Where Do You Buy Your Replacement Bulbs - Good Price - Good Quality?

Where do you buy your replacement projector bulbs?

Panasonic wants $475 for the bulb I need. I have a PT-AE1000U. It calls for the part number ET-LAE1000.

There are lots of providers out there selling bare bulbs and complete lamps (including bulb and plastic mounting housing) in the $60 - $100 range, but I'm told to steer clear of these bulbs.

I was also told that Panasonic never really made bulbs for their projectors, but that they designed the lamps, bult the housings, and ordered the bulbs from bulb makers like Sylvania/Osram, or Phillips.

I wouldn't mind getting a bare bulb from the original maker, without Panasonic's markup! Does that seem reasonable? Where would I find that?

Thanks for your suggestions and link. You're right in that I don't want to spend the money on a new lamp (bulb+housing) from Panasonic. The markup is ridiculous.

I'm interested in maybe just getting a 'bare' bulb, from the original supplier to Panasonic.

Is there a way to learn the make and model of the original bulb supplied to Panasonic? I feel like if I can get that information, I can save a lot of cash.

Here's an example of a bare bulb: http://www.topbulb.com/find/Product_Description.asp_Q_intProductID_E_54990

I'd go ahead and get that bulb, but without knowing the make and model of the original bulb, I can't be sure this is the bulb I'm after.

jnabq, thanks for your thoughts. I called topbulb and they let me know that the bulb was a cheap one, but that they had never heard anything bad about it from their customers, nor did they have any returns on it. I asked her about her return policy and she said that if the bulb ever dimmed, popped, or went out in during the warranty period, I could return it for a full refund. On top of that, she said they would email me a pre-paid UPS label for shipping it back to them, free of charge. That sounded like a solid return policy, so I went ahead and ordered the bulb. I feel like there is hardly any risk there. Still, I would like to know how to find out what the original make and model is on the original bare bulb supplied to Panasonic, for future reference.

Katie Meadow, I spent some time on Amazon and found lots of possible alternatives, but nothing along the lines of what I'm looking for, which is a bare bulb from the original supplier to panasonic, with the original specs.

Thanks habtheory. I'll check that out if the bulb from top bulb doesn't pan out. Still wondering about my original question... whether there's a way to learn the make and model of the original bare bulb supplied to panasonic.

airscapes, thanks for your interesting insight. I'm unclear on which specific parts you're referring to when you talk about the 'positioning' and 'cementing'. My understanding of the lamps is that the entire 'lamp' consists of a 'bulb', which is made out of metal and glass, like most bulbs, and then the 'housing', which in my case is made mostly out of a plastic frame, and a bit of metal here and there. I haven't seen a lamp that needs the bulb cemented into it, and I think my lamp has a space where the bulb simply clamps in place. Do you have some pictures or diagrams that might help clear this up?

Oh! Thanks for clarifying. I hope what I ordered comes with the reflector! I'll keep you posted here. And thanks for the tip on simply looking at the bulb (with reflector) in my current lamp. Still an open invite to anyone who knows another way to learn the make/model of the original bulb (including reflector).

Got the bulb. It was a little awkward to install, but not too hard. The connections weren't exactly the same, but it came with a threaded nut for each connection so that each of the two wires could be held in place, without the need for soldering.

So far the bulb is bright and the light is consistent. The price was low, so at this point I'm happy.

The only problem I have now is that my wife doesn't like having a home theater in the basement, since she's been using that as her workout gym lately, and I don't have any spots upstairs that would work.

So... Panasonic 1080P Projector PT-AE1000U for sale! Immaculate condition. Brand new bulb! :-) Seriously, let me know if you're interested.