Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 400 Discussion Thread, MSRP 1599 available now - Page 46

Just picked up one of these from a local dealer with a extra lamp that was a wrong order for a home cinema 10....imagine that. I have a AE 4000 in the HTR, so this one might go in the bedroom or upstairs den.

After much enjoyment with my Epson HC400 the bulb on my unit blew. The cost of a new bulb from Epson or other on-line resellers is well over $300. That would be more than 1/3rd of what I actually paid for the unit a few years ago. Also, half the cost of what I could get a brand new 720P 3D projector so I was hoping I could find a cheaper alternative.

I ended buying a bare bulb on ebay from a seller in China for a little over $100 bucks. I was a little hesitant at first but I figured it was worth a shot. I just got the bulb yesterday a couple of days sooner than expected. After replacing the bulb in the existing housing (less than 10 minutes now that I have done it once) the projector fired right up.

The image was as good as new. I am entirely pleased that I have been able to get new life from my projector for a little over a hundred bucks as a new projector really isn't in the cards right now.

I will probably get another bulb from this seller so I can have a spare on hand, but ultimately I can get 2 more bulbs and still spend less than 1 complete bulb with housing from Epson or the other sellers.

I hope this can help someone else if your a long term projector user like me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lamp-EPSON-Proje...16888140969666

BTW. this bulb model will fit a variety of Epson projectors, double check if it fits yours if it's a different model from the 400. I believe the 720 uses the same bulb also.

Just checking to see how many people have upgraded from the HC400 and what they upgraded to. I replaced the bulb in my HC400 a year ago with a cheapo import and about 6 months later it developed an occasional dimming/flicker.

I am not sure if it is the projector or bulb but either way I am thinking it might be time to upgrade. I am seriously thinking abut the BenQ w1070 and wondering how much of an improvement it will be over the trusty HC400.

I went with the Epson 3020. Very happy, but I miss lens shift one day a year (Superbowl Sunday), which I used my HC400 for again this year. The brightness and 3D of the 3020 are both amazing.

i traded my epson 3020 to benq 1070.. damn gotta love this sharpness ! no more wrestling with lcd convergence etc errors.

Rainbows