Planar 8150 follow up impressions - Page 26

I'm in the exact same boat as you. In that price range, but want the next generation. I am also going to get another anamorphic lens with whatever projector I end up with.

Yeah, I didn't want to spend $7K for an LS-5 plus $1K for short throw lens, so I went with the LS-3. It only cost $4K after discount plus lens. I can't see the difference between the LS-5 and LS-3 and didn't need H-shift. It's scary buying 2008 technology, but there haven't been that many full size single chip DLP projectors that have come out in the last few years. Samsung was too expensive, Optoma has the smaller DMD and I don't trust their reliability. Sharp has a new DLP which looks interesting. BENQ has been active with models, InFocus, not so much, haven't seen the Mitsubishi. I wanted good customer service and a proven product, so for $4K, the Runco LS-3 fits the bill, since I have no interest in 3D. My Panamorph M380 still works great with this projector, which slides into place when triggered by the Runco. I saw a bit of Godfather I last night and was amazed by the blacks and CR, much better than my HD81-LV could ever do.

So I got a little surprise tonight, my lamp is getting a bit old so I figured I'd order a new one, only to find out the Planar store says it's unavailable "The Replacement Lamp for PD8130, PD8150 is not currently available. Please contact us for availability of this item."

So what's everyone doing for lamps? I'd rather get an OEM one as I'm not fond of "trying my luck" with the off brand ones, but I suppose I could go that route.

That's a bit disappointing. Have you called them?

Not yet, it was well past business hours when I tried to order.

Actually, since my current lamp is still going (though probably not as strong as it used to) and my prior one didn't blow either, I opted to order the bare OE lamp from pureland supply, and I think I'll give the procedure in the other thread (linked on the prior page) a try. Though this did get me thinking if I should consider an "upgrade", those B-stock JVCs are mighty tempting...
Edited by stanger89 - 10/23/12 at 5:12am

The 8150 has been replaced / re-badged as a Runco LS-5 if I remember correctly. Either way it is still being sold by Runco. When you call just ask which projector supersedes the 8150 and you can buy a bulb from them or do a search for the part number on Ebay or anyone of the many places to buy bulbs.

Is there a new LS-5 coming out? I saw the 8150 a few years ago and it seemed a bit sharper and dimensional than my RS10. Was on a smaller screen than mine (106" compared to 133") and I did not get to see a ton of darker scenes. The rs45 and 55's look similar to my rs10, with biggest noticable difference being motion handling is much improved. Only saw the 55 on a 120" screen so the e-shift1 was not much of a differentiator. What would one get from a "new" LS-5 compared to the b-stock rs45 or 55?

If you're up to it, you can always replace just the bulb. I've done this a couple times. It's fairly easy to do. Just make sure you wear gloves when handling the bulb. There's a tutorial a couple pages back with pictures on how to do it properly. You can get a very nice price on the bulb here and they ship out very fast:

http://www.dlplampsource.com/planar-997-5268-00-projector-replacement-lamp.html

I've bought from them a couple times. Very good service and the bulbs are genuine.
Edited by Seegs108 - 10/23/12 at 2:44pm

Yup, I ordered a bare lamp from Pureland Supply. I suspect/wonder if Planar is just not selling the OE modules except through the Runco distribution system.


I don't believe there's a new LS5, I haven't read anything (here) about such a beast. A current new LS5 is basically just an 8150 with Runco firmware instead of Planar.

Yup, that's what I ordered yesterday morning. I was pretty impressed, they shipped it same day and I should have it friday. I've already got a spare lamp (the original one) so I can do the swap without affecting my usage.

If you have a lot of hours on your bulb and it's getting somewhat dim, putting a new lamp in is almost like getting a new projector ( " almost " ) !!

Which is why I was looking for the lamp in the first place. It's got 1300 hours (almost 1400 I think) and I've been running in high lamp for a while to recoup some of the oomph. But it was the "difficulty" of finding a replacement lamp and the deal on the RS45/40 that AVS have going now that put the question into my head on if it was a good time to look for something else.

The lamp showed up, took me about 10 minutes to swap out in my old housing. A little fiddly but went pretty smoothly. However I have company coming tonight so I know better than to toss it in tonight, so I'll have to hold out til tomorrow to check out if the new lamp is good and I did the swap correctly.

Best of luck. I am sure it will look like new.

I'd probably even grab me one if I could get one that cheap ($1500), wow that's cheap...

I need a lamp for my 8150. How did your replacement workout?

So I came across a deal on a Radiance XE that was too good to pass up, so I've got a new Radiance on the way. I'm curious to hear opinions of people who have calibrated measured the 8150 or used it with a Radiance. Do you think the 125 point calibration is worth it with the 8150? I know these things are precalibrated and I know there's nothing obvious to complain about with mine. But if there's performance too be had, I'm all for it. I'm also planning to play a bit with the gamma curve and maybe see if I improve the shadow detail a bit perhaps.

Or any other tweaks/cool stuff you can do with a Radiance and an 8105?

Sorry I missed/forgot your question, my new lamp is working just great.