Quote:
Originally Posted by ddmsp187 
So is there only one forum member that owns this unit? It seems that besides the colors and limited grayscale calibration this should compete quite heavily with the HD33 and 3010. Hopefully more owners pop in and add their observations.
So is there only one forum member that owns this unit? It seems that besides the colors and limited grayscale calibration this should compete quite heavily with the HD33 and 3010. Hopefully more owners pop in and add their observations.
Well that may not happen anytime soon due to Art's review. While he appears to praise the unit, he talks it down too much. I feel it is time to review the review to put things in perspective. I understand the full writeup is not done and may never get done as I have seen in the past. Now let me say up front that I appreciate Art rushing his review to the press in time for the holiday.
In this rush we do not know how hard he worked with the PJ. He flat out said he did not look into the 2d to 3d conversion feature, no big deal as several BD players do that but c'mon, it is a feature the unit has and others do not at this price. More on this later.
Let me get to the bottom line here. We all know the warranty is what it is. After one year it works or it does not so skip that. Sure a Epson warranty is hard to beat. Moving on. Here is my favorite quote of the review:
"If you are the type that doesn't notice your LCDTV is a bit over the top in picture - "sunburned looking faces" lack of color detail, etc. as most LCDTVs are in their brighter modes (and the way people watch them), the Acer will fit right in (and look better). Just find a room, and screen."
Really, that is about 90% of the market in this price segment. Continuing this line of thought:
"Color accuracy could be better. Out of the box is very watchable, but you have limited ability to improve it further with a calibration due to the lack of othe color controls used for grayscale balancing. Realizing that most people buying a sub-$2000 projector are not going to calibrate, that probably doesn't concern them, as color is already pretty good, just a bit thin on red. "
Again this is about 90% or even higher in this segment, and for those who do choose to fool with calibration they usually ask what others are using and try it. This with minimal success as screens and conditions vary. Also here is another quote for you to consider carefully and do a self analysis:
"Bottom line, you can get more accurate color with some competitors. The question is, will owners care? If you are an enthusiast - probably. If you are the traditional "wife" or "friends" almost certainly not. Still, our job here, is give you perspective to consider the trade-offs and by the best projector for use by you and yours. If you are an enthusiast demanding accuracy, etc. this one probably isn't for you based on color."
This is not the best way to sum up the 9500 and will kill sales. Better summation would have been that out of the box this unit stacks up well vs the 3010 and 33/3300. Not if you are a girl or casual idiot it will be fine because you cannot adjust RBE for gray scale which about 95% of people will not do anyway.
Now if we want to go videophile area, nobody is buying units in this segment anyway so what is the point of calling out calibration capabilities? If you want this for 3d it will do just fine, and better than non DLP tech. Sure I will hear about that one.
My biggest problem with the review is that it somehow suggests that if you get this you are not an enthusiast or that this unit is not capable of being a home theater one. Art has always been a black level fan and clearly this one trounces the competition. So what is left? Nothing unless you consider yourself a videophile and have a good HT room. Surely that includes a capable AVR for 3d and surround. Having that you can probably calibrate the 9500 with the AVR's video processor, if you even decide you need to.
Let me summarize because I could go on and on:
1. Warranty is low end, we know this.
2. Image quality is good out of the box.
3. Black level and shadow detail clobbers the competion and somehow Art plays this down in this review which is usually the measuring stick he uses.
4. No RGB adjustment which may or may not be needed depending on consumer because I guess over 95% do not calibrate
5. He cannot recommend this unit for videophile users due to lack of gray scale adjustments though true HT-ophiles will have a AVR that can easily calibrate the signal for the unit with the video processor in their AVRs, otherwise why would a videophile even consider this unt?
6. The unit has CFI and a DI that works in 3d, unlike the competition.
7. Comes with one set of DLP glasses and we already know those work fine.
8. Has 2d to 3d conversion and who cares how bad it does or does not do, was dismissed by Art.
9. I was trying to get this to 10 but grow weary lol. I go back to #2. The 9500 appears to have a good image right out of the box. There is no reason to fear you settled for a lesser capable unit when in fact the 9500 trounces the 3010 and 33 in contrast and black levels according to this review. Out of the box it may be a bit over the top but that is what folks have been buying for years now, it is called the display setting or showroom.
Final note, since Art likes to mention enthusiast or videophile in this review, again I remind you that that is less than 5% of buyers, and to suggest that if you get this unit you are less than an enthusiast is not right in my book. Perhaps in this segment we should focus on "out of the box" more than what we can do with the unit since most do not have the equipment to properly calibrate anyway.
Ok, final final note, though it took a long time to compose this post, it seems the review has all but killed this PJ as for activity. That is sad because Acer has been doing good 3d longer than anyone else in the 3d FP world, try to remember that while you consider options, because the Acer has some good features.
