I had a thread about a month ago asking about whether the Viewsonic Pro8200 was real or not. Well, in the interim I bought a BenQ W1000+ from PP and had problems with the first unit (and the replacement) displaying an HDMI image. Those problems are documented in the W1000 thread, so you can look that up if you wish. Ultimately, both BenQ projectors went back to PP and I found that the Viewsonic Pro8200 was shipping, so I got one.
I have about 30 minutes of viewing and here's a quick rundown:
Good
MUCH better colors / picture than the BenQ. I don't have all the technical terms to describe the difference, but it's a much more dynamic picture, brighter colors and it seems "faster" in its handling of action scenes.
Also much better fleshtones, the BenQ always looked posterized.
Bad
It's a bit louder than the BenQ. Actually, louder may be wrong, it's got a two-note noise to it. The fan is a little bit lower in frequency, but you can also hear the color wheel spin. The BenQ had a higher frequency fan-only noise. Neither one is noticeable at any time other than paused / no sound situations, though.
It doesn't seem to have a perfect 16:9 image. The BenQ and my previous InFocus IN72 both filled my DIY 120" 16:9 screen to within 1/4" of the edges, they were that close to perfect. The Pro8200 has a total of about 3" on the top/bottom parts of the screen that are not hit when the image is touching the left/right borders.
The lighted remote is a joke. Yes, the perimeter of the buttons light up, great... however, the button labels are not lit at all, so you have to operate by feel, anyway. Not a big issue, I'll program my URC to handle the projector anyway, I was just surprised at how bad a design that was.
Also on the design note -- the lens cover is nice, but both the front ViewSonic label and the name on the lens cover are upside down when the unit is ceiling mounted. It just looks bad.
So I'm off to get this thing more dialed in, overall I'm absolutely happy that the BenQs didn't work out, this looks like a much better projector with a better picture, can't ask for more than that!
I have about 30 minutes of viewing and here's a quick rundown:
Good
MUCH better colors / picture than the BenQ. I don't have all the technical terms to describe the difference, but it's a much more dynamic picture, brighter colors and it seems "faster" in its handling of action scenes.
Also much better fleshtones, the BenQ always looked posterized.
Bad
It's a bit louder than the BenQ. Actually, louder may be wrong, it's got a two-note noise to it. The fan is a little bit lower in frequency, but you can also hear the color wheel spin. The BenQ had a higher frequency fan-only noise. Neither one is noticeable at any time other than paused / no sound situations, though.
It doesn't seem to have a perfect 16:9 image. The BenQ and my previous InFocus IN72 both filled my DIY 120" 16:9 screen to within 1/4" of the edges, they were that close to perfect. The Pro8200 has a total of about 3" on the top/bottom parts of the screen that are not hit when the image is touching the left/right borders.
The lighted remote is a joke. Yes, the perimeter of the buttons light up, great... however, the button labels are not lit at all, so you have to operate by feel, anyway. Not a big issue, I'll program my URC to handle the projector anyway, I was just surprised at how bad a design that was.
Also on the design note -- the lens cover is nice, but both the front ViewSonic label and the name on the lens cover are upside down when the unit is ceiling mounted. It just looks bad.
So I'm off to get this thing more dialed in, overall I'm absolutely happy that the BenQs didn't work out, this looks like a much better projector with a better picture, can't ask for more than that!