Hey

So, I have an Optoma HD-79, which worked great for the first year or so. Then I started having problems with it. I seem to be going through a new bulb every 2 months, when the last bulb apparently failed after 8 hours, I'd had enough. It's currently with Optoma for a warranty repair and as far as I'm concerned, they can keep the damn thing.

So, I want a new projector - I was going to go for the HD-81 - I know, fool me once..., but I read that they redesigned the cooling system for the 81 (which I believe is the root cause of my 79 problems). If the 79 had worked flawlessly (or even vaguely flawlessly), I think I'd have gone for the 81 in a heartbeat, since I did love the 79 (when it was working), but now I find myself reading very positive reviews on the JVC RS1.

I can't decide. Which would you go for?

I mostly watch (in this order): Bluray, HD-DVD, SDTV, HDTV, Xbox360/PS3.

Do these projectors have any problems with cigarette smoke? I know LCD projectors typically do, but these?

I want to order today (assuming I can find anyone with stock) - can anyone recommend a vendor?

Thanks!

I was going to go for the HD-81 - I know, fool me once..., but I read that they redesigned the cooling system for the 81 (which I believe is the root cause of my 79 problems).
The HD81 seems to have cooling problems too... people having to activate "high altitude" mode, blue-screen failures using low-lamp, etc. You should review recent posts to the HD81 owner's thread. This pj has many issues, including only about 2000:1 native contrast ratio coupled with a noisy, slow and generally useless DI.

I bought an RS1. It's as bright or brighter that the HD81 when calibrated and very sharp, though the single panel DLP may have the edge there.

I upgraded from an Optoma H77 to the RS-1, and the RS-1 beats it in almost every category. The H77 and H79 are close in performance, so I think you would be very happy with the upgrade. The only things I miss from the Optoma are the motorized zoom and focus features. But, even so, I have learned to live without them with no problem.

Paulnwgb:

Another projector you may want to consider is the BenQ 9000/10000. It throws a great picture, has a great user interface with unlimited adjustments and is panamorph compatible. The only source that may be problematic for you is SDTV but you will have this problem with most projectors. HDTV and HD-DVD is very good.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Yes, I read (all of it - which was no mean feat let me tell you) the HD-81 owners thread.

I can't, in all good conscious, hand any more money to Optoma. Don't get me wrong, they truly are great products for the price, and I don't wish to bash them. If they could only sort out the reliability issues :(

So I have sourced an RS1 and it's currently with Fedex on an overnight. Can't wait! I probably overpaid, but that's the price of not sitting in a backorder q.

Unfortunately, I only get about 2-3 HDTV channels due to me living on the side of a mountain and unable to hit 1 of the DirecTV birds, so I do tend to watch more than my fair share of SDTV.

Anything I can do to alleviate that? I know there's no magic bullet which will turn SDTV to HDTV but am I right in saying this is where a scaler will improve things? Would it be worth buying one over the internal scaler in the RS1?

Thanks
Paul