLP, DLIA RPTV buyers.
I've been thinking, there might be a market niche for a lamp insurance business. You'd have to crunch some stats to work out mean life expectancy for the various models, then figure out a reasonable length of time to offer insurance for (say one year), and how much to charge and still make a profit. If the failure rate within the first year isn't too outrageous, you could offer a very reasonable rate. Actually, I would like to see equipment or lamp manufacturers offer this kind of insurance.

Hey guys,

I started a poll to see how many hours people are getting out of their H30. Please see/participate in my thread here....
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=491497

I like the insurance Idea. I wonder if the DLP RPTV guys that get an extended plan would be covered for the bulb also?

Originally posted by mangopony
and, in BB and CC none of the salespeople know anything about front digital projectors. They have a limited number of 'business' projectors. From CC you can buy a 4805. They are sitting in their warehouse. They have a price of (still) $1499 on the 4805. With constant complaining from me (and many others no doubt) , it took our local BB and CC years to even get HD content thru their HD displays. Finally, the 'bosses' woke up about 1-2 years ago. They could still do better on displaying their displays with better and more constant source material but are doing quite well these days.

:D

Lets face it, most salespeople at BB and CC know very little about anything. It's sad that so many poor souls put their trust in a teenager when spending $1500+.

Originally posted by sxxb
Hey guys,

I started a poll to see how many hours people are getting out of their H30. Please see/participate in my thread here....
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=491497

I don't like the idea of buying insurance. These things should be covered by at least 1 yr warranty!

sxxb, I'd prefer that myself, but that's out of our control. Starting a small lamp insurance business is something any enterprising individual with a little start-up capital and a certain credibility could do. I wish I weren't so lazy and unmotivated myself. This would seem to be something that would fit in well with an established HT dealer, such as AVS. I'm thinking the overhead of managing such an offer (selling the insurance and servicing claims) should be low enough to not require extra human resources.

Well, I as mentioned in my previous post, I was all set to plunk down the cash for an H30 when I began to read all the posts about early bulb failure. While I realize that this represents maybe a small fraction of all the happy owners out there, it still gave me pause for thought. For me, buying a new lamp at roughly every 300 hours (based on avg comments) is simply out of the question. And does Optoma seriously think people are going to be happy wilth a bulb that lasts 300 hrs. instead of the 1500 or so that is implied in their sales info? It sort of reminds me of the razor business, where they practically give you the razor so they can make money on selling you the blades. I realize Optoma isn't in the bulb business, but I have to ask what is going on with a situation like this. If they got a bad batch of bulbs from a low-bidder, then lets hear about it and move on. If not, then I think the PJ business will never go main stream until they straighten this out. I for one think watching movies on a ten foot screen beats the hell out watching them on a 50" screen, but not at this cost factor. And finally, anybody know of a manufacturer that might respond to this? Seems like if the Acme company could produce a lamp that actually lasts 1500 hours, they could scoop up all the bulb business out there. IMHO.

I bet Optoma is making a healthy profit selling replacement lamps. If you can buy one for $320 or so on the internet and the companies still make a few bucks on it, Optoma pockets AT LEAST $100 when they sell replacements.

I think they might just respond to legal action?

That's definitely a good case for deceptive advertisement. I've not heard of a single person that made it to the claimed 2000 hour lamp life even in economode, let alone 3000 hour claim.

I wonder how big of a deal it would be to make some sort of a legal action. I've got to check if deceptive advertisement is something that a small claims court can settle. Anybody know?

I believe, to be truthful in their statements, at least 50 percent of buyers should make it to the claimed hours on the bulb. It just seems like Optoma would want to put the best bulb possible in their very good (otherwise) projectors. Of course, if the 'engine' keeps failing, how good is the product in real life? They, at least, could buy bulbs from different manufacturers to see, over time, which lasted the longest. Are they, at least, doing this?

I believe small claims court will only settle issues up to xxx amount of dollars. And that limit is not very high.

Originally posted by mangopony
I believe small claims court will only settle issues up to xxx amount of dollars. And that limit is not very high.

High enough for me. They settle up to $5000 now.

Originally posted by sxxb
I've not heard of a single person that made it to the claimed 2000 hour lamp life even in economode, let alone 3000 hour claim.
Someone made it to something like 2550 hours a while back. I tried to dig for it but since that is all this thread is about anymore is premature lamp failure complaining- it was to hard to find.

Originally posted by tzzoooma
I think they might just respond to legal action?

It won't work. Bulb life is only guaranteed for 90days for just about all the projector companies. Saying you can get 3,000hrs is a generalization of the possibility re bulb brightness and lamp mode setting. There's nothing in companies guarantee's about guaranteed hours. There is someone that chimmed on that was at the 2200hr level and still see's good brightness.

You could state that bulb is said to be able to get 3,000hrs (could be able). But there's no getting around the written time life warranty (90days). Not just Optoma here, NEC, Sharp, Marantz, maybe even Seleco with their 6,000hr bulbs. Lately I've been seeing Mitsubishi have a 1yr bulb warranty on certain models.

..because of bulb issue, thinking twice about a digital projector. Thinking I prefer the no upkeep on my plasma display. I can not really afford $300-$400 year upkeep of projector. I realize all claims of manufacturers are overstated but in case of contrast, brightness, it does not cost me money (such as misrepresenting life of bulb) If the manufacturers were more in line with reality (on the average life of a bulb) people would shy away from purchasing a projector. They would certainly think twice as I am now doing.

On the DLP/rptv I just got it's rated for 8,000hrs :) You know what could be the problem with some users, it's usage. We've all heard Electronic devices like to be used, in fact one Electrical expert told me leaving a device on all the time is good. Of course we can't do that with projectors but I tend to use my projector for long periods of time and never had bulbs go out. The guy that's up to 2200hrs same deal, he uses it allot.

Tom, I agree. the places where you turn a lite bulb on and off..often..those bulbs tend to burn out more often. I believe everytime you send a burst of AC thru it, it breaks it down..slowly..over time. Bottom line, I believe it is the on and off action more than continuous usage that may break a bulb down. The only thing with me I would only use it now and then for live HD sports and a movie now and then. I would be using our plasma as our 'tv' display.

Optoma claims this about the lamp in the H30 on their official website and in all specs I've found:

Lamp Life (typical): 2,000 hours (standard) 3,000 hours (economy)

If that is not what the typical owner gets in lamp life, it's a lie, which is known as deceptive advertising, and is illegal. It's not about the fact that you had to replace your lamp, it's about the fact that you bought the projector in the first place under the assumption that the lamp would typically last you 2000 or 3000 hours. Even if the problem is caused by turning on and off the projector, that is something that the typical user will do, thus the claim is false.

Here's what the Federal Trade Commision says about it:

"The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any medium. That is, advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. A claim can be misleading if relevant information is left out or if the claim implies something that's not true. For example, a lease advertisement for an automobile that promotes "$0 Down" may be misleading if significant and undisclosed charges are due at lease signing.

In addition, claims must be substantiated, especially when they concern health, safety, or performance. The type of evidence may depend on the product, the claims, and what experts believe necessary. If your ad specifies a certain level of support for a claim - "tests show X" - you must have at least that level of support."

You know what would fix this for the industry in general? A class-action lawsuit. Win it against one company, and the rest will fall in line for fear of being sued themselves. I mean, think about it - if the typical lamp in reality lasts 500 hours (I'm not saying this is the case, but if it is), you could theoretically ask for enough money to replace the bulb three times so that it matches the claimed 2000 hours. That's like $1000, times most of the owners of the H30 - a HUGE hit to the company.

The point is: If a consumer buys a new projector, after reading the warranty on the bulb, he generally expects the bulb to last 2000 hours, certainly not 500 or 750 or 1000 hours. It seems the companies should lower than claim on bulbs by, at least, 50 percent to bring it closer to what is happening in real life. Before coming to this Forum and doing research on a tentative projector purchase, I thought I would have no problems with the bulbs for years. I only intend to use the projector about 20 hours per week or 1000 per year. Now, since reading many comments here, I am re-thinking my purchase plans. The problem is that most buyers never come to this Forum and find out the facts. To them, the claim on the bulbs is definitely misleading. I wonder how many bulbs really make it to the claimed hours: 1 out 8, 1 out of 15?

Originally posted by guitarman
Total guessing game, first the H30 is twice as old as the 4805, you'd have to go thru each page of each model to take a count, plus you'll hv to wait until the others reach the same age. Looking at the under 3.5k pj area I see an X1 pre mature bulb failure thread.
Bottom line bulbs are risky business, imagine what the future holds for all the newer digital LCD and DLP, DLIA RPTV buyers. But one thing RPTV's do give a year on their low watt bulbs.

No one's happy when their bulb blows after warranty. If I had a nickel for every unhappy customer for all the different models I'd be a rich man. You should see in the up 3.5 they want a class action due to the Sharp bulb flickering all the time.

If I knew the optoma's bulb's were so haphazard as this I would've probably not bought one, but it's a shame cause other than this the PJ is just amazing. I still get awed everytime that I sit to watch a movie that I can get an image like this, with deep rich blacks like this, in a Under 1200 projector. I'm just hoping my bulb holds.

Originally posted by bushfilm
Well, I as mentioned in my previous post, I was all set to plunk down the cash for an H30 when I began to read all the posts about early bulb failure. While I realize that this represents maybe a small fraction of all the happy owners out there, it still gave me pause for thought. For me, buying a new lamp at roughly every 300 hours (based on avg comments) is simply out of the question. And does Optoma seriously think people are going to be happy wilth a bulb that lasts 300 hrs. instead of the 1500 or so that is implied in their sales info? It sort of reminds me of the razor business, where they practically give you the razor so they can make money on selling you the blades. I realize Optoma isn't in the bulb business, but I have to ask what is going on with a situation like this. If they got a bad batch of bulbs from a low-bidder, then lets hear about it and move on. If not, then I think the PJ business will never go main stream until they straighten this out. I for one think watching movies on a ten foot screen beats the hell out watching them on a 50" screen, but not at this cost factor. And finally, anybody know of a manufacturer that might respond to this? Seems like if the Acme company could produce a lamp that actually lasts 1500 hours, they could scoop up all the bulb business out there. IMHO.

Here is what I plan on Doing. If my buld does fail early I will pony up the cash and buy another. If that bulb fails early I will take the Projector down from the cieling , box it up and go back to my Mits RPTV until I can find another alternative.

Presently I only put about 10-15 hours on the projector a week I use this thing strictly for movies Pretty much I turn it on , watch the movie almost immediately, then pretty much turn it right off. I have around 90 hours on the bulb right now. I would'nt even consider that broken in at this point.

You know what would fix this for the industry in general? A class-action lawsuit. Win it against one company, and the rest will fall in line for fear of being sued themselves. I mean, think about it - if the typical lamp in reality lasts 500 hours (I'm not saying this is the case, but if it is), you could theoretically ask for enough money to replace the bulb three times so that it matches the claimed 2000 hours. That's like $1000, times most of the owners of the H30 - a HUGE hit to the company.

How does one start a suit? And who should start it?

GRR, bulb blew out.. got to this last page and saw a lot of people complaining about short bulb lifetimes so i thought i would contribute. less than 400 hours on the bulb. I barely used the projector, my roommate had been using it a lot recently. What are my options? I do not want to pay for a new bulb if the average 1000 hours . At $350 dollars a bulb that's gonna be like 35 cents an hour which I will not pay to watch tv! Are there good bulb companies that more reliable bulbs? Or maybe are there bulbs companies that guarantee the life of the bulb. In actuallity, since my bulb lasted 400 hours, it is like a dollar an hour! I am trying to convince myself that is not the case since I got the bulb with the projector, and optoma might have used cheaper bulbs to make the total cost of the projector lower.


ANYWAYS, I am thoroughly pissed. Is there any possiblity of sending my projector back for a h31 or returning it completely? I bought it under a year ago. I would rather get a infocus. even thought colors aren't as good, bulbs don't blow randomly at <500 hours when you have people over to play xbox.

I'll rant more in a bit. Thanks for listening...

At the very least do send e-mail to company telling company of your situation. Ask them.."Do you think this is right, having to pay out close to $400 to be able to continue using the projector?' Ask them why other projectors seem to get more milage on their choice of bulbs. It is no fun getting around 400 hours on a bulb and knowing it may burn out any hour.
..and so on.."

Originally posted by Dreamwriter
Optoma claims this about the lamp in the H30 on their official website and in all specs I've found:

Lamp Life (typical): 2,000 hours (standard) 3,000 hours (economy)

If that is not what the typical owner gets in lamp life, it's a lie, which is known as deceptive advertising, and is illegal. It's not about the fact that you had to replace your lamp, it's about the fact that you bought the projector in the first place under the assumption that the lamp would typically last you 2000 or 3000 hours. Even if the problem is caused by turning on and off the projector, that is something that the typical user will do, thus the claim is false.

Here's what the Federal Trade Commision says about it:

"The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any medium. That is, advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. A claim can be misleading if relevant information is left out or if the claim implies something that's not true. For example, a lease advertisement for an automobile that promotes "$0 Down" may be misleading if significant and undisclosed charges are due at lease signing.

In addition, claims must be substantiated, especially when they concern health, safety, or performance. The type of evidence may depend on the product, the claims, and what experts believe necessary. If your ad specifies a certain level of support for a claim - "tests show X" - you must have at least that level of support."

You know what would fix this for the industry in general? A class-action lawsuit. Win it against one company, and the rest will fall in line for fear of being sued themselves. I mean, think about it - if the typical lamp in reality lasts 500 hours (I'm not saying this is the case, but if it is), you could theoretically ask for enough money to replace the bulb three times so that it matches the claimed 2000 hours. That's like $1000, times most of the owners of the H30 - a HUGE hit to the company.


Exactly! I've been making some calls and I'm trying to see how difficult it would be to convince an attorney to take a case such as this.

I've sent my projector in for inspection right now per their recommendation. If they claim that there's nothing wrong with the projector and won't replace my lamp, I'll probably resort to a legal action.

It is unfortunate that I cannot make a small claims court case because the manufacturer resides in another state. I'll have to make a case with civil court or find an attorney who'll take the case for class action.

Has anyone filed a class action suit?

Originally posted by mangopony
At the very least do send e-mail to company telling company of your situation. Ask them.."Do you think this is right, having to pay out close to $400 to be able to continue using the projector?' Ask them why other projectors seem to get more milage on their choice of bulbs. It is no fun getting around 400 hours on a bulb and knowing it may burn out any hour.
..and so on.."

Thanks for the advice, I sent a long ass email to optoma explaining my situation. We'll see what they say when they reply if they reply. I'll post that up and the reply when it comes. All is well with me, i see that the dell home store is probably the best place to get the h30 replacement lamps (cheapest) sorry to mention that if it is no kosher on avs forums. I also found this LAMP MODULE MP3130 180 WATT PVIP on some sites for a bit more but I'm not sure if that will work for the H30. It is the correct lamp type as specified in the manual.
I also found one place that gives a 180 day lamp warrenty for 50 dollars extra (so an extra three months for 50 dollars).

demon4- you have a PM regarding replacement bulb purchasing.

Cheers!

When my second bulb died on Monday, I sent a message very much like the one described above to Optoma Customer Service, and so far, have not even gotten a 'message received' response. As I mentioned over in the Bulb Life Poll thread, I really do like my H30, but it is pretty hard to justify keeping a machine that has a habit of eating expensive vital parts every few months. I guess I will bite the bullet, order a new bulb, and watch the 4805 and H31 threads for bulb life trends.

gottahavapj, check your PM

I emailed optoma about the following question and have been informed my inquiry has been forwarded to the appropriate staff:

"If I reside in Canada but purchase from the USA will I be covered under the projectors warranty? Will I be able to send the PJ to Optoma canada for any firmware upgrades?"

Any thoughts on this or insight from anyone. I know Australians have to ship the PJ back to the USA if it needs anything if they purchased the H30 from the USa

Thanks in advance

IF you get a reply, I believe they will probably tell you that you'll have to ship it to the U.S. for warranty coverage when something goes wrong.

It wouldn't be in their best interests to encourage Canadians to shop in the U.S.

However, the price difference might be worth it. I have found Canadian pricing to be at least $600 more than the American on this unit. But by the time you pay the difference on the dollar, Provincial and GST taxes, Shipping costs, duty at the border and possible handling fees by the shipper, the savings will most likely have dwindled to the point that will make you almost physically ill.

Try to find your best price in Canada and then if you need a firmware change, you should be able then to ship it to the U.S. if Optoma Canada won't do it for you. I would insist on the seller confirming exactly what the firmware is on the unit with a money back guarantee in writing that if what they ship doesn't match what they quote then you'll be able to return it no questions asked.

Wayne

BTW, I was wondering about one thing regarding bulb life. Maybe the bulbs are fine and its Optoma's design that is flawed. If the bulb isn't being cooled properly - not enough fan speed, inadequate ventilation, etc. - this could definitely lead to premature failure.

What about the Benq 6100/6200? Do their bulbs fail early or do they seem to be getting more lamp life?

My last projector was an old Sharp Notevision and I got almost 1500 hours on that lamp. The only reason I am replacing it is that the lamps cost nearly $500 and I didn't want to sink that into a projector that was six years old.

Finally, I think the cost of bulbs is outrageous. I know they are more difficult to manufacture than a light bulb, but I still think manufacturers are counting on most of them being used by businesses, who will write off the cost of a new bulb, and since the company is paying for it nobody really cares how much it costs. Not a good situation for the poor consumer user.

Hope some company sees what is happening and takes positive action.

Just my 2 cents worth!

Hi guys.

I've read the posts lately regarding lamp life. Just to give you some of my info. My first bulb died under warranty and Optoma replaced it. The replacement bulb made it 1500 hours. I thought it was more, but when I replaced the bulb the first part of December after failure, I checked and reset the hours then. So I'm into my 3rd bulb in less than a year.

The problem I have now is 2 weeks ago a stuck pixel/mirror appeared in the middle of my viewing area. Just blinks solid white on and off at a fast rate, no color data. It's kinda annoying and have been giving it some time to see if it will unstuck itself (mainly cuz I don't know any better). But, I'm going to call Optoma customer support this week about it. Does anyone have any experience with a stuck pixel/mirror w/ Optoma and what did they do?? I remember reading about a "no dead pixel warranty", but it doesn't say that specifically in the Optoma warranty sheet.

Thanks,
Don

its a pity there are no accurate statistics out there on how many pJ's have been sold and how many have premature bulb failures

Originally posted by Dillinger
The problem I have now is 2 weeks ago a stuck pixel/mirror appeared in the middle of my viewing area. Just blinks solid white on and off at a fast rate, no color data. It's kinda annoying and have been giving it some time to see if it will unstuck itself (mainly cuz I don't know any better). But, I'm going to call Optoma customer support this week about it. Does anyone have any experience with a stuck pixel/mirror w/ Optoma and what did they do?? I remember reading about a "no dead pixel warranty", but it doesn't say that specifically in the Optoma warranty sheet.

Thanks,
Don

They have a "zero dead pixel" policy that should be for the 2 years of the warranty. Just give them a call and you should be able to arrange for an RMA.

Thanks, I've submitted my RMA request form. I'm waiting for the RMA # to ship this one back!

Don

I've got an H30 on order and I was wondering something. How do PC's look on it? Not for DVD's or gaming, but for, say, browsing the web, or reading/typing emails? Particularly, I was wondering how readable text was when setting the PC to 1024x768 or 1280x1024 while having the H30 scale it to 4:3 800x600. I've got an HTPC, and up until now, I've been using my 36" CRT HDTV as a monitor. My hope is to now use the H30 as my new monitor, so I'm wondering how it'll look, if it'll be usable at any higher resolution than 800x600.

I can't comment on the H30 specifically, but my X1 shows very nicely using an HTPC with VGA out. I have used 1:1 pixel mapping at 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 and other resolutions. Surfing is a great experience on a 100" 4 x 3 hi-power screen.
I've also done photo slide-shows with this set-up which look fantastic and Outlook Express emailing is kind of cool too.
By all accounts, the H30 seems to best the X1 in most categories so I'd be surprised if it didn't show well with an HTPC too.

Wayne

Here is the message I sent to optoma and their reply. Note i was pretty pissed off when I sent it out. I re read what i sent and it's a little over the top but that's how u get noticed i guess (don't think im crazy). I don't really care about it now, nothing I can do really, I think i might just get a new bulb and when that breaks hopefully they'll be something newer and better to buy =p.

----

I am very disappointed with the lamp performance for the Optoma H30 projector. I have on many occasions defended the projector and Optoma company when any vituperation came forth about product quality. Please note I thoroughly enjoyed my projector for the first 8 months. But that has come to an end. Reading through the manual and specs it clearly states that bulb life is around 2000 - 3000 hours many times. And there is no doubt that typically, the 180W P-VIP lamp used in the H30 should last 2000 hours and sometimes even longer. However, my bulb broke at around 400 hours of use. An anomaly? Am I just unlucky? Alas, that is not the case. It looks, however, that some H30s come with lamps that last typically BETWEEN 200-300 HOURS. Lamps with these specs exist, are sold on the internet, and are cheaper. Whether Optoma intentionlly bought these faulty bulbs OR they received a bad batch and passed them on to the consumers, it is Optoma's responsibility to FIX the problem if they want to keep their business.

Do you think this is right, having to pay out close to $400 to be able to continue using my $1500 H30 projector after less than a year? Why do other projectors I have owned seem to get more milage on their choice of bulbs. It is no fun getting around 400 hours on a bulb and knowing it may burn out any hour. Well no it is not fun.

Whomever receives this email will probably have no connection with Optoma's choice of purchasing these bulbs and will probably not even own a Optoma product. They'll just consider it a customer ranting at them, and reply with some standard canned reply. But you are mistaken. I am not ranting at you, I am merely stating my disappointment in the Optoma company. I realize there is nothing you can do about this, as it is clearly a 90 day limit to the lamp warranty. But you should realize that it is an unfair business practice to say their digital projector last 2000-3000 hours when it is clear (1) a LARGE percentage of users lamps are expired under 500 hours and (2) the percent of users whose lamps last 3000 hours is near 1-2% so far.

A law firm with adaquate resources can easily prove this point, by purchasing 10 H30 projectors, and see that out of the 10, NONE will last for 3000 hours even in economymode and only 3-4 will last past 1500 hours with regular and proper use. I suggest that if optoma did not know about the bulb problem and the bulb problem is not specific to the H30s (the oem bulbs exihibit a short bulb life when used in other projectors), then Optoma should try and make the bulb manufacture aware of this or swich bulb manufactures IMMEDIATELY. Now my point is that if people become inclined to bring this to court, if Optoma continues to DO NOTHING as they have so far, they will not be able to easily shift blame onto the bulb manufactures whose is really at fault. I KNOW I am not the first person to complain about this, I might not even be the first person today. I don't expect you to do anything about this because from other people's responses I haven't gotten my hopes up. But do expect to lose a customer if nothing is done. I expect nothing less than a lamp with 3000-400 = 2600 hours left or a change to the Optoma website stating bulb life between 300-2000 hours.

Good day,

From me


----


I am sorry that your experience with Optoma has left such a bitter taste for you. On the issue of lamp life, the lamp manufacturer rates the lamps for average usage, and I wish that it were a guaranteed minimum hour rating instead of what it is - an average life rating, but it is not. Because it is an average rating, there will always be some lamps that do not last that long. The warranty is only 90 days (standard warranty across the entire industry) because there is no way to independently verify the number of hours on a lamp.

One thing to keep in mind about these lamps, and the matter of some not lasting as long as others, is that there are a wide variety of circumstances which can affect how long the lamp will run for. Things like how often the lamp is turned on and off, the amount of heat the lamp is subjected to, and how long it has been from the manufacture date of the lamp are just some of these factors.

What we are willing to do for you is to give you a discount on a new lamp. The regular price for an H30 lamp is $399.00, as you know. We can sell you one for only $325.00 if you can tell us how you arrived at your figure of 400 hours of use.

Again, I am very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. If you would like to take advantage of our discounted lamp pricing for your next lamp purchase, please let me know.

from them

--

they kinda ignored the stuff about bulbs being faulty, but hey at least i got a reply. i'll prob just buy through the store, since that's not really a discount

Great if you can get them cheaper than the $325 because I've seen the $350 area.

They really have no choice in covering beyond the warranty limit on the bulbs. This comes down from the bulb company, they couldn't be covered themselves for refunds. It's not that they wouldn't like to do it but that's the bulb companies warranty policy. Each company acts in the same way re the 90day warranty problem. Hey at least they will cover a dead pixel. For a long while not many co's would cover that.
May you next bulb last for 3500hrs. :)

One tip I picked up on bulb care for table mount users is don't move the projector around until full cool down, maybe 40mins give or take some. Jossiling the bulb around just after cool down lowers the bulb life. This I didn't know and times I do table mount the PJ and would pack it up immediatly. Bulb still working though. Hope I didn't cut the life down too much.

Originally posted by demon4
I have on many occasions defended the projector and Optoma company when any vituperation came forth about product quality.
Vituperation??? :) It's not very often I come across an English word I've never heard of. :) Good one!

Thanks for publishing your experience. It would be interesting to see who they will extend that offer to. Does the 941 hours that I got from my 1st bulb come close enough to the expected lifetime that I wouldn't get the reduced price??

Interesting..

I believe the number such as 2000, 3000, 'average life of bulb' to be very misleading. Average means 50 percent above that average and 50 percent below that average. Example: if 10 people bought a projector with a 3000 (economy) then, by logic, 5 people should get more than 3000 hours on the bulb. Now, I am very sure this is not right with bulbs in general and, from what I read here, not at all common with the bulb in the h30. So, if nothing else the statements made about the average life of a bulb is misleading the average consumer. I would know nothing about the many early blowouts of the h30 bulb if I was not here on the Forum. If nothing else, these numbers should be reduced by 50 percent. Of course, this will not happen because sales would most likely drop sharply on front projectors.

Average is one thing, but they aren't advertising average life. They are advertising typical life. Typical doesn't mean average, typical means most of them will get that lifetime.

Originally posted by Whew!
its a pity there are no accurate statistics out there on how many pJ's have been sold and how many have premature bulb failures

There's quite allot across the board. Probably the reason the bulb co's set the 90days.

Like here with the H30 I'd guess around 20 or so users out of this long old thread. Still can't get an accurate number because too many of the thousands of users don't bother to post. They buy the machine and take off. :)

Allot of people have an aversion to spending time on Internet chat sites. They think it takes up too much of their time and they have a point. But when something goes wrong you're sure to hear from them. ;)

Tiss why you'll never get an accurate count.

Dreamwriter. Well, hey, I gave them the benefit of the doubt with 'average life'. And I believe most bulbs do not make it to 'average life' let alone 'typical life'. And I still believe they should cut their numbers in half to be closer to reality.

I have read the Infocus 4805 thread and have not noticed many instances of early bulb failures. Now, I realize the h30 has been out longer than the 4805. Even then, I have read of h30 bulbs giving out in weeks and several months. I have not seen much of this for the 4805. Of course, I admit, I have not read the whole 4805 thread. It just seems the h30 is having more trouble than other projectors in early bulb failures. Am I reading the situation wrongly?

Another thought if I may. I have seen several comments that the bulbs for several projectors cost from $150 to $300. And some bulbs cost upwards of $400 and more. This seems to be a big range in prices. Just makes me wonder. And, projectors with cheaper bulbs I have not seen any comments on early bulb failures. Does not quite add up.

Are there any DLP HT projectors have bulbs that list for under $300? BenQ, InFocus, Optoma, NEC, Hitachi, Sharp, Sony and JVC are all around $400 or more. The Epson Home 10's lamp is only $200, so maybe some other LCD projectors have similar prices.

Originally posted by Dreamwriter
I've got an H30 on order and I was wondering something. How do PC's look on it? Not for DVD's or gaming, but for, say, browsing the web, or reading/typing emails? Particularly, I was wondering how readable text was when setting the PC to 1024x768 or 1280x1024 while having the H30 scale it to 4:3 800x600. I've got an HTPC, and up until now, I've been using my 36" CRT HDTV as a monitor. My hope is to now use the H30 as my new monitor, so I'm wondering how it'll look, if it'll be usable at any higher resolution than 800x600.
Congrats on your order Dreamwriter. Anything other than 800x600 and the text looks like crap. 1:1 mapping of PC text is the way to go. The only thing from a PC that I think looked better at a higher res were the 720P WMVHD clips that you can download from the MS site. I'm not even convinced that these really did look any better though at 1280x1024 than 800x600. They just really looked good because of the extra color information available in that source material IMO.

Congrats and enjoy...

Cheers!

Thanks, but it's looking like I'm going to have to cancel :( The dang company hasn't shipped it yet - and I ordered two weeks ago. They are blaming Optoma themselves - supposedly Optoma ("the vendor") ships it directly. Tomorrow is my cutoff date, I'm cancelling the order if they don't ship it (and give me a tracking number).

What sucks is I ordered from these guys because I *had* to - they are the only ones I could find who would let me split it up into 5 payments, I can't afford it otherwise. Oh well - I could get lucky and they could ship it tomorrow.

I got the same $325 deal from Optoma as demon4 did (which I am taking them up on), by talking to the Customer Service manager.
The same CS manager told me that the H31 uses a different bulb than the H30. I tried to verify this on the Optoma web site, but no replacement bulb for the H31 is listed yet.

i want a h31 =(

demon4, when are you getting one? Blacks and 3D is allot better, If your a user that likes a 16.9 screen it's a good upgrade. Plus you can mess around with the digital dvd players. I hooked up a low priced Toshiba HDMI player yesterday a 5709 something that looks very clean image wise, blacks are good. Had to use a small HDMI to DVI adapter, the H31 comes with one of these. One thing about Optoma they don't leave you short on cables/adapters. There's even a VGA to DVI adapter in the kit.

I'm not sure but I don't think those are the things he wanted to hear. :)

Cheers!

Yeah you're bound to lose some bucks in the change over. Just have to figure what's worth it for you.

Could an anamorphic lens be used with the H30, to retain full resolution at 16:9? I would think this would definitely improve the picture of HD programming - 600 is a lot closer to 720 than 450 or 480.

Yes you could squeeze down the full 600 with a lens. 4.3 material would be squeezed down also and I'm not sure there's an aspect to window box it. You may have to remove the lens for 4.3.

Sad day for me today, :( my h30 no longer lights up, it just keeps striking and nothing happens :( the lamp light turn on but the green power light stays on, so idk... i sent an email and called optoma, but had to leave a message for the tech, no one was there :(

Thanks to guitarman, he helped me out alot, tried the various things, the unplugging and re-seating tests, but no luck there... the bulb had only 500 hours on it, had it for just about 4 months now too :( i will miss it untill it works again

so sad...

Arty

Originally posted by Arty13
Sad day for me today, :( my h30 no longer lights up, it just keeps striking and nothing happens :( the lamp light turn on but the green power light stays on, so idk... i sent an email and called optoma, but had to leave a message for the tech, no one was there :(

Thanks to guitarman, he helped me out alot, tried the various things, the unplugging and re-seating tests, but no luck there... the bulb had only 500 hours on it, had it for just about 4 months now too :( i will miss it untill it works again

so sad...

Arty

This exactly describes what has happened to my H30 several times recently. However unplugging it, plugging it back in, waiting several minutes and turning it on solves the problem. At least it has so far. Hope it is not a sign of a bulb problem, or any other problem.

JB

Hey JB,
yeah thats what i've been doing with mine, but this is the first time it happened and nothing seems to work to get it lit up again, so i have to call them again tomarrow and get ahold of them for a RMA, and i might have some good news for myself :D, the company where i bought my H30 might let me upgrade to the H31 with some extra money of course :D but i'll see if its worth it, but he's not sure how much, but he'll probably email me back saying he cant... but if anything, i could be seeing the H31 in the near future :D

Arty

I did a search for "signal loss" and "green bar" but can't find anything... has anyone else gotten signal loss with their H30? I thought it was the home made component cables (from 3 RG6 cables), so I bought a 50' VGA cable (using the H30 -> DB15 - 50' VGA - DB15 -> Optoma Component/VGA Adapter -> 6' Component Cable -> DVD Player) and it craps out). When it goes it leaves a green horizontal bar across the top 10% or so of the screen.

It does this with my XBOX too if I try to use Component. It's never happened with the ReplayTV putting out 480p. It does less with the VGA cable I think. It does it more if I use the component switching in my Reciever. It does it within minutes if I try to use my XBOX with any sort of progressive signal so I'm limited to Composite for the XBOX.

I didn't buy the super duper Monster $300 VGA cable. Just a $50 cable from Altex (an electronics chain in TX), but it *seems* quality enough. It's not the thin sort.

Any suggestions? It's really annoying.

And while I'm at it, can the H30 be "hacked"? I mean, put a brighter bulb in, larger, quieter fans, etc?

Originally posted by demon4
Here is the message I sent to optoma and their reply. Note i was pretty pissed off when I sent it out. I re read what i sent and it's a little over the top but that's how u get noticed i guess (don't think im crazy). I don't really care about it now, nothing I can do really, I think i might just get a new bulb and when that breaks hopefully they'll be something newer and better to buy =p.

----

I am very disappointed with the lamp performance for the Optoma H30 projector. I have on many occasions defended the projector and Optoma company when any vituperation came forth about product quality. Please note I thoroughly enjoyed my projector for the first 8 months. But that has come to an end. Reading through the manual and specs it clearly states that bulb life is around 2000 - 3000 hours many times. And there is no doubt that typically, the 180W P-VIP lamp used in the H30 should last 2000 hours and sometimes even longer. However, my bulb broke at around 400 hours of use. An anomaly? Am I just unlucky? Alas, that is not the case. It looks, however, that some H30s come with lamps that last typically BETWEEN 200-300 HOURS. Lamps with these specs exist, are sold on the internet, and are cheaper. Whether Optoma intentionlly bought these faulty bulbs OR they received a bad batch and passed them on to the consumers, it is Optoma's responsibility to FIX the problem if they want to keep their business.

Do you think this is right, having to pay out close to $400 to be able to continue using my $1500 H30 projector after less than a year? Why do other projectors I have owned seem to get more milage on their choice of bulbs. It is no fun getting around 400 hours on a bulb and knowing it may burn out any hour. Well no it is not fun.

Whomever receives this email will probably have no connection with Optoma's choice of purchasing these bulbs and will probably not even own a Optoma product. They'll just consider it a customer ranting at them, and reply with some standard canned reply. But you are mistaken. I am not ranting at you, I am merely stating my disappointment in the Optoma company. I realize there is nothing you can do about this, as it is clearly a 90 day limit to the lamp warranty. But you should realize that it is an unfair business practice to say their digital projector last 2000-3000 hours when it is clear (1) a LARGE percentage of users lamps are expired under 500 hours and (2) the percent of users whose lamps last 3000 hours is near 1-2% so far.

A law firm with adaquate resources can easily prove this point, by purchasing 10 H30 projectors, and see that out of the 10, NONE will last for 3000 hours even in economymode and only 3-4 will last past 1500 hours with regular and proper use. I suggest that if optoma did not know about the bulb problem and the bulb problem is not specific to the H30s (the oem bulbs exihibit a short bulb life when used in other projectors), then Optoma should try and make the bulb manufacture aware of this or swich bulb manufactures IMMEDIATELY. Now my point is that if people become inclined to bring this to court, if Optoma continues to DO NOTHING as they have so far, they will not be able to easily shift blame onto the bulb manufactures whose is really at fault. I KNOW I am not the first person to complain about this, I might not even be the first person today. I don't expect you to do anything about this because from other people's responses I haven't gotten my hopes up. But do expect to lose a customer if nothing is done. I expect nothing less than a lamp with 3000-400 = 2600 hours left or a change to the Optoma website stating bulb life between 300-2000 hours.

Good day,

From me


----


I am sorry that your experience with Optoma has left such a bitter taste for you. On the issue of lamp life, the lamp manufacturer rates the lamps for average usage, and I wish that it were a guaranteed minimum hour rating instead of what it is - an average life rating, but it is not. Because it is an average rating, there will always be some lamps that do not last that long. The warranty is only 90 days (standard warranty across the entire industry) because there is no way to independently verify the number of hours on a lamp.

One thing to keep in mind about these lamps, and the matter of some not lasting as long as others, is that there are a wide variety of circumstances which can affect how long the lamp will run for. Things like how often the lamp is turned on and off, the amount of heat the lamp is subjected to, and how long it has been from the manufacture date of the lamp are just some of these factors.

What we are willing to do for you is to give you a discount on a new lamp. The regular price for an H30 lamp is $399.00, as you know. We can sell you one for only $325.00 if you can tell us how you arrived at your figure of 400 hours of use.

Again, I am very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. If you would like to take advantage of our discounted lamp pricing for your next lamp purchase, please let me know.

from them

--

they kinda ignored the stuff about bulbs being faulty, but hey at least i got a reply. i'll prob just buy through the store, since that's not really a discount

Dunno if you care but I did a froogle search and found a RPL bulb for 305.00

Arty that would be great the H31 has some great advantages if you're a 16.9 screen user.

ssmoot, you must have an early machine. Early on there were some machines that had a green bar lock up problem which they're aware off. (my first machine) had it and I brought it in so they could have a look at it. You'll have to send the PJ in. Get an RMA from the tech area. It's a hardware change, who knows you may even get a new machine.

Originally posted by nimda
Dunno if you care but I did a froogle search and found a RPL bulb for 305.00
This particular vendor has a 46% negative rating at Bizrate over the last 3 months. I think I'd spend an extra $20-30 and get it from a place with a little better record.

Cheers!

I found a replacement bulb from a very reputable vendor for $299 today. I was thinking about picking it up, my problem is that I may not need another bulb for (hopefully) 1000 hours. I am afraid that the new bulb might get damaged in shipping or be faulty, and then when I plug it in in 9 months (or so that) it won't work, and I won't be able to return it to the vendor.

Does anyone have any suggestions / experience?

Sorry, the actually shipped price is only $289 for the bulb, pm me if you want details.

Wow... that is a great price.

As the bulbs are only 90 day warranty from date of purchase- my thought would be to use your original a few months past the warranty expiration. Optoma has been known to "help a brotha out" if a bulb dies very shortly after the 90 days. Then purchase a new bulb and install that one right away and use it until it blows. The first one that you took out will then be your backup and it doesn't matter if that one sits on the shelf for two years between uses. It was out of warranty anyway.

Thanks, that sounds like good advice.

I just hate passing up such a good deal, the vender's normal price is $365, and it is $75 off today only.

oh well, I will just hope another deal comes along in a couple of months

Thanks very much for the information about the green bar issue! I'll get on that RMA.

Originally posted by Arty13
Hey JB,
yeah thats what i've been doing with mine, but this is the first time it happened and nothing seems to work to get it lit up again, so i have to call them again tomarrow and get ahold of them for a RMA, and i might have some good news for myself :D, the company where i bought my H30 might let me upgrade to the H31 with some extra money of course :D but i'll see if its worth it, but he's not sure how much, but he'll probably email me back saying he cant... but if anything, i could be seeing the H31 in the near future :D

Arty

Well, the h31 would be nice, If you have to pay for a bulb or repair anyway, it'd be great to upgrade if it isn't too much more $. Maybe I'll end up going that way too, but for now my h30 still works.

Whether this is relevant or not, I can't say, but none of my startup failures occurred when I used to leave the projector plugged in and on standby all the time. When I changed my setup around recently I had easy access to the power strip and I started turning the strip off between uses, since I only use the projector 1-2 times a week. Maybe that has a negative effect for some reason? Probably just a coincidence. Anyone notice any similar issues?

JB

Hey JB,

yeah i had my pj ceiling mounted and it always had power to it, so it was either on or in standby, i usually use it everyday, sometime for like an hour or less sometimes like 5 hours, so yeah... but the company where i got my h30 has an "Easy Exchange Policy"

Easy Exchange Policy

So you want to exchange your projector for another model - no problem. ***Company Name*** also offers a five-day exchange program with no restocking fee. You may trade-up to a different projector model and pay only the difference between the two selling prices on the two products. You also cover freight and insurance for returning the first projector and shipping the second unit. Exchanged projectors require RMA numbers and shipment by 2nd day freight, insured.


so the cost of the H31 for me with the trade is only a 20 dollars difference plus shipping charges, so its a great deal for me, i just hope the problem with my pj is not the bulb, otherwise i have to buy a new one i think before i trade up :( but we'll see what happens, hopefully i get my RMA number today so i can ship it off before the weekend... but yeah.. i just cant wait for a pj again, its been two days and i am sooo bored :( cant stand my 14 inch pc screen :( well hope your pj doesnt have the same problem as mine does in the future...

Arty

Arty even if you had to buy another bulb it's still a good deal. You hv to consider the used sale price for an H30 now vs the new price on the H31.

yeah, even if i have to buy a new bulb, its only like 20 dollars more for the H31 which i still would do, either way if i'm lucky it will only cost 20 dollars, but if not, i will have to buy a new bulb first for it :( but still a great deal i think :D

Arty

The 4805 thread will pass us for number of posts, possibly even this evening. :( Oh well- you can't be king of the hill forever, aye?

Cheers!

Depressing in a way, but all things must pass, eh?

I'm not as happy with my Dalite HP pulldown now that the H30 is mounted on a high ceiling instead of a low table, I've really lost all the gain. Anyone know if the material can be replaced with a non-retro-reflective material, or do I start looking for a new screen?

John F

Well it has happened to me. I just got a message on my screen saying the bulb may fail and to replace it. I can't get the message to go away. This is my second bulb with the first going out on my 93rd day but Optoma replaced it for free. Now this one has 1471 hours on it and I get this message. Great timing since I just got my order of Screen Goo to use.

Well the message is gone now. I removed power for a couple hours and then turned it back on. Now all is fine. I am starting to search for a new lamp though.....:rolleyes:

I'd try Optoma and see if you could get the deal from them that demon4 and mr_stuff got. I haven't seen a much better price and at least getting it from them- you know that you'll get the real thing, unopened, etc.

I wonder if the message comes back if you could get rid of it with a bulb counter reset.. worth a try maybe.

We were in a tie with the 4805 thread after burntfingers post. I just got us one ahead for perhaps 5 minutes. :)

Cheers!

Originally posted by jfried
Depressing in a way, but all things must pass, eh?

I'm not as happy with my Dalite HP pulldown now that the H30 is mounted on a high ceiling instead of a low table, I've really lost all the gain. Anyone know if the material can be replaced with a non-retro-reflective material, or do I start looking for a new screen?

John F

You're kidding. I'd buy the HP material for the low wave effect and would use a ceiling mount to cut down on the brightness. You got around a 1.5 gain ceiling mounted the H30 is very bright with an old bulb. I'll bet your blacks are better now. I think you're ok

Originally posted by Burntfingers
Well it has happened to me. I just got a message on my screen saying the bulb may fail and to replace it. I can't get the message to go away. This is my second bulb with the first going out on my 93rd day but Optoma replaced it for free. Now this one has 1471 hours on it and I get this message. Great timing since I just got my order of Screen Goo to use.

It's some kind of clock timer. We never pined down when it should pop up. You know it's not sensing anything in the bulb it's not that sophisticated.

Mark your bulb hours and reset the bulb clock. 1471 is pretty good, keep going. :)

guitarman -

<<I'll bet your blacks are better now. I think you're ok>>

You are right about that. Also, the colors seem a bit more natural, and whites never give a hint of hot-spotting.

The negative is, I got so used to the CRT-like look of the HP when the H30 was ceiling mounted.... I am getting more used to this, and the wife sure loves the H30 ceiling mounted as it keeps me from constant 'fiddling' with wedges, etc. to get the alignment just 'right'.

I'll give it a month or two before making any rash decisions.

In reference to some posts up above - I've had problems starting up occasionally, sometimes with vertical bars like a bar code, sometimes with an orange light, ONLY when I've removed power to the PJ, like when we go away for a few days. I've long ago taken to never removing power to avoid this issue.

John F

Originally posted by jfried


In reference to some posts up above - I've had problems starting up occasionally, sometimes with vertical bars like a bar code, sometimes with an orange light, ONLY when I've removed power to the PJ, like when we go away for a few days. I've long ago taken to never removing power to avoid this issue.

John F

That is the approach I've taken too, after I had the startup problems 2-3 times. I also had the vertical bar code-effect and the power light would be orange. Since I've left power on all the time it has been starting up correctly. It just bugs me to see the green light on it flashing all the time. I keep wanting to turn off the powerstrip but I guess I'll leave it on. I suspect I could get the same effect by just turning on the power 5-10 min before each start up but I haven't tried that yet.

JB

Originally posted by putz2k1
I emailed optoma about the following question and have been informed my inquiry has been forwarded to the appropriate staff:

"If I reside in Canada but purchase from the USA will I be covered under the projectors warranty? Will I be able to send the PJ to Optoma canada for any firmware upgrades?"

Any thoughts on this or insight from anyone. I know Australians have to ship the PJ back to the USA if it needs anything if they purchased the H30 from the USa

Thanks in advance

i have the same question.
my friend bought the H30 in us, sent it to here canada a weeks ago.
the picture is great. but i have one problem, a high piching buzzing noise is always on. it does bother me in a quite scene. searched the whole thread i belive it's some thing related to color wheel.
i need a RMA, i prefer to deal with optoma canada, easier and faster for me
does anyone know something about this issue???
thanks in advance.

by the way, how the optoma reconize the projector if it's bought in us or canada, can i tell optoma canada that i bought it in canada, and request a rma from canada????

I expect that they will know by the serial number that it's from the U.S. and also that they will advise you to send it to the States for service.

You could try to fool them but if unsuccessful, you'll have wasted valuable time and it'll just have to be sent over the border anyway.

I guess I'd just tell them the truth and see what they'd say if it were my decision.

Good luck and sorry to hear about your buzzing!

Wayne

Originally posted by Dillinger
Hi guys.

The problem I have now is 2 weeks ago a stuck pixel/mirror appeared in the middle of my viewing area. Just blinks solid white on and off at a fast rate, no color data. It's kinda annoying and have been giving it some time to see if it will unstuck itself (mainly cuz I don't know any better). But, I'm going to call Optoma customer support this week about it. Does anyone have any experience with a stuck pixel/mirror w/ Optoma and what did they do?? I remember reading about a "no dead pixel warranty", but it doesn't say that specifically in the Optoma warranty sheet.

Thanks,
Don

*UPDATE* I phoned Optoma and received an RMA. I shipped it back via fedex 2nd day on 1/17, they fixed my unit and it was delivered via 2nd day DHL today 1/24. They replaced my color wheel and the DLP chip? and updated my firmware to the latest version. I just finished re calibrating it and she's running great!!

Humm, which movie to watch.......

>Humm, which movie to watch.......

Kill Bill 1...colors are great. BTW, I recently had my light "engine" replaced and upgraded to firmware c07. I thought the projector looked much better. Oh, and anyone who has a small screen and lumens to spare, I would definitely recommend getting an FL-D filter. Makes a huge difference in my opinion.

Originally posted by mystery
I expect that they will know by the serial number that it's from the U.S. and also that they will advise you to send it to the States for service.

You could try to fool them but if unsuccessful, you'll have wasted valuable time and it'll just have to be sent over the border anyway.

I guess I'd just tell them the truth and see what they'd say if it were my decision.

Good luck and sorry to hear to hear about your buzzing!

Wayne

thanks for you advise.
i called will in canada, he told me i could send the unit to canada to do RMA.
just faxed RMA request to will.
i holp i can get back to business soon

RMA!!! still havnt recieved my rma number, i believe Optoma, one of the techs got the rma request from me thursday morning, and still no word back :(

what to do? was hoping it be back for the super bowl, but doesnt look like it :(

Arty

I just ordered me an H30 with a screen - a 16:9 screen, but oh well, it was "free", packaged with the unit. I'm definitely looking forward to this, I was worried about how HD would look on it, but today I saw HD on a 4805, and while I could easily tell it was missing detail, it still looked great.

I just have a couple questions. First off, since I only have a 16:9 screen, is the H30 zoom good enough to use both 800x600 4:3 and 800x450 16:9 without moving the projector or the screen? What I want is to be able to have 16:9 fill the screen (presumably zoomed large), then have 4:3 be in the center as if it was the center of the 16:9 display but actually be the full 4:3 res (presumably not zoomed at all).

Second, what would be a good anamorphic lens that would work with the H30, so I could have 16:9 800x600? And would it be possible to send a high definition picture to the projector so that it displayed correctly in 800x600 mode with an anamorphic lens (ie, the picture was stretched vertically to fill the 800x600 screen, thus using as much of the resolution as possible)?

Well I finally got an RMA Yesterday(Wed 26) just about a week later, but ohh well.. went to ship it for 2nd day air, cost me like 70 dollars, more than i thought, guess when i got an estimate online, i was a little off ;) ohh well... now hopefully everything goes smoothly and its the machine that needs work and not the bulb, and once that is finished i get to deal with the whole swapping with another company to get the H31, i just hope optoma ships to where i asked, to save me another 70 dollars :D I just cant wait for the H31! yippee...

Arty

Dreanwriter, You won't need the zoom with a 16.9 screen you have present aspects for 16.9 use. Straight scaled 16.9 & 4.3. Wait till you get the projector and see if you need a expensive anamorphic lens. Yes you could use one but you would have to swing it away for 4.3 material.

Good luck, hope you like to projector. Man they're going cheap these days, Optoma may run out. :)

Originally posted by bushfilm
BTW, I was wondering about one thing regarding bulb life. Maybe the bulbs are fine and its Optoma's design that is flawed. If the bulb isn't being cooled properly - not enough fan speed, inadequate ventilation, etc. - this could definitely lead to premature failure.

What about the Benq 6100/6200? Do their bulbs fail early or do they seem to be getting more lamp life?

My last projector was an old Sharp Notevision and I got almost 1500 hours on that lamp. The only reason I am replacing it is that the lamps cost nearly $500 and I didn't want to sink that into a projector that was six years old.

Finally, I think the cost of bulbs is outrageous. I know they are more difficult to manufacture than a light bulb, but I still think manufacturers are counting on most of them being used by businesses, who will write off the cost of a new bulb, and since the company is paying for it nobody really cares how much it costs. Not a good situation for the poor consumer user.

Hope some company sees what is happening and takes positive action.


Just my 2 cents worth!

So far up to 120 hours or so and OK, but i wince everytime I power up. I always though the Fan should run longer on the H30. Mine is always run from Standby and it's plugges into a Surge Protector. I'm hoping for the best

Originally posted by demon4
Here is the message I sent to optoma and their reply. Note i was pretty pissed off when I sent it out. I re read what i sent and it's a little over the top but that's how u get noticed i guess (don't think im crazy). I don't really care about it now, nothing I can do really, I think i might just get a new bulb and when that breaks hopefully they'll be something newer and better to buy =p.

----

I am very disappointed with the lamp performance for the Optoma H30 projector. I have on many occasions defended the projector and Optoma company when any vituperation


you lost me at vituperation <g>

Originally posted by Scarpad
So far up to 120 hours or so and OK, but i wince everytime I power up. I always though the Fan should run longer on the H30. Mine is always run from Standby and it's plugges into a Surge Protector. I'm hoping for the best

Don't worry, I've had great luck with Optoma machines and their bulbs. I have three at home right now, never a problem. But you can read about projectors dying and bulbs blowing on all the different companies, it's like every day news around here.
Great luck!

Dreanwriter, You won't need the zoom with a 16.9 screen you have present aspects for 16.9 use

Really? I figured that since 4:3 uses more of the chip, it would have a physically larger display than 16:9, thus without changing anything but aspect ratio, switching from a screen-filling 16:9 mode to 4:3 would cause the 4:3 picture to extend below the screen, or from a screen height-filling 4:3 picture to 16:9 would leave a smaller rectangle within the previous 4:3 area.

16.9 and 4.3 aspects are scaled for a 16.9 frame. If you used the native 4.3 at 800X600 pixels and compressed it with a anamorphic lens you would be fine with 16.9 material in the 16.9 screen but 4.3 would be stretched outward. So using the lens you could swing it away to use the 4.3 scaled aspect to get a natural picture with black bars on the sides, sitting within the 16.9 frame.

Another way is to use a 4.3 screen, use the lens for 16.9 material and swing it away for full native 4.3 at 800X600.

I know you were hoping for a 4.3 aspect while keeping the lens on but you need a special cropping control setting for 4.3. The NEC HT1100 has this, not the H30.

I would suggest just trying it with the 16:9 and 4:3 modes (not native) on your 16:9 screen. I'll bet you'll be pleased with the results. While the 4:3 mode does not utilize the entire 800x600 pixels like native 4:3 mode does- there is a lot to be said for not having to zoom, re-align screens, whatever. Everything fits nicely within the confines of that 16:9 screen.

Cheers!