Joe,

Ah, at last you have your 1080p projector! Congrats! and I"m glad you finally found one to meet your needs. Hopefully the 6000 won't have the teething problems the 7700 did at the start. Now you have a backup to use for Halloween, the backyard events, etc. I'm sure you'll find something for the old girl to do.:)

Bronco70 -- Glad to hear that you are enjoying your BenQ W6000. In my experience, as good as the PQ of the PE7700 (or MT700) is, any of the newer 1080p PJs will put it to shame. I'm having the same experience with my Mitsubishi HC5500 (LCD PJ), which I've had for a year now (and 1935 hours).

Thanks Claus and quite true. As I start the serious calibration the difference is rather dramatic. Does indeed put it to shame.

A backup though that one could live with for a short time.

What will we be talking about in three years? The best under $3000 LED/3D pj's putting out at least 1000 lumens (might just be needed for the 3D deal) I hope so. And perhaps a 3 chip DLP solution that us mere mortals could afford?

Joe

Joe,

Ah, at last you have your 1080p projector! Congrats! and I"m glad you finally found one to meet your needs. Hopefully the 6000 won't have the teething problems the 7700 did at the start. Now you have a backup to use for Halloween, the backyard events, etc. I'm sure you'll find something for the old girl to do.:)

Hi and thanks,

I like the teething allusion. Quite appropriate. One can only hope that BenQ learned their lesson concerning the lamp disaster with the 7700. Must have hurt future sales. They did solve the problem though (added for those who don't know the history).

I trust they did learn.

Thought about this old thread on October 31. Who was that using the 7700 ?

Might just do that next year. Logistics are a problem though.

Happy Holidays all,

Joe

Joe,

I'll enjoy reading your thoughts on the W6000 thread.

As more of the owners, and regulars here on this thread get a new 1080p projector, the posting will become more infrequent. I must say that this 7700 thread has been a great asset, and I've been glad to be a part of it through the years. Many outstanding AVS members have been a part of this journey.

No its not goodbye, just some thoughts for the twilight part of the 7700 forum.;)

Well I just bought a new bulb ($250) for my 7700 so it'll be around for a while. It was down for about 6+ mos. Now my HTPC running Win XP does not recognize my "monitor" as a BenQ PE7700 as it did before. It's only recognized as a Plug-and-Play device. This time I only have HDMI hooked up (via DVI-HDMI adapter) whereas before I also had the 5 coax connections via VGA. This means that whenever I boot up, display is set to 800x600, and I have to manually set it to 1280x720. Any pointers on why PC does not recognize my projector via the HDMI?

Well I just bought a new bulb ($250) for my 7700 so it'll be around for a while. It was down for about 6+ mos. Now my HTPC running Win XP does not recognize my "monitor" as a BenQ PE7700 as it did before. It's only recognized as a Plug-and-Play device. This time I only have HDMI hooked up (via DVI-HDMI adapter) whereas before I also had the 5 coax connections via VGA. This means that whenever I boot up, display is set to 800x600, and I have to manually set it to 1280x720. Any pointers on why PC does not recognize my projector via the HDMI?

Do you have a receiver in between your projector and HTPC? I set my Onkyo to passthrough but in HTPC it show as Onkyo 805, not BENQ PE7700. Anyway, not a problem for me as everytime it boot up, it display at 720p. I manage to grab the Amazon deal for W6000 at 2k and now it is going up again.

I have a problem with my PE7700, at startup and whenevever my pj is on, I get white vertical lines showing. have counted it to be appr. 40pcs.

It makes no difference if we use HDMI or component.

The pj is normally connected to a sony receiver through HDMI cable.

Firmware version 0.44,A00 dated jul,21, 2005.

I`ve had no other problems what so ever:)

I`ve searched all over the net to find a solution for the vert stripes, and the closest was on this thread, posted 12.21.07 by Walshman2000, but there was not listed any solution:(

Please somebody help me.

Al.

I have a problem with my PE7700, at startup and whenevever my pj is on, I get white vertical lines showing. have counted it to be appr. 40pcs.

It makes no difference if we use HDMI or component.

The pj is normally connected to a sony receiver through HDMI cable.

Firmware version 0.44,A00 dated jul,21, 2005.

I`ve had no other problems what so ever:)

I`ve searched all over the net to find a solution for the vert stripes, and the closest was on this thread, posted 12.21.07 by Walshman2000, but there was not listed any solution:(

Please somebody help me.

Al.

Hi Al,

Is this a recent purchase?

You will need to contact BenQ service. Your Firmware Version is one of the old "bad" ones. With v.0.44 you will be lucky to get 500 hours on the lamp before it dies. My 7700 came new with v.0.44 and the lamp died at 520 hours, which at the time was close to the record. Many owners back then (late 2005-early 2006) reported failures at around 200 hours. The early lamp failure rate was 100%.

Sometime around February 2006 BenQ released Firmware Version 0.48 which solved the lamp problem. A redesign of the lamp itself had been done around the same time. There were later FW versions. 0.49 and 1.01 are known to exist. 0.48 was the first good one.

The FW can not be upgraded by the end user.

I would suggest not using your 7700 and contacting BenQ on Monday. They have been quite reasonable about out of warranty repairs in the past.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Joe

Joe,

My first lamp lasted about 3945 hrs. I`m no on 40hrs on second lamp.

There was indications on failure around 500hrs, but i switched of the main power for a couple of days, and it came back on without problems. After this I have switched of the main power every night.

I`ll check BenQ on monday.

Thanks for your reply.

Al

Do you have a receiver in between your projector and HTPC? I set my Onkyo to passthrough but in HTPC it show as Onkyo 805, not BENQ PE7700. Anyway, not a problem for me as everytime it boot up, it display at 720p. I manage to grab the Amazon deal for W6000 at 2k and now it is going up again.

No. BenQ PJ is directly hooked up to my video card on my HTPC. But now I just built a Win7-based PC, and I don't have problems with it, that is PJ is recognized, and resolution is correctly set. Go figure.

I have another issue, non-HDCP compliance discussed here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1212561). Is it correct that PE7700 may have issues with DVI-to-HDMI conversion?

I have another issue, non-HDCP compliance discussed here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1212561). Is it correct that PE7700 may have issues with DVI-to-HDMI conversion?

No problem hear with DVI to PE7700 hdmi, I have been running a DVI(Oppo) player and DVI out of my HTPC for 4 years, (Gforce) without a HDCP hand shake issue.

I Have to say DVI is a (PIA) because of all the possible different configuration make sure ALL YOUR CABLES OR ADAPTERS are the same DVI. Their is DVI-A, DVI-I, DVI-D, and all these can be single or dual link cables/adapters. A miss match hear could cause headache for sure.:confused:

(snip)
Their is DVI-A, DVI-I, DVI-D, and all these can be single or dual link cables/adapters. A miss match hear could cause headache for sure.:confused:

Thanks, I'll look into the mismatch issue.

Haven't posted here in quite a while.

I bought a BenQ PE7700 in the fall of 2005. I had to send the projector back within a year to get it repaired though I forget exactly what was wrong. I think it was the bulb issue. Today the projector would not power up. I have two flashing red lights. One for the Temp and other for the Lamp. The manual stats this means the fans are not working. When the projector tries to start I do hear a weird noise and then the projector stops and so does the noise and the lights come on. I checked the power and checked to see if there was an object blocking the fan and both were fine. Also my PE7700 has started to develop this weird shadow effect on the left side of the screen. It measures only 2 inches on my 106inch screen and I have been living with for the past couple months. Lastly, on occasion I will get a slight screen flicker. If change from economy mode to full and back again it goes away.

Time for service but I have a couple questions and would guess some of you have had these problems too so

1. What cost am I looking at to get the fans, shadow problem and flicker fixed?
2. What is the normal turn around time?
3. Money is tight but should I look at this time to upgrade. I have a short throw distance of only 11.5 ft so this rules out a number of options.

Thanks in advance for everyone's input.

Chris

My PE7700 did something similar. I tried the DIY fan fix, but same symptoms. I decided the potential service cost plus a new bulb sooner or later was too close to the cost of a new 1080P projector.

I sold my pe7700 for parts and bought a Viewsonic Pro8100 and am very happy.

Good luck

Thanks. Did you happen to get a price quote for the service? What did you get in terms of money for your benQ and how did you get rid of it, Ebay, Craigslist, ect?

I am tiring to get see if I can change my set up to fit in a w6000 but it is not looking good.

Chris

sold on ebay for something like $150 if I recall.

I was estimating service + shipping to be at least $250. It is a ship it in and they tell you type of deal. One person had a very low quote for some reason, but I wasnt counting on it.
Bulb is at least $300. So, $550 to keep an old projector (that might have something else go wrong) or apply the $150 used selling price and bought the Viewsonic for a net of about $1000 (so, $450 more to upgrade to 1080P projector).

I really wanted a new projector, so the above was my justification to myself (and wife)

:)

thanks. I will keep that option down on my list. I think I can fit the w6000 in the theater might it might be tight.

Now I just need to convince the wife that it is a good idea to plop down an additional 2500 minus a new bulb and what ever I can get for the PE7700.

thanks. I will keep that option down on my list. I think I can fit the w6000 in the theater might it might be tight.

Now I just need to convince the wife that it is a good idea to plop down an additional 2500 minus a new bulb and what ever I can get for the PE7700.

I upgraded to a W6000 last month. Spent a few hours comparing it to my 7700. The W6000 is much better in all respects. To finally see BD in 1080p from my OPPO BDP-83 was a revelation.

Joe

thanks. I will keep that option down on my list. I think I can fit the w6000 in the theater might it might be tight.

Consider the BenQ w1000. Relatively small offset, 1080p, BRIGHT, and about the same as the PE7700 in terms of blacks/contrast. Could also be better WAF:D

Wow... this thread just wouldn't die. One of my fan went bad and would shutdown after 5 mins. Switching to high altitude (faster fan speed) will prevent the problem but too noisy. Hunting down the OEM fan (Sunon) is difficult so I try out Panaflo NMB 80x80x25 high flow version (Panaflo 80mm H1B - FBA08A12H1BX) whlich had quite similar specs to OEM fan. Turns out it works fine and I can run the projector at low fan again. FYI, I only replace one fan so I'm not sure replacing both will have any problem with the projector.

Does anyone here have access to 7700 firmware? I have a Toshiba MT700 with a blown lamp (300 hours). It's not the first lamp failure. From what I understand, Toshiba has never released a firmware to fix the premature lamp failure. I want to try the 7700 firmware on my MT700 before I finally give up. I have a serial cable and communcation software, I just need the firmware file itself. Anyone want to help me experiment? Thanks!

Does anyone here have access to 7700 firmware? I have a Toshiba MT700 with a blown lamp (300 hours). It's not the first lamp failure. From what I understand, Toshiba has never released a firmware to fix the premature lamp failure. I want to try the 7700 firmware on my MT700 before I finally give up. I have a serial cable and communcation software, I just need the firmware file itself. Anyone want to help me experiment? Thanks!

Yep, the old story is that Toshiba never admitted to a problem with their 7700 clone, in the end bought back a bunch of MT700's and walked away from the problem. Good that BenQ worked the problem and came up with a solution.

I believe you're out of luck with finding the 7700 firmware or a way to load it. This thread started exactly 5 years ago today and I'm pretty sure no one ever found firmware files or the required loader.

Joe

Wow... this thread just wouldn't die. One of my fan went bad and would shutdown after 5 mins. Switching to high altitude (faster fan speed) will prevent the problem but too noisy. Hunting down the OEM fan (Sunon) is difficult so I try out Panaflo NMB 80x80x25 high flow version (Panaflo 80mm H1B - FBA08A12H1BX) whlich had quite similar specs to OEM fan. Turns out it works fine and I can run the projector at low fan again. FYI, I only replace one fan so I'm not sure replacing both will have any problem with the projector.

Hear is the replacement fan number I have in my files. I kept if from an earler thread just in case I ever needed it. My 7700 is now over 4 years old and still running like new...........knock on wood!!!!!



Sunon fan...... Part number KDE1208PTV1.13.MS.A.F.GN. hear is a link 2 a dealer also

www.FutureElectronics.com

Yep, the old story is that Toshiba never admitted to a problem with their 7700 clone, in the end bought back a bunch of MT700's and walked away from the problem. Good that BenQ worked the problem and came up with a solution.

I believe you're out of luck with finding the 7700 firmware or a way to load it. This thread started exactly 5 years ago today and I'm pretty sure no one ever found firmware files or the required loader.

Joe

You can try to sell your MT700 to the user here as spare parts. The cheapest bare bulb is around USD 179 from ebay.

Does anyone here have access to 7700 firmware? I have a Toshiba MT700 with a blown lamp (300 hours). It's not the first lamp failure. From what I understand, Toshiba has never released a firmware to fix the premature lamp failure. I want to try the 7700 firmware on my MT700 before I finally give up. I have a serial cable and communcation software, I just need the firmware file itself. Anyone want to help me experiment? Thanks!Part of the problem is that the MT700 is not identical to the PE7700. Some of the circuits are different, so the firmware is not the same either. The best you can do is to replace the lamp with the PE7700 lamp (those are identical), and keep your fingers crossed.

If your MT700 also has a defective ballast supply (part of the power supply circuit, and some were bad), then you are out of luck. Some units just had the bad lamp design.

Per rjyap's suggestion, you could try to sell yours on eBay, for spare parts. At least you will get some money for it. Otherwise, it's basically worthless. You could also use it for an experimental test bed, if you are the electronics tinkering type (but that is a time consuming effort, and usually not worth it).

Dang I knew I should have kept my mouth shut and not test the AV Gods. Tonight my bulb lost about 30 to 40% brightness from last night.

Last time I check I was over 2200 hours on the bulb..........I check the hours tonight and it only have a few hundred. Not sure when or how I reset the bulb timer in the last month but I must have.

I think I change the bulb tommrow before it "pops" or puts an undue strain the on the old electronics.

I just noticed my new spare bulb is 3 years old..........dang hope thay don't have a shelf life.;)

hi guys wonder if any one can help in a bit of a anguish with my pe7700

been reading tread to my head hurts

problem is the pj has been fine has 1939 hours on lamp all on economy mode

twice this week the projector shut off with red lamp led coming on on restarting it it was fine

but today it dose it no stop fires up fine after about 10secs or so lamp gos off
on come lamp red led and amber power led flashing.

restart and same every time

if cleaned pj and dust filter pulled lamp and refitted lamp
I read about fans going so i took of lid to have a look at fans and the seem fine
i also tried resetting the lamp timer just in case it was that

Im a bit short of cash at the moment a worried it more than just time to replace lamp

the pj is out of warranty as had it in 2006
spoke to the original retailer who were good but think same as me seems more than just a gone lamp and gave me benq`s support number

but they were near on useless and no help at all

as i dont want to buy a new lamp and then find out that its faulty and beyond repair

anyone had similar problem
is it possible that it is just the lamp need replacing

ps im in uk from reading it appears that there's a service center in hemal hempsted at benq uk ltd

as im on 15 mins drive from there does anyone know if you can drop in there or it mail only

Same thing happened to me recently. PJ would start up, work fine for a while and then shut down. Called BenQ... bulbs going out can do that. You need a new bulb. In my case, I had a spare and all is working fine with the new bulb.

Good luck!!

Try high altitude mode. If it didn't shutdown then your fan had gone bad. It doesn't mean your fan stop spining, just slower. I have the same problem where projector shutdown by itself and after replacing the fan, problem solve.

After 3 times sending in my 7700 under warranty (1 early lamp failure/firmware, 1 black patches on screen problem and 1 exploding color wheel), my fans have now failed and I am over 4 years into a 3 year warranty. On startup, color wheel spins up, bootup screen displays, fans start roughly 15 seconds later and shut down 5 seconds later. Temp and Lamp lights flash red. Can't access the menu during the short time the lamp is on. Is there a way to set the fans to high alt mode since I can't get to the menu?

I have found the DIY fan fix walk through and the link to a dealer for the fans. I believe I could do it successfully but am obviously intimidated as I don't have the money to buy a new projector if I screw mine up. I'm fairly savvy with electronics, building my own PCs with aftermarket gpu/cpu coolers, etc. Disassembling my projector appears to be a whole new level though.

I called BenQ USA support and asked how much they would charge to replace my fans in my 7700. The support person would only tell me that they charge $65/hr labor + parts and shipping is on me of course. He stated average repairs are around $250. I've read in this thread that BenQ has acknowledged this fan issue by offering to replace fans out of warranty for a "nominal" sum, but the support person wasn't able to provide any info other than send it in and pray.

My question is...for those of you that have sent their 7700's in for fan replacement, how much did BenQ charge? If it's relatively little, I will just send it in. Otherwise, time to order a couple fans and put my big boy pants on.

/rant

As a side note, regardless of my previous issues, I've suggested BenQ to every person that asks me about mine and there have been dozens if not hundreds. This 4th issue in 4 years is the last straw. I shouldn't need a Masters in Electrical Engineering to own a projector. Luckily for BenQ, each problem has been slightly different and thus lemon laws don't apply. Granted, I haven't had to pay for any repairs until now as they were under warranty, but that doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't have to send in ANY piece of electronics I purchase FOUR TIMES.

/rant off

Well, I got my 7700 back yesterday. They didn't even charge return shipping! So fan replacement (1 of them) + entire bottom of case replacement = $30 (ship) + $35! If I wouldn't have spent the money on 2-day shipping out to them (and insurance), it would've been $18 to ship (USPS).

They did a great job - no dice on getting lucky with them forgetting to remove the lamp. ;)

This is the only report I can find on how much BenQ is charging for fan replacements. This is out of warranty? Hard to believe they'd only charge $35 and include return shipping when their bench fee is $69 minimum. I wish there was some way to confirm this before sending mine in.

After 3 times sending in my 7700 under warranty (1 early lamp failure/firmware, 1 black patches on screen problem and 1 exploding color wheel), my fans have now failed and I am over 4 years into a 3 year warranty. On startup, color wheel spins up, bootup screen displays, fans start roughly 15 seconds later and shut down 5 seconds later. Temp and Lamp lights flash red. Can't access the menu during the short time the lamp is on. Is there a way to set the fans to high alt mode since I can't get to the menu?

I have found the DIY fan fix walk through and the link to a dealer for the fans. I believe I could do it successfully but am obviously intimidated as I don't have the money to buy a new projector if I screw mine up. I'm fairly savvy with electronics, building my own PCs with aftermarket gpu/cpu coolers, etc. Disassembling my projector appears to be a whole new level though.

I called BenQ USA support and asked how much they would charge to replace my fans in my 7700. The support person would only tell me that they charge $65/hr labor + parts and shipping is on me of course. He stated average repairs are around $250. I've read in this thread that BenQ has acknowledged this fan issue by offering to replace fans out of warranty for a "nominal" sum, but the support person wasn't able to provide any info other than send it in and pray.

My question is...for those of you that have sent their 7700's in for fan replacement, how much did BenQ charge? If it's relatively little, I will just send it in. Otherwise, time to order a couple fans and put my big boy pants on.

/rant

As a side note, regardless of my previous issues, I've suggested BenQ to every person that asks me about mine and there have been dozens if not hundreds. This 4th issue in 4 years is the last straw. I shouldn't need a Masters in Electrical Engineering to own a projector. Luckily for BenQ, each problem has been slightly different and thus lemon laws don't apply. Granted, I haven't had to pay for any repairs until now as they were under warranty, but that doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't have to send in ANY piece of electronics I purchase FOUR TIMES.

/rant off

You certainly point out the frustration that early adopters of the 7700 had to deal with. Many early on had lamp failures x 2,3 before the fix.

The good news is that BenQ solved the problem. I'm sure many now have a 5 year old pj working rather nicely. What to do when the fans start to act up?

Pay what is probably a reasonable fee of $250 for fan/other repair and then buy a new lamp at $300?

As nice as the 7700 was for it's time spending $550-$650? would not seem to make sense.

Joe

Lemon law?

Completely agree. Definitely not worth $250 to get it fixed plus the lamp I just bought. If they will fix it for $35 + shipping, then I will certainly send it in. BenQ's refusal to tell me how much they charge for a fan replacement is infuriating after all the trouble I've had with it.

Lemon law reference was a joke. In Indiana and many other states, essentially, if you purchase a new vehicle and the same thing breaks on it 4 times, you're entitled to a full refund or replacement vehicle. As far as I'm aware, this law is in place because there is no state law that requires refunds in general, although many think there is. Refunds are an offering made by individual retailers on their own volition in an effort to attract customers and keep up with competitors.

After 3 times sending in my 7700 under warranty (1 early lamp failure/firmware, 1 black patches on screen problem and 1 exploding color wheel), my fans have now failed and I am over 4 years into a 3 year warranty. On startup, color wheel spins up, bootup screen displays, fans start roughly 15 seconds later and shut down 5 seconds later. Temp and Lamp lights flash red. Can't access the menu during the short time the lamp is on. Is there a way to set the fans to high alt mode since I can't get to the menu?

I have found the DIY fan fix walk through and the link to a dealer for the fans. I believe I could do it successfully but am obviously intimidated as I don't have the money to buy a new projector if I screw mine up. I'm fairly savvy with electronics, building my own PCs with aftermarket gpu/cpu coolers, etc. Disassembling my projector appears to be a whole new level though.

I called BenQ USA support and asked how much they would charge to replace my fans in my 7700. The support person would only tell me that they charge $65/hr labor + parts and shipping is on me of course. He stated average repairs are around $250. I've read in this thread that BenQ has acknowledged this fan issue by offering to replace fans out of warranty for a "nominal" sum, but the support person wasn't able to provide any info other than send it in and pray.

My question is...for those of you that have sent their 7700's in for fan replacement, how much did BenQ charge? If it's relatively little, I will just send it in. Otherwise, time to order a couple fans and put my big boy pants on.

/rant

As a side note, regardless of my previous issues, I've suggested BenQ to every person that asks me about mine and there have been dozens if not hundreds. This 4th issue in 4 years is the last straw. I shouldn't need a Masters in Electrical Engineering to own a projector. Luckily for BenQ, each problem has been slightly different and thus lemon laws don't apply. Granted, I haven't had to pay for any repairs until now as they were under warranty, but that doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't have to send in ANY piece of electronics I purchase FOUR TIMES.

/rant off

I am pretty much in the same boat, except I have virtually no experience with building or fixing electronics.

....just replaced my lamp (2100 hrs) and worked great 'til I just dropped and broke my remote control! took it apart (remote)and nothing seems to have dislodged....it came on for a quick moment :confused:when i jostled the prongs that the batteries contact, but no more.....does anyone know the best place to get a replacement (cost that is) or can these things be fixed inexpensively?....thanks in advance for the help....Greg

Same thing happened to me recently. PJ would start up, work fine for a while and then shut down. Called BenQ... bulbs going out can do that. You need a new bulb. In my case, I had a spare and all is working fine with the new bulb.

Good luck!!

thanks m8
but turns out that 7700 lamps are as rare as rocking horse **** in the uk at the moment

wish i had a knew someone with a old bulb that was working i could try a swap with
as i cant really afford to spend 200 on a lamp then find out pj is shot as well

as we are on real tight budget

as im not working im a full time career for my partner so the old pj is our main pleasure as were stuck at home most of the time

so thinking i may be better getting a new pj around the 900- 1000 mark
as if i go for the lamp and pj is buggered i wont have be able to afford and new pj

There are a couple items right now on US Ebay for PE 7700 bulbs in the $180 buy-it-now price. Both say they will ship internationally to UK. These were selling only the bulb, not the housing, which most retailers sell at around $250. Have you asked BenQ if they would have a bulb... new or not?

yep spoke to benq uk and there totally useless haven't a clue rang 5 times
mostly getting redirected to India and someone that don't seem to know what a projector is

spoke to a lot of supplyers and some very helpfull ones and no lamps anywhere at moment most iv spoke to seem to think same as me it may well be pj and not lamp

so im left with option one buy a lamp and risk it then cant afford a new pj

or get new pj and gamble with a lamp later when im got more spare cash and sell the pp7700 on second had with new lamp if it was just the lamp

Any others here who have had BenQ replace fans out of warranty that can let us know how much they charged please?

I attempted to contact support via BenQ's online form yesterday but still have not received a response. Only reason I did this is because the phone support suggested the online support may have a better answer for me.

i called today. they said approx 200. i left a message for supervisor to see if i can get a reduced rate

Anyone want to sell their remote? My remote is faulty due to battery leak.

i called today. they said approx 200. i left a message for supervisor to see if i can get a reduced rate

Thanks for posting this. Please let me know if you do get the reduced rate and, if so, who you spoke with. There is another gentleman (me) that will be contacting him regarding the same issue.

spoke to a supervisor and manager. read me the party line. currently no discount or to my knowledge we never gave discounts. then i read him a posting from the forum and he claimed he doesn't have that ability to grant a discount. i reminded him the pe 7700 has a had a myriad of bulb, firmware, and fan issues. the manager had the audacity to claim that the pe 7700 was very reliable. i remained courteous and then asked for an extended warranty on repair. he would not extend it past 90 days and told me to buy a refurbished projector with a one year warranty. i'm definitely not too happy with benq right now.

does anyone else have suggestions?

Anyone want to sell their remote? My remote is faulty due to battery leak.

i may sell the remote depending on what happens with the projector fan repair. i'm fairly disenchanted with benq right now.

spoke to a supervisor and manager. read me the party line. currently no discount or to my knowledge we never gave discounts. then i read him a posting from the forum and he claimed he doesn't have that ability to grant a discount. i reminded him the pe 7700 has a had a myriad of bulb, firmware, and fan issues. the manager had the audacity to claim that the pe 7700 was very reliable. i remained courteous and then asked for an extended warranty on repair. he would not extend it past 90 days and told me to buy a refurbished projector with a one year warranty. i'm definitely not too happy with benq right now.

does anyone else have suggestions?

Looks like I'll be ordering a couple of fans online and tearing my projector apart. :( $200 + shipping is ridiculous for $10 in parts and an hour of labor on their part, especially on what is quite obviously yet another design flaw on this model.

well i gave up on my pe7700

and ordered a new sanyo

....just replaced my lamp (2100 hrs) and worked great 'til I just dropped and broke my remote control! took it apart (remote)and nothing seems to have dislodged....it came on for a quick moment :confused:when i jostled the prongs that the batteries contact, but no more.....does anyone know the best place to get a replacement (cost that is) or can these things be fixed inexpensively?....thanks in advance for the help....Greg

Greg, since your remote is broken, can you take a photo of the pcb board for the remote (especially near the battery and the chip)? My pcb board trace melted due to battery leak. If I can see the diagram, maybe I can connect back the trace.

Thanks in advance.

GregBoca i dout you will need a new remote

from the sound of you broke or broke an already dry jointed the battery spring connector. or broke a nearby joint ie from a slite crack in pcb

nothing a drop of solder cant fix

just open it up and tidy up an joints that look dry with iron and inspect for damaged tracts and repair track

you wont have killed it as it near impossible to blow a component by dropping
unless you had a liquid spill it can only be a dry joint or broken track

Looks like I'll be ordering a couple of fans online and tearing my projector apart. :( $200 + shipping is ridiculous for $10 in parts and an hour of labor on their part, especially on what is quite obviously yet another design flaw on this model.

how much labor does it take to replace the fans? i read where there needs to be some resoldering and saw pictures of what someone did who disassembled their projector and replaced the color wheel and other stuff.

Use "search this thread", type "fan replacement". Post 4960 on page 166 may steer you in the right direction.

Use "search this thread", type "fan replacement". Post 4960 on page 166 may steer you in the right direction.

Yep that post has the information, the link that has the disassembly instructions is nicely detailed. Doesn't look that hard for the semi-experienced.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are three fans. My 7700 had fans replaced under warranty 2 times. The last repair was in January 2009. That repair resulted in all three fans being replaced along with the color wheel which was not broken. The color wheel replacement impressed me as a nice touch on BenQ's part. One of the reasons why I bought a W6000 last month.

The fact that the 6000 is the only current DLP solution for my needs is the main reason. And it is a very nice upgrade.

Joe

Anyone know where to get a color wheel?

I have taken this thing apart so many times to replace various things, I can do it in my sleep.

If no one knows where to get a color wheel, I have two pe7700's for parts. No color wheel in either and only one set of front fans. Everything else is good including two remotes.

Damn! I have such a love - hate relationship with this projector.

David

Well I stated the "thread that would never die".

More like a sad death in the family. :)

Joe

I'd like to report back that after using previous posts in this thread to order replacement fans from FutureElectronics.com and the guide at http://www.functionalchaos.net/pe7700/, after more than 4 hours of work, my projector is back up and running in all its glory. :) Thanks so much to the guy who created that guide. Saved me at least $250... prob more like $1000 that I would have had to spend on a new projector.

The hardest part was splicing the wires from the new fans into the harness from the old fans. I don't have a soldering iron, so I picked up some crimper butt splices from Radio shack similar to these:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103510

Gotta be careful to make sure you get a good crimp that won't pull out when you go to reassemble the projector and move things around. Other than that, everything was pretty straight forward.

Nice job, Chris! You must've done a better job than me (and I thought I was meticulous..). I never opened it up after getting mine back from BenQ to see how it ended up.

Funny side note.. I thought they forgot to reconnect the IR receiver cable (that you need to disconnect to remove the top panel), so I've been using the buttons on the PJ. I finally decided to check the batteries in the remote.. sure enough, they were dead. I thought for sure I checked first thing..

Glad the guide is helping. I have been meaning to add some instructions about soldering the harness onto the fans, but I've been to lazy. Thanks to who ever found the replacement fans available for purchase, I guess I need to add the info as well.

David

Glad the guide is helping. I have been meaning to add some instructions about soldering the harness onto the fans, but I've been to lazy. Thanks to who ever found the replacement fans available for purchase, I guess I need to add the info as well.

David


I posted futurelectronics from an article I saved on my click drive...........I got it on this thread but I forget who the original poster was. Maybe they will chime in.

I store most 7700 fix articles on a click drive just in case I need them in the future, my 7700 is now over 4 years old and still running strong.......vary quiet and no color wheel noise........knock on wood. I sure the day is coming though.

My projector is probably pushing 5 years old. I did replace the front fans once, about a year ago or so.

My color wheel just cracked last week, but I ordered another from eBay for $60 last night. I am hoping to replace it this next weekend and update my instructions to include replacing this item as well.

Hard to blame my color wheel cracking on BenQ. Most likely my color wheel cracked because my filter had way to much dust in it. I didn't think that it was that dusty in my theater room, but clearly it built up faster than I thought. It was probably 7-8 months since I checked the filter last. I would recommend that folks check there filter once a month if your trying to maximize the life of your projector, I know I will be from now on.

David

OK, so I have a BenQ PE7700 and I get the red lamp light error and shutdown only when the projector is upside down. In fact, if I turn the Projector right side up it works fine.. and the *moment* I turn the projector over to upside down, it craps out on me. ANY IDEAS?!?!?!

I will call BenQ to see if any have any obvious things I can try.

Thanks.

I'm a professional HT installer, and back about 5 years ago I installed about 5 or 6 of these, and sure wish I wouldn't have. All of them had the bulb issue, and for one client, it took no less than 5 returns to get a new one back out and working. Anyway, fast forward 4 years and the same client who had the worst luck had the fan issue. Called the same tech support person I'd worked with before (Andy) and of course got the same song and dance that it was now out of warranty, and despite all the issues they'd put this client through, they couldn't do anything, except repair the unit and charge me for it. After finding this thread and the most excellent functional chaos site, I dove in and tore the unit apart, and ordered 2 fans from Future Electronics. Soldered them in, and works great again. As everyone else has found, it's the fan in front of the bulb that goes bad, I'm sure due to the heat of the bulb. Question - there was a little heat shield of foam double back tape and a little disk of aluminum on that fan. I didn't have anything like that to replace it with, so I just left it off. Is that what everyone else has done, or does that need to be on there? Thanks in advance for your help!!!! Regards, Leigh

My experience is the foam heat reflector does not help. My replacement fans have lasted longer the original set, and they don't have the reflector. I think gluing that extra weight on the fan (especially if it's not centered and balanced well) is likely to cause the fan bearings to wear faster, as I doubt the fan was designed with the foam reflector in mind.

I should also point out that the firmware upgrade which seems to keep the fans spinning faster and more often could be keeping the assembly cooler which could also add to the life of the replacement fans.

David

Hello everyone! My first post on this site...

My BenQ PE7700 has recently turned very dark. So dark it's almost unwatchable :P

The current lamp has ~750 hours so I guess it could be time to replace it?

Changing between "economic" and "full" lamp mode doesn't make a difference now which is a bit odd since it's usually a pretty big difference in light output...

Any ideas or should I just go ahead and replace the lamp? The last lamp lasted 1500+ hours...

I'm also considering replacing it with a new BenQ W6500...

(sorry if this has been asked/answered before, I couldn't find anything using search)

Am afraid it sounds like a bad lamp which is out of warranty.

Sorry to highjack this thread but my projector has developed this fault several times (a shadow on the left-hand side of the display - see attached). I had it repaired by BENQ under warranty before but now that has expired and I have the problem again. Does anyone have expereince of this problem and is it an easy fix?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry to change subject but I am having a strange problem with my pe7770.
I am starting to get a pixilated problem it starting to get bad........ little square pixels all over the peoples face and sometimes covers the whole picture. Happens every 30 seconds or so.

I run HTPC and have switch computers and it still happens...........My movie are all run off Hard drives and have even switch to different back up drives and different video cards 8600 Navida........same pixilated problem it comes and goes mostly on close up face seans.

I have removed and re plugged in the cables HDMI. Has any body had this problem...........I will try new cable, and play an HD off my HD player next.

I also change the in the service menu from 5x to 4x and tried a few other speeds of the color wheel to see if it had any effect......no luck.

I just change the bulb and re calibrated about 6 weeks ago the 7700 is 5 years old up dated firmware and has had no problems after the bulb fix of 4 years ago.

Thanks in advance

have you tried another source, like DVD or HD Cable box?

have you tried another source, like DVD or HD Cable box?

Thanks Jim I just tried DVD and HD on your suggestion..... it has no pixelation,or blocking. I also ran some old stand by movies from my hard drive and no pixelation also.

I have narrowed it down to movie rips(mkv) to hard drive done in the last 2 months.............ever since I switched to Windows 7......maybe 7 has a problem with the old software or a hardware/mother board/video card issue with win7?

I have a HTPC in my office as a back up machine.......I think I take it back to XP...do a rip and see if the problem remains.

I was almost wishing for a PE7700 problem, the old up grade bug was bitting but the new bulb brought back the old great picture with plenty of color punch......man she still throws a great picture.

Thanks :)

Hello everyone, My benq pe7700 projector is displaying "lamp has expired. please replace lamp" and has been flashing red light on lamp today. In my lamp timer it says i have 35% lamp life left and the projector still works fine without any problems. It keeps going even though this message displays. My question is; Is it safe to keep using my projector, even though this message is displaying? Will it damage my projector if the bulb blows midway thru watching something or will it just shut off my projector when it cannot work anymore. I do not want to damage my projector but if the bulb is working then id like to use it. I have watched at least 4hrs of stuff while it has been like this and everything seems alright. Thanks.

that is really strange. so the bulb shows life left, but the projector claims it has expired. How many hours on the lamp and in what mode (eco/full)?

kingrhomby
Lamp expiration??
Hello everyone, My benq pe7700 projector is displaying "lamp has expired. please replace lamp" and has been flashing red light on lamp today. In my lamp timer it says i have 35% lamp life left and the projector still works fine without any problems. It keeps going even though this message displays. My question is; Is it safe to keep using my projector, even though this message is displaying? Will it damage my projector if the bulb blows midway thru watching something or will it just shut off my projector when it cannot work anymore. I do not want to damage my projector but if the bulb is working then id like to use it. I have watched at least 4hrs of stuff while it has been like this and everything seems alright. Thanks.

Red light is a reminder to replace. I would use lamp until so dim is not watchable or you get the full 2000 hrs on it. You could do nothing at this time or reset lamp hours. You may also have to reseat lamp.

With two lamps on my 7700 I got the "replace lamp" message at exactly 1953 hours. All hours in economic mode. Both times I noted the hours and reset the lamp hour timer. First lamp, still working, was replaced at 2600 hours. Second lamp had 2300 hours on it when I upgraded to a W6000.

Joe

I have always had my lamp power as "FULL".

My lamp hours are; +1304 Hours +21 Minutes
Lamp life: 35%

My previous lamp to this one displayed this message early too.
I'm thinking that maybe at +1300 exactly it pops this message up in FULL mode.

So basically I am fine to keep it in until it starts to go very dim?
and I wont damage my projector in any way or form?
I suppose that resetting my hours will get rid of the message?

Thanks everyone.

So basically I am fine to keep it in until it starts to go very dim?
and I wont damage my projector in any way or form?
I suppose that resetting my hours will get rid of the message?

Yes
No
Yes.

You should be able to remove the bulb, reset the hours, and start the timer over.

I'm sure this message arose from some lawsuit where a bulb exploded and someone got hurt trying to remove the bulb.

awesome thank you very much guys. :D

I recently replaced the two front fans in my 7700 using the guide I found here. I also replaced the lamp just prior to that.

For a couple of weeks, I've been getting a yellow power light and red lamp light on start up. Flipping the power switch and then attempting to power up again worked every time.

Tonight, the lamp turns on first try, then about 20 seconds later the fans go into super high speed, then the pj shuts down and the red temp light comes on. The fans continue speeding up and slowing down until finally powering down completely and leaving a solid yellow power light and a solid red temp light. Attempted to use the power switch but same thing happens.

Bad lamp? Should I try reseating the lamp? What do those lights mean? I attempted to search but the thread is so huge that "red temp light" brings up different problems.

It is about time for me to change the lamp. I see bare lamp from ebay can save me $100+. I have not change lamp before. Is it straight forward and easy to put a new bare lamp into the old module? Is the quality of these lamps any good? Any recommmend site to buy who will ship oversea and accept paypal besides ebay? Or should I better buy one with module or only choose genuine Benq lamp?

I have been looking at the ebay lamps too. Would be very interested to hear what people have to say about these.

Reviving this thread slightly.. I was watching preseason football last night and *BANG* the front fan(s) sounded like a baseball card was in it.. I took out the bulb and it was fine, but the glass that's in the PJ case itself that the bulb shines through was broken. Interestingly, the image looked fine while it was making all that noise.. so I'll probably be taking it apart and seeing if I can get it to work.

Just as interesting is that when I took it off my mount, I saw that the bottom of the case near the mounting screw (that's near the bulb) has a 4" crack across it! :eek: There's noticeable play in the case itself, so this may have been the cause of the problem, which also makes me concerned as to whether I can keep using it (gorilla glue?) I basically need to keep it upside down in the mount due to the lack of lens shift, though.

So after all that (and to get to why I revived this thread), three questions:

1) Has anyone else experienced either of these issues before?

2) Does anyone have a PE7700 for spare parts that they might be able to sell me what I need to fix this?

3) I may be in the market for a new projector.. highest on the list by far is the AE4000.. has anyone else done this upgrade (or upgraded recently) that they can recommend this or another one? I'm especially curious about the brightness comparison.

Hi Tim,

I replaced my 7700 with a Ben W6000 last December. Very happy. The W6000 had the short throw capability I wanted and with lens shift was able to mount it exactly where the 7700 was ( even re-purposed my dedicated Chief mount to work by drilling one new mounting hole so if the W6000 should need service the old 7700 could be up and running in about 10 minutes).

For a few days I had both the 7700 and the 6000 set up. This was not a fair comparison though. The 7700 lens center was aligned as required with the top edge of the screen, the 6000 was exactly at eye-level on the center of the screen. I have a 133" Da-Lite 2.8 screen so the gain for the 6000 with a fresh lamp was 2.8 and the 7700 with about 2300 hours on the lamp was about 1.4. With that position the 6000 was blindingly bright, would have required an ND filter.

With that stated the 6000 proved to be the light canon as has been reported. Check out Art's review. At about 600 hours on the lamp and mounted to give a gain of about 1.4 it is still amazingly bright. I'm also a football/basketball fan. Lots of ambient light possible watching sports.

As good as the 7700 was for its time, it is old tech.

The W6000 owners thread has been very quiet. I take that as a good sign. Some initial concerns about the action of the Dynamic Iris and as always seems to occur with DLP units, fan noise. I find neither an issue. Better yet no early failures as we sure had with the 7700. Again, very happy, this unit should last awhile.

IIRC you were the frequent poster here that was overseas serving?

Regards,

Joe

Don't even think about going to the dark side(LCD):D;)Big grin/wink
W1000+
Good to hear back from you.
Sold my PE7700 about 6 months ago.

Hi Joe,

The AE4000U would give me short throw and long throw capability.. ;) I also have extra holes in my DIY mount for my SP4805 (which is currently in place now in the interim).

Interestingly, when my wife gave the go ahead for a new PJ, her two requests were "brighter and quieter". The DLPs are all relatively loud. I realize they're also typically brighter, but I've all but made my mind up on the AE4000U for a few reasons:
Price ($2K)
Memory zoom lens (very soon I'll be doing a 2.40:1 CIH setup)
Lens shift (I can keep it upright and not "hang it".. yeah, now I'm paranoid after the 7700 cracked its shell)
Frame interpolation (I'm excited to see what that can do for sports)
Still supposedly quite a bit brighter than 7700 (based on measured ANSI lumens gathered from a few sources) especially in Dynamic mode


You're correct that I was one of the early 7700 adopters and posted here often.. and was deployed but brought an SP4805 over there for entertainment. :D Maybe if I fix the 7700 I can bring that one next time instead.

Jeff, what's wrong with LCD (other than dust blobs)? :)

I used to own the Toshiba clone of the PE7700, and I now have an Epson Home Cinema 6500UB (the current model is the 8500UB). It is a great upgrade from the Toshiba, and its short throw and lens shift also allowed me to install it on the same mount. It is much quieter than the TDP-MT700 was.

I sold my PE7700 for parts...kept getting the fan failure red light. I even replaced the fans using the great DIY, but it didnt work.

I bought a Viewsonic Pro8100 and LOVE it.

Thanks all for the comments - I bit the bullet and ordered a Panny AE4000.. the memory zoom, lens shift, and price got me. I'm hoping to pull apart the BenQ sometime tomorrow night to get it working enough to use for the NFL opener on Thursday. If not, I guess my SP4805 will do until the Panny arrives.

I opened it up and it was indeed the color wheel - exactly one segment of it. The noise that I thought was the front fan was actually the color wheel out of balance (I think).

Anyway, I now have a PE7700 available for sale for parts - most useful would be the relatively new bulb (probably 10% of its life used). In case anyone is interested.. well, looks like the end of the road for me with this PJ.. I'll probably put up a quick comparison when I get my AE4000 so others can compare and that'll be it.

Final post on this.. I got my Panny AE4000U today and hooked it up. It's quite a bit larger and heavier, but I think my mount will be fine with it. I'm moving it downstairs in a couple months and will probably revise the mount to put it right-side up, since I'm now paranoid about any mounting threads on projectors after the case failed on my PE7700.

The two complaints of my wife were easily resolved: I can now watch typical television (all but darker movies/shows) in normal ambient light, if there's cloud cover outside (like now). If it were a bright day, it might be a bit more washed out, but certainly acceptable. This is with a 1.0 matte white 110" Panoview screen w/12' throw (no need to change mounting from PE7700). The second thing was it being very quiet. I muted the receiver and asked her, "do you hear that?" She said, "hear what?"... then her eyes lit up and a smile knowing that I meant it's very quiet!

I really don't see much of a difference between frame interpolation on/off other than an audio sync delay to know it's working, but need to play with that more. The image seems only slightly better with typical lower quality HD source, but with some quality 1080p source sent to it, wow is it nice! Overall I'm very happy, if nothing more than it being 1080p, decent in ambient light, and very quiet. That's all..

In addition to being willing to sell my PE7700 for parts, I'd also consider buying a color wheel from someone who has one lying around..

Congrats, Tim. The 4000 was on my short list. Decided I needed the extra lumens that the 6000 provides for my 133" screen.

Good luck,

Joe

Hi
My bulb went on the projector, so i bought a new one of the internet, it worked again for a couple of days then stopped working.
So i contacted benq , they ask how long i had the machine for , which was two years, so they told me to send it to them under the warranty i had left.They asked for the invoice from the company i bought the bulb from, saying they would replace the buld .
Now this was 1 month ago, i have sent them about 15 messages. they said

Dear John,

My apologies for the delay.
I have contacted our service centre regarding this case and am awaiting a response from them.
As soon as I have a response I will contact you.
Regards
Scott Ratcliffe
BenQ Europe

How long does it take to change a bulb?
Does anybody know how long they can hold the projector for?
Is there a time limit?
Regards
John

never mind
i got the projector back tday after two months, it seems to be working ok
All is forgiven

Adam,

Glad you got it back after a loooong wait.:D

Final post on this.. I got my Panny AE4000U today and hooked it up. It's quite a bit larger and heavier, but I think my mount will be fine with it. I'm moving it downstairs in a couple months and will probably revise the mount to put it right-side up, since I'm now paranoid about any mounting threads on projectors after the case failed on my PE7700.

The two complaints of my wife were easily resolved: I can now watch typical television (all but darker movies/shows) in normal ambient light, if there's cloud cover outside (like now). If it were a bright day, it might be a bit more washed out, but certainly acceptable. This is with a 1.0 matte white 110" Panoview screen w/12' throw (no need to change mounting from PE7700). The second thing was it being very quiet. I muted the receiver and asked her, "do you hear that?" She said, "hear what?"... then her eyes lit up and a smile knowing that I meant it's very quiet!

I really don't see much of a difference between frame interpolation on/off other than an audio sync delay to know it's working, but need to play with that more. The image seems only slightly better with typical lower quality HD source, but with some quality 1080p source sent to it, wow is it nice! Overall I'm very happy, if nothing more than it being 1080p, decent in ambient light, and very quiet. That's all..

In addition to being willing to sell my PE7700 for parts, I'd also consider buying a color wheel from someone who has one lying around..

Tim,

Thanks for checking back in and letting us know how your upgrade went. Lots of oldtimers in here from way back, and you know who you are.;)

Hi Tim,

I replaced my 7700 with a Ben W6000 last December. Very happy. The

Joe

You should revive the W6000 thread with your new experience ;)

Hello,

I have a PE7700 with fans in the front are broken. I have replaced by Sunon KDE1208PTV1.13.MS.AGN 1.6 w modified by welding the yellow cable but it does not work. The projector turns off when the fans turn on.

Do you have references of replacement fans please?

Hello,

I have a PE7700 with fans in the front are broken. I have replaced by Sunon KDE1208PTV1.13.MS.AGN 1.6 w modified by welding the yellow cable but it does not work. The projector turns off when the fans turn on.

Do you have references of replacement fans please?

My numbers in my file show KDE1208PTV1.13.MS.A.F.GN. the artical I have say the "F" in the fan number MS.AF.GN in critical.

Hear is the quote from the artical I kept " First, here is the correct fan info;
It is a Sunon fan. The correct part number is KDE1208PTV1.13.MS.A.F.GN.
This is critical!! Make sure the fan is this entire number! The “F” in the number above is what makes all the difference in this fan. It represents the third, yellow wire. This wire feeds back a signal to tell the projector how the fan is spinning. This is the cause of the fan error in the first place when the fan slows down due to its bearing going bad."

hope this helps

I just discovered that this thread is still alive (somewhat). Glad to see some old-time members of the PE7700/MT700 club are still posting.

My old MT700 is still working (but not used much) at my step-sons place. I gave it to him along with the new lamp that Toshiba finally delivered (via Warrantech).

After using my backup LCD PJ (a Mitsubishi HC3) in the interim, I finally bought a 1080p PJ, the Mitsubishi HC5500 (LCD) in November of 2008. That PJ has been bullet-proof and problem free for 3200+ hours (5000 hours rated in the low lamp mode). I have a 106" Da-Lite High-Power screen, so the lower light output is not a problem (I had to use a ND2 filter with the MT700). The HC5500 came with the optional heavy duty air filter and I clean my filters every 100 hours (and wash them every 1000 hours) -- no dust blobs at all.

The PQ is so good (the black levels could be a little better, but they are better than the MT700 was), that I bought a new lamp ($250) for a spare. With all the reported problems with the new (2010 - 2011) PJs, I decided that I will keep the HC5500 for another 2-3 years, at least. BTW, it's quiet too (around 18-19dB in the low lamp mode). The exhaust vent is <2' from my left ear, and I can't hear it, even in a quiet room.

Still hear CT from 4/10/05..........dang 7700 of mine stills throws a great picture,have been thinking a 1080 now for a year or 2,thought I would wait for the BQ to fail she keeps running like a Swiss watch.

On the third bulb now around getting close to 6000 hours total......been keeping a eye on the BQ 6000....the Mits 4000 and now the BQ 1200 has landed on my radar as possible up grades.

Glad to see some of the old timers are still hear. Good luck:)

If I am having a temp problem with my 7700 and have already cleaned the filter, is there something else I can do?

If I am having a temp problem with my 7700 and have already cleaned the filter, is there something else I can do?It sounds like you may have one, or both, fans failing. The discussions on the replacement fans, and how to do it, are discussed a number of pages back in this thread (I don't know exactly where).

checklst -- The best, low cost, replacement would be the Mitsubishi HC4000, IMHO. They are coming out with a new HC7800 (to be announced at CEDIA in September), but it will be more expensive (and with 3D capibility). I really like the Mitsubishi quality of their PJs -- they seem to be virtually bullet-proof.

I still have my PE7700 as the HD803 I picked up and refurbed will not work in an 11' throw on my 97" screen unless I just dont know what Im doing.

However, I had my 7700 hooked to an Onkyo HT-RC160 for over a year with 0 issues. Then one day the 7700 stopped finding the display out put from the Onkyo no matter the source (cable box or HTPC). The 7700 works fine direct to the source but refuses to handshake anymore with the Onkyo. Any ideas?

It may sound obvious, but it sounds like the Onkyo HDMI output stopped working. Is it under warranty? If you have another HDMI display, try that as well direct and through the receiver. If you have the same results, it's enough evidence to give Onkyo a call.

Thanks for replying, I did try another projector running off the Onkyo and it works. My 7700 also works direct from my STB and my HTPC. Just not from the 7700 to the HDMI out on the Onkyo.

Onkyo's are quite infamous for hdmi problems. Did you try a different HDMI input on the 7700?

Only 1 HDMI on the back of the 7700 :/

Hi there.

I am an owner of a Thoshiba MT700. After changing the fans 1 year ago and the lamp 2 month ago, I heard a "Clac" and now I have a very loud noise. I've taken off the lamp and have seen that my color wheel is broken. The Projector can still be turning on, the lamp start but the fans don't turn and I have that loudy noise (which I think must come from the broken wheel). When I turn the projector off, the fans start turning in order to take the temp down.

I know that I must change the color wheel but the fact that the fans are not turning when the projector is on and turning when it's off seems a little strange. Do you think something else is broken ?

And do you know where I can find a color wheel for the MT700 ? (I think it can be the same than the PE7700 but I'm not sure)

I've bought another Projector but I wanted to make this one work before selling it. Maybe it's a bad idea and I could sell it only for the lamp and pieces. What do you think ?

Thanks in advance

Yannick

Well my PE7700 had another fan issue. I wanted to post my experience with Benq which was just awesome.

Very polite and helpful. Let me send in my broken PE7700 and once they confirmed the problem trade up to a W6000 for an awesome price!

Couldn't be happier and my W6000 arrives tomorrow:)

Wow, that is amazing. I wonder if they would let me trade my perfectly good 7700 for the new W7000 3D projector. :)