Hey guys, I just thought I would post my opinions so far with the HC3100.

My first projector was the BenQ PE7800. I was very happy with it and it served me well for 2 years. It was about time for me to get my third bulb for it. I decided that after reading all the good things said about the Mits 3000, I would just upgrade to the 720p pj.

After shopping around, I found a great deal on eBay for the 3100. Now there was a recent thread in the above 3k forum about the seller and very unfortunate incident with shipper fraud. The problem was with the shipping company, not the seller. After reading through the thread several times, I decided to go ahead with the purchase. Boy am I glad I did. The seller was great to deal with and the Mits showed up 3 days before I thought it would. If you guys are considering this projector, I can highly recommend this seller. PM me if you have any questions on the sale.

The HC3100's picture out of the box is outstanding. With the 7800, HDDVD looks good from my XBox360 but through the Mits I am blown away. The colors and black levels are incredible. The increased resolution and newer chipset with the DLP is miles ahead of where they were just a couple of years ago. I will get more details to those thinking about getting the Mits later. For now I am going back to enjoy the Departed in HD.

One happy Geek!

Aren't you glad you don't need a whole of calibration to get this unit in tiptop condition ?

Any comments on noise levels and lumens/brightness? Did you need to tilt the PJ and use keystoning - any impacts? Also, is this a RGB-RGB wheel running 4x speed? Thanks.

Aren't you glad you don't need a whole of calibration to get this unit in tiptop condition ?

I just got it last night so I haven't had the chance to mess around with it yet.
However, out of the box, the picture is amazing.

I have the Avia HD-DVD calibration disk on order so I will mess the it later on.

Until then, the picture looks great as is.

Geek

Any comments on noise levels and lumens/brightness? Did you need to tilt the PJ and use keystoning - any impacts? Also, is this a RGB-RGB wheel running 4x speed? Thanks.

The PJ is much brighter than my PE7800 ever was. I am on low lamp mode. By the time I got it set up is was getting dark so I will post back results with more ambient light later.

The noise levels look great. Even regular SD TV looks much better now. I'm not sure what chip the HC3100 uses but its a big step up from the BenQ. I have run the wheel at 4X and 5X and haven't seen much difference yet.

As far as set up goes, I just had to remove a section of 5" pipe from my old mount and I was in business.

Geek

Low lamp, Open iris, 6500 on color temp., Cinema mode, then adjust the Contrast n Brightness accordingly. You are almost there !!!

thanks fishingeek - also, what are your impressions of the audible fan/color wheel noise levels?

Low lamp, Open iris, 6500 on color temp., Cinema mode, then adjust the Contrast n Brightness accordingly. You are almost there !!!

I am way ahead of you. I did have the iris closed though. Have you seen much difference between open and closed?

thanks fishingeek - also, what are your impressions of the audible fan/color wheel noise levels?

I can hear the color wheel change speeds when I go between 4X and 5X but it isn't noticable in use. There is way less fan noise with this projector. My BenQ had been getting louder over time and I wasn't even sure the 3100 was on when I first turned it on.

Even in low lamp mode, I don't feel the need to close all the doors to the room. It does very well in ambient light. I did have to retrofit my old mount with a piece of Plexi-glass but I now have it secured well and I can enjoy it.

The picture is amazing. I did a comparison of Seabiscut with a DVD and HD-DVD and I can now see a major difference in resolution. If you are in the market for a new projector, this one is well worth looking at.

Geek

I'm glad to see you're happy with your '3100. I've been drooling over than one myself but am a bit "chicken" to order an import w/o US distribution. What type of warranty did you get with yours?

Aloha fishingeek,

You have a PM!

Thanks,

bdbaba

If I may ask another question on the operation of this 3100 PJ, how is the lightspill? I just tested an HD1000u and it has a large amount of light spill: As sitting on a low table there is a very bright amount of light that hits the floor left of center and a light spill all around the screen by many inches. You can verify this by slowly moving a finger down or up or from the side of the lens and in a completely dark room you can see the shadow of your finger approaching the screen area! Inverting for a ceiling mount it lites up the ceiling quite a bit. How's the 3100 performance?? Thanks.

PM Sent !

If I may ask another question on the operation of this 3100 PJ, how is the lightspill? I just tested an HD1000u and it has a large amount of light spill: As sitting on a low table there is a very bright amount of light that hits the floor left of center and a light spill all around the screen by many inches. You can verify this by slowly moving a finger down or up or from the side of the lens and in a completely dark room you can see the shadow of your finger approaching the screen area! Inverting for a ceiling mount it lites up the ceiling quite a bit. How's the 3100 performance?? Thanks.

I haven't noticed any yet. I will check it out tonight and get back to you.

daggerNC, you should not buy DLP from Epay when you have high risk of Rainbow Effect as this was one of the main reason you returned your HD1000u. Going to 5X color wheel won't help your RBE much.

Thanks Huey for the caution. Most of the reviewers say that the higher the speed the lower the RBE effect? I did a side-by-side test/setup last night with the HD1000u and the Panny AX100 (bummer - Panny has a dead pixel and a dust blob new from the factory!) and the test patterns do give me RBE, but on some normal picture shots the little DLP unit has a clarity advantage and no color uniformity advantage, though showing a 10 IRE full field the 1000u was full of squirmies whereas the AX100 was smooth and a bit darker on the 0 IRE field. Based on a number of reviews this DC3 based 3100 is suppose to be quite a bit better and I am trying to figure out if it is worth a try......

HC3100 is not USA but Japanese and getting service could be difficult. Plus, as long as things are perfect, Epay is fine. Just don't expect easy return to that particular seller.

There is no doubt that HC3100 is better than HC3000 which is better than HD1000u due to iris and lack of clear segment. HC3100 has much better out-of-box gray scale and colors. HC3000 needs some calibration. Of course they should be better for more money.

HD1000u has 4X color wheel of RGBW-RGB design (7-segment) with Dark Chip 2 DMD without iris. HC3000u has 4X color wheel speed of RGB-RGB design with Dark Chip 2 DMD with motorized iris. HC3100 has 5x color wheel of RGB-RGB design and with Dark Chip 3 DMD with motorized iris. Obviously the latter is better but not avail. in USA unless buying through Canada or Epay.

http://www.mitsubishielectric.com.sg/products/projector_personal_hc3100

I just spoke with Mitsubishi America Tech Support center. They confirmed that any Mitsu PJ purchased out side of the US would not be warranty honored in the US - you would need to send it back to country of purchase :( . It's what I was expecting though. He is going to the sales department to find out when a HC3100u (US model) would become available and will call me back - I'll update when he does (and I hope it's good news).

Huey - I was hoping to see this DLP PJ as it seems to be best bet within my budget to find if DLP will work for me.

There is no doubt that buying the HC3100 the way that I did is a calculated risk. I have been very fortunate in the past with all my electronic devices (except for 1 HD-Tivo) and I decided to go ahead and roll the dice. So far I am very happy, but only time will tell if I made the right decision.

I know some people who always seem to have problems with electronics. I could not, in good conscience, recommend purchasing an item overseas like I did. However, if you feel that the risk is worth taking, I can recommend this seller.

Hope this helps anybody on the fence with their decision.

Geek

Here are some screen shots I just took messing around.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/fishingeek/th_IMGP0068.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/fishingeek/IMGP0068.jpg)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/fishingeek/th_IMGP0067.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/fishingeek/IMGP0067.jpg)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/fishingeek/th_IMGP0063.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/fishingeek/IMGP0063.jpg)

No doubt the HC3100 is a great DLP for the money--if you have the balls to buy one :D

I do wish they sell the HC3100 here as it's a very good value.

I just spoke with Mitsubishi America Tech Support center. They confirmed that any Mitsu PJ purchased out side of the US would not be warranty honored in the US - you would need to send it back to country of purchase :( . It's what I was expecting though. He is going to the sales department to find out when a HC3100u (US model) would become available and will call me back - I'll update when he does (and I hope it's good news).

Huey - I was hoping to see this DLP PJ as it seems to be best bet within my budget to find if DLP will work for me.
Aloha daggerNC,

Please keep us informed on what you find out.

I did talk to a sales person over at Best Buy that said they were told that the new Mits 1100 would be in the store by the end of March. Of course she could have been on crack! It would be great if we could get this in the US for close to $1500 street.

I hope this guy actually calls you back.

Cheers.

bdbaba

Yesterday I sent an Email the Mitsubishi requesting information regarding warranty repairs on projectors import to the US from Asia/Europe. Amazingly enough today my phone rang with a rep from Mitsubishi! She informed me that she was sure non US items would have to be shipped back to their country of origin. But after some badgering she asked me to call their US tech support (888.307.0309).

They are on the west coast so don’t call to early. I called and the phone was answered by a tech who did not provide his name. I asked about warranty repairs for the 3100 and was informed that they could not be honored in the US and would indeed need to be sent to its country of origin.

I then asked when the 3100 would be released in the US and his response “Believe it or not, there are no current plans to release it in the US….very disappointing.” I followed up asking if their was anyone I could complain to even mentioning a contingent of folks on the AVS Forum who could possibly be very interested in the 3100. The tech was very sympathetic, even stating that he and many of the other techs wanted the 3100 and were disappointed in the lack of a US release.

He told me that the 3000 and 3100 are identical other than the DMD and color wheel, with that in mind he said you might be better off ordering a 3000 and swapping out the wheel/DMD with 3100 parts. This would be beyond anything I would want to attempt.

I recommend that anyone who wants to see this projector released in the US call the number listed above and complain. It may be the only way we see it…assuming the tech I spoke with has a clue what he is talking about.

I do not know if I fully believe the guy I spoke with, if more people call and can post their feedback we can find out if our only recourse is ordering off flebay or from japan.

Yesterday I sent an Email the Mitsubishi requesting information regarding warranty repairs on projectors import to the US from Asia/Europe. Amazingly enough today my phone rang with a rep from Mitsubishi! She informed me that she was sure non US items would have to be shipped back to their country of origin. But after some badgering she asked me to call their US tech support (888.307.0309).

They are on the west coast so don’t call to early. I called and the phone was answered by a tech who did not provide his name. I asked about warranty repairs for the 3100 and was informed that they could not be honored in the US and would indeed need to be sent to its country of origin.

I then asked when the 3100 would be released in the US and his response “Believe it or not, there are no current plans to release it in the US….very disappointing.” I followed up asking if their was anyone I could complain to even mentioning a contingent of folks on the AVS Forum who could possibly be very interested in the 3100. The tech was very sympathetic, even stating that he and many of the other techs wanted the 3100 and were disappointed in the lack of a US release.

He told me that the 3000 and 3100 are identical other than the DMD and color wheel, with that in mind he said you might be better off ordering a 3000 and swapping out the wheel/DMD with 3100 parts. This would be beyond anything I would want to attempt.

I recommend that anyone who wants to see this projector released in the US call the number listed above and complain. It may be the only way we see it…assuming the tech I spoke with has a clue what he is talking about.

I do not know if I fully believe the guy I spoke with, if more people call and can post their feedback we can find out if our only recourse is ordering off flebay or from japan.
Aloha Guys,

I just called Mitsubishi and talked with a very cool guy at the number above. He seemed very knowledgeable. He said it was not written in stone, but that the 3100 should be out in the USA in about 60 days or so. He said the 5000 is already selling in the US. Interesting. I hope it is the case.

He also said that they won't touch a Japanese model with a 10 foot pole when it comes to warranty service. Bummer.

Take it all with some salt of course

bdbaba

Aloha Guys,

I just called Mitsubishi and talked with a very cool guy at the number above. He seemed very knowledgeable. He said it was not written in stone, but that the 3100 should be out in the USA in about 60 days or so. He said the 5000 is already selling in the US. Interesting. I hope it is the case.

He also said that they won't touch a Japanese model with a 10 foot pole when it comes to warranty service. Bummer.

Take it all with some salt of course

bdbaba

60 Days? Good to hear...I hope he proves to be correct!

Just setup a few days ago a brand new Mits HC3100 in replacement of my old trusty X1. I must say I am truly impressed by the quality of the image. The colors are very saturated and the contrast level is an order of magnitude better that on the X1. I was concerned about reports with respect to lens lacking sharpness (chormatic aberation) but let me tell you that although a little is indeed visible when one stands a few feet from the screen, it has not impact whatsoever on the overall sharpness of the image. It is really very sharp indeed!

I also had a chance to evaluate an Optoma HD72 for a few days in the same settings. I really think that the mits is a much better machine. The color are more accurate and the whited are not overblown as was the case with the HD72 (due to its white segment it seems) and the contrast of the mits is also much better that with the Optoma thanks to its DarkChip3! I also found the mits a little sharper.

I can't recomment enough this projector - get it you won't regret it at this price it is a steal!

One thing that I noticed in my HC3100 is that grayscale (AVIA) input through component or S-video looks quite different from that input through HDMI. Component or S-video looks warmer (i.e. red), while HDMI looks cooler (i.e. green).

I couldn't tell by eye which one is closer to D65, but they are substantially different.

Has anybody noticed the same? Which input's grayscale is closer to D65?

JM

Geek: sent you a pm

Contacted the 888 number today and spoke with a pleasant guy. No intent of bringing in HC3100U, at this point. Would have to go overseas for repair, except some parts are common to other mits so local repair could work on some stuff. Bulb is available here. Am REALLY interested in this projector.

Jack

Bad news to report: I got a call from the first Mitsu tech rep from MitsuUSA. They had a large meeting today with Sales and Marketing and one of the agenda topics was bringing the HC3100 to NA. He said there was a lot of discussing, but the decision made was that this model projector will NOT be brought into No. America :( :(

We actually had a number of tech guys on our side, but there has to be something behind this decision - another model coming shortly?? don't want to divert US sales away from the new 1080p 5000 model??? Unfortunately I was not present when he called and so could not press him for any other info.

No cheers,
daggerNC

Bad news to report: I got a call from the first Mitsu tech rep from MitsuUSA. They had a large meeting today with Sales and Marketing and one of the agenda topics was bringing the HC3100 to NA. He said there was a lot of discussing, but the decision made was that this model projector will NOT be brought into No. America :( :(

We actually had a number of tech guys on our side, but there has to be something behind this decision - another model coming shortly?? don't want to divert US sales away from the new 1080p 5000 model??? Unfortunately I was not present when he called and so could not press him for any other info.

No cheers,
daggerNC

BAH :mad:

Thanks for the leg work guys. Very disappointing indeed. Generally USA has an advantage over other developed countries in HT but not in this case.

Thanks for the leg work guys. Very disappointing indeed. Generally USA has an advantage over other developed countries in HT but not in this case.
Seems like there has to be a reason for this--other then just being a bad decision. Maybe the HC3000 did not sell as well as they had hoped in the USA? Or maybe they have a 1080p DLP version coming out soon in the USA--hopefully for about the same price!?

Now to decide whether the Japanese route is worth the risk.

bdbaba

I wouldn't be surprised if Optoma is paying Mitsubishi not to release the 3100 in the states, otherwise the HD73 sales will be stopped.

Or maybe Joe Blow browsing the click to buy sites cares more about inflated brightness/contrast than optomized for D65. Whereas Josef Schmidt who wants performance like his Mercedes on the AutoBahn - does want the D65.


This country is a free market - any company is free to market what they think will sell. Different countries are indeed different markets.

Or maybe Joe Blow browsing the click to buy sites cares more about inflated brightness/contrast than optomized for D65. Whereas Josef Schmidt who wants performance like his Mercedes on the AutoBahn - does want the D65.


This country is a free market - any company is free to market what they think will sell. Different countries are indeed different markets.

Aloha Kras,

Have you seen the new Mits in action by any chance?

bdbaba

Nope - just going off the german review site which had a tear down so you could see the improved colorwheel design.

I hope the HC3100 comes to the USA in the normal sales channels but I'm not optimistic.

I personally met the person who made the decision on the HC 3100 US non availability at several trade shows including recently Digital Life and CES and CEDIA. I have tried to convince him of bringing it to the US market several times.

Basic problem is the HC3000 is selling well enough and has favorable reviews in the USA and they don't want to upset a good thing.

Plus the marginal cost of upgrading to the Darkchip 3 for the HC3100 screws up their dealer pricing model now as the HC3000 has dropped in price and the MSRP and MAP are already low for the HC 3000. They have to charge the distribution channel more for the HC3100.

They also have dropped their exclusive USA dealer channel and have gone through a sales representative channel model so they feel they can't carry both models. The HC3000 is continuing to sell well in the US and they don't want to screw around with its sales.

Bottom line is the Mitsubishi USA managers for this product line think that the price they would charge the US distribution channel would hurt both existing HC3000 sales and would undercut HC5000 sales so they don't want to take the risk.

They are really risk averse and are afraid to screw up the continuing HC 3000 sales and they are afraid what would happen if they had to charge more for the HC3100.

The HC1000 is also selling ok, so they are really tending toward not making changes. I don't know about the HC5000 sales, but the JVC RS1 is impacting there so they may have some pressure to change things in the future.

PM me for my personal opinion on this matter and my personal opinion on their rationale.

Or maybe you can tell all you need from this post.