The Official Acer H9500BD Thread - Page 97

I tend to talk (and write) too much.

"I'd buy it again, but I'm pretty patient and willing to deal with technical issues."

[quote=sclawrenc;22073273]Considering the current issues with the acer 9500 and if you could go back in time, would the current/previous owners say it's worth buying at a price point below $1500 from a retailer only offering an exchange policy? [quote]

I would purchase it again yes, the BenQ W7000 would be my second choice of projectors currently available. If the W7000 and the H9500BD were withen 2-300 of each other I would probably spring for the W7000. As is even with out the firm ware to fix shading/bluring visible with single pixel presentation of calibration disks, windows paint etc I would take the lesser cost, because frankly the image is awsome from this projector. I use it for HTPC movie watching and console (PS3 and 360) gaming. I do not have SBS or TB 3D content so very little experience there. Can say the 3D gaming I have done on this projector kills the 3D capabilities of my VT20 plasma tv.

If you wait for the perfect projector you will never buy one. The Acer H9500BD is a entry level projector that competes with mid level projectors, lets not forget that. I believe the extra cost to buy the Benq W7000 gets you similar viewing experience but better customer service and a better onboard color management system.

Thanks InCali and man4mopar.

I'm sure you would have mentioned it if you did, but did either of you have a contact for Acer that is aware of the current issue?

Mike has a case ID which he posted earlier (too lazy to search....) and has a call in to corporate. I'd call the Acer sales number and find out if they're aware of the problem. They should know that there are people out there holding off on buying because of this issue. Also, that BenQ has fixed it and it was a simple firmware upgrade.

Good luck.

Well I called Acer Corporate again today. My call was returned in about an hour. I was told there is no new information that Lasonya (sp?) good give me on the issue. We had a pleasant exchange because I expected nothing and was not disappointed. Quite frankly I believe my complaint/case number has been shelved by Acer. To me it appears that one of two things has happened:

1. Acer has my complaint and could care less or the right people who would care are not aware of the situation.

2. Acer Corporate, who has no technical knowledge at all, has decided to shelf my complaint because I will not send in my unit for testing, or they simply did not look into the status or forward it to the right people.

I know, that looks like more than two things but without the one you do not have the other. For now I am not shedding big tears over it because I am still pleased with the unit and just had a movie night the other day. If anything I am disappointed in Acer for their response to my customer service request that would have benefitted all of us, and their bottom line.

I have not given up, just need a new approach I suppose but for me it is not the end of the world.

acer PJ firmware updates have been possible in the past using a usb cable and dlp composer software below. click the second link for the zip file which includes the PDF that has instructions for PJ firmware upgrade. lets hope acer releases something similar for the H9500

Frequently Asked Questions
Show Part Numbers

Q: The projector may crash or lock up when the user tries to download a customized image.

A:

The size limit of customized image in Acer eOpening Management software (versions before 2.1.17.5) is 310KB. If an image greater than 310KB is used, it may cause the system to crash or "lock up."

To recover a "locked up" projector, it is necessary to flash the projector firmware:

Download DLP Composer software and the appropriate projector firmware for the unit.
Connect a USB cable between the computer and the projector.
Launch the DLP Composer software.
Power on the Projector.
Choose the new firmware file and update the projector firmware.
To load a new image as the projector start up screen, download Acer eOpening Management software v2.1.17.5 or later.


http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-postdow...204907&t=0&i=1

Here is another mind-numbing story of the new $5K Sharp 3D Z30000, the replacement for the similarly overpriced Sharp 17000 - but having little if any new features or improved performance

By Evan Powell, Editor of Projector Central

"Regarding the status of the Sharp Z30000 review, we questioned whether the original Z30000 that we received was representative of the product since it was showing some artifacts that were unusual for SharpVision home theater products. We requested a second sample, which just arrived a few days ago. But it is not processing the red channel, so it appears to have been damaged in shipment. Once we get a functioning Z30000 that is a good representation of the product we will proceed with the review. I don't know at this point how long it will take to get this sorted out, so I am reluctant to make any predictions."

Technology has gone Out of Control - with 3D projectors leading the charge.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/proj...s&entry_id=519

That is so disappointing!!!

I will call them and speak with sales and tech support.

InCali could you reach out to Art and see if his contact has an update?

I should have thought of this before. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to call Acer and tell them to hang on to my PJ and test it. Please send me your Case ID. Who knows what will happen. My PJ is still under repair.

Mike,

If you have any ideas about how to NOT get my PJ sent back, please let me know. Maybe we can both let them know that there is a PJ in for evaluation.

InCali, all you have to do is get hold of Acer support and using your case number ask them to test out my findings based on my case number. I'll PM you some info.

Yeah....I knew that and have done it already. I just needed to find your case number (# 1505588U) in the thread.

According to the person I contacted, they won't send my PJ back until they test it on the basis of your case ID (All I have to do is call when Tier 2 is open at 8am PST and everything will be just peaches and cream).

I'm "SO" excited that this isn't going to be a problem anymore. It feels SO good that a simple call has solved all of the problems everyone has been experiencing. I feel downright giddy and wonder why everyone out there couldn't figure all of this out ......

Pleasant dreams....

OK got and replied to your PM first so disregard. I am going to bed and look to sleep well now knowing this will all be taken care of lol.

I wonder if we can get Art's help again on any update on the firmware since he mentioned Acer gave him a confirmed answer that it is supposed to be coming?

I think a quick email to Art would be much more efficient and I bet he wouldn't mind helping. I'm sure he wants his article to be accurate as well as any posts he passed on from Acer.

I want to see what comes of this angle before contacting Art. We know the following:

My PJ is still "under repair" (Acer support website)

It is at the same address that they asked Mike to send his for evaluation

The tier one person (in India or somewhere like that...it was morning when I called) added in the case notes that my PJ should be checked for the problems outlined in Mike's case ID before returning it to me.

I will call Tier 2 in about an hour (work permitting) and make SURE they know about this and ask them to contact me before returning my PJ



Maybe I'll be the beta tester for their firmware fix

Art has been really helpful, but he has to be judicious when it comes to contacting manufacturers about issues like this. As he said "I've only got so many bullets in my gun." I'll keep him in the loop and let him decide (with some gentle persuasion perhaps??) how far he wants to take this. Neither of us wants to be a thorn. He wants to keep the communication lines open with the manufacturers and I want to do the same with him.

He was the only reviewer who got back to me and he actually did something. Good for him.

Also, my little color processor shipped from newegg and I'll probably get it back before I get the PJ (no probably about it really.....). If I don't get any video lag like the last time, I've decided to drop a couple (few) hundred bucks and get some equipment which will allow me to do some testing and calibration. I'm thinking that there may be a setting that works really well with the color processor. It clearly added color and made the picture look better to my eye. The eye, however, isn't always the best evaluator. I like learning about this stuff although no one really seems to like this calibration business that much as it can be tedious and a tweak here causes a change over there (sort of like adjusting the "diagonal" lens shift on the Acer only more so.....).

If I get the same video lag, I'll return it, pay the restocking fee, use standard suggested settings, and call it a day.

Also, I'm pretty good at plumbing customer support and willing to endure (almost) endless 3U!! $#!t. Part of my job is dealing with the public. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I'm a LOT better at it than Acer Tier 1 or 2. Maybe I just have more information available to me. If I handled things the way they do, I wouldn't be writing to you fine people because I'd be out looking for a new job......

InCali I agree with you on not wanting to bother Art and it also seems like a good idea to at least keep him in the loop as I'm sure he wants is forum comments and reviews to be accurate. I think it might not be fair to let him think his contact came through if they really havent yet. Of course its up to you and I just appreciate you being willing enough to be without your projector in hopes that acer will use it for testing. Although one would think they would have plenty enough there that they wouldn't need yours. : )

I contacted chat tech support last night and was told nothing was in their database concerning any issues with hdmi blurring. How is that if they are working on it? Maybe they've kept it quiet until they have a fix? I didn't mention a case number though.

OK. I jsut got off the phone with Acer Tier 2 (Andrew 22343....yes, I'm naming names). First off.....my poor projector. They are replacing the lamp module, the lamp driver, and the motherboard. According to this guy, the firmware resides on the motherboard and I will get the latest rev (whatever that is....). They don't have any information about firmware revs at Tier 2 (ridiculous), but he is going to put in a request to find out what firmware rev my projector had coming in and what rev it will have when it's shipped back to me. When they get this information, they will call me on my cell phone (I think I'll pass on holding my breath until I hear from them).

In addition, my projector will be evaluated based on the information in Case 1505588U prior to being shipped back to me. I made sure it was entered by making them tell me the case number attached to mine.

That's it. We'll see how it goes. If mid-June passes without any word on the update, I'll dig a little deeper.

if you are at all interested what removing mb, lamp module, driver etc all mean, see the service guide for this other acer, its a few models below the 9500 but you get the idea. firmware upgrade starts on page 87.

http://www.manualowl.com/m/Acer%20Co.../Manual/114804

That's kind of cool. Unfortunately, the firmware update procedure will only work if we can get the firmware from Acer. That doesn't seem too likely at this point in time.

If all else fails, I'll look at the firmware again and see what it would take to try to fix it. Hopefully Acer will provide the fix though.

also most flash programs let you dump the existing firmware to a file for restore purposes, all we would need is someone with upgraded firmware from acer and extract it.

Yes, I was counting on that part, but unless the setting that needs changed is just in plain string form, I would still have to de-compile the code and hope that it is easily understandable and not overly obfuscated or encrypted. Otherwise going through the assembly is not something I'm willing to do.

i noticed the new service manuals don't use dlp composer anymore and have some pixelworks loaders, any info about this software?

Nope, that is not good news though because it may use some form of protection, but who knows for sure unless I tried it. Also it would be hard for me to fix this without owning the projector, and it would be much easier if the projectors have a debug mode where I can upload temporary changes (they probably don't without an external SDK hooked to it), but I have no idea. That said, the problem code should be fairly simple and relatively easy to find if the code is not obfuscated or encrypted.

is there a w7000 firmware out in the wild?

Yes, and it fixes it.
I could compare that one to the Acer using a comparison tool, but most likely only applicable if they are both using similar VP (assuming Pixelworks). That would probably make it that much easier to fix it.

i was on the fence between the acer and benQ. acer won based on cost, but looks like BenQ has the better customer support /satisfaction. im hopeful acer will come through by mid june with an upgrade and let us do it. such as hassle to send a unit in just to update firmware, that was so 90s.

Yes, I want to get me either an Optoma hd33, Acer9500bd, or Benq w7000. However, given the cost of the w7000 vs. the Optoma hd33 (now can be had under $1400), I cannot justify spending more just to get an IRIS on the Benq, because that's likely the main difference in PQ. Being RBE sensitive, I am leaning towards the 6x hd33.

I was worried about the sharpness of the hd33, but I think the problem was just some lens assemblies are defective on them, and Optoma actually has ok CS, even though some people claim it is horrible (reading posts in hd33 thread it doesn't sound too bad). Seems most have Optomas that are perfectly sharp, and we already know the hd33 has a 6x color wheel and does 1:1 pixel mapping. That said, the one Optoma hd20 I've seen did have a focus uniformity issue, so that scares me a tad.

I already own so many projectors, I cannot justify spending 2K for another or even the money on the Acer given I think the Acer has a 4x color wheel, that is why I think the hd33 is the best for me. I'm just waiting a little longer to decide what I'll do, hoping to see what's coming out next year before I make the purchase, but I might run out of patience.