New Benq W500, 720p projector - Page 41

NCIX is great because they have the ability to pricematch ON the website. I just ordered one for 799.99 from ncix by pricematching with Compu2000. (a 70$ savings at the time I ordered)

Check pricecanada.com to find where's cheapest.

Good luck

Does it shutdown automatically when you turn it on? How many hours on the current bulb? The user's manual doesn't shed much light on the problem unfortunately... just says 'contact dealer for assistance'.

Yes, it eventually shuts off on its own after 2 or 3 minutes. The bulb has about 1800 hours on eco mode.

I guess I'll just call Benq and see what's what.

Hmm, well that does seem unfortunately premature for a bulb failure. Tough break I think.

Shots of my W500 projected onto a white wall. There was some light in the room, plus I have no stand for the camera. So everything came out a bit blurry.

I'm researching this projector and come across this image on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/...7606279987873/

Makes me wonder... is the Benq W500 an upgraded ae900u?

Got my w500 yesterday and am totally happy! Just have it projecting up on the wall, and it looks great. Because of my limited space it's only a 90" diagonal (max zoom), but it's about as big as i'd like it from where I'm sitting. Don't have my dvd player yet, so I just popped a dvd in my laptop and hooked it up via hdmi and my 5 minute testing session turned into a 2 hour viewing

I didn't see any quirks like SDE of pixelation etc, but I'm not a picky videophile either so that probably doesn't mean much.

I tried taking some photos of the image but they didn't turn out right, I'm not sure what the best way to go about it is.

Anyways, I'm happy. For 799$ it feel like I'm getting great bang for my buck.

Man I love Flickr's stats feature. I saw the hits on this shot had shot up yesterday with links to this thread and came here to find out I'm internet famous =)

If you want more info on what I thought of the W500 especially as it compares to the AE900U, you can read my full review at HTF at:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...-progress.html

The full W500 set is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/...7606279987873/

The bottom line for me was: "Have had this unit for about a week now and have thrown everything I have at it with very satisfying results. The bottom line is that Packy is 100% correct: This is a terrific unit for someone looking to get into REAL HD at an attractive price. On image quality alone I'm sure that most people will be more than satisfied.

There are however a number of caveats that have to be figured in when deciding if this unit is right for you, chief among them being making sure you can position the PJ in the slim range of distances for the size screen you want. If you have a blank wall you are likely good to go, but if you have a pre-fab screen you need to be very cautious. Also you need to make sure the noise level will not be too distracting, on a table top this may not be the way to go but if you are going to cieling mount you are probably OK."

Sam

Sam, Thanks for dropping by and linking your review.

If you are in US you can get W500 from BenQ directy at $764 using the thankyou10 promo code. I think this is even better not only because of the price but also more secured to deal directly with the manufacturer.

http://store.benq.us/benq-us/basket....ode=thankyou10

Hello,

I own one of those fantastic projector but i would like to know if there is a way to have my video source (PC/Wii) powering on the projector whenever a signal is sent over the cable by the source.

That would make sense, although I would have though this would be a standard feature the w500 doesnt seem to have it.

Thanks

Just an update... it was indeed a burnt out lamp. I got a new one today and it came right back to life. I got to see the exact total on the old one: 1848 hours on Eco, zero on normal.

Happy to have my projector back, but not at all pleased to have had to shell out $240 a little halfway thru the expected life of the bulb.

I am about to jump into the front projector world, and will probably start on the lower end. I am looking at the W500. My screen would be 92", and I am thinking about going with a coffetable mount to start with. I will ceiling mount at some point. I used Projector Central's calculator to figure out that I need to be within 10-12' from the screen for 92", which would be perfect.

What I am not sure about is how to use the vertical lens shift. I understand this unit has some flexibility here. I would ideally love to put this unit on a shelf under my coffee table that is about 6" off the ground. If I did this, how low would the bottom edge of the screen have to be? I guess I am asking how vertical lense shift works.

Thanks!
Greg

I'm new to projectors as well. I should have a w500 sometime wednesday.

I started typing up a convoluted reply w/ facts figures & mathmatics. The simple answer is to look at the projector calculator @ benq.com. Assuming you're using the floor location w/ the lens at an adjusted 9" above the floor, the bottom of the image w/ a 92" diag. would be 9" + 4.5" (assuming full lens shift).

That's a pretty low screen. Much better if you could get the PJ up around 30" of height.

I was playing with the projection calculator at Projector Central and a question occurred to me. Is it better to have the PJ as far away from the screen as possible and use no zoom or as close to the screen as possible and use full zoom?

Any suggestions for an inexpensive manual pull down screen? I started working on a DIY project, and have become disillusioned with it. I think I'd rather return the unused materials to home depot and apply the $$$ towards a turnkey solution. (I rent, so some of the easier DIY projects are out of the question)

Probably looking for a 92" diagonal which will be less expensive to ship to Alaska. Anything longer than 96" packaged length takes a massive hit on postage, and don't even get me started on UPS or FedEx...

Light can be controlled with addtional work, although at the moment (winter) it's a non-issue.

Over @ ebay there are some Elite Screens with free shipping (+$10 surcharge for AK) which seems like a homerun. A Da-Lite "B" pull down is about twice the price. Panoview? Accuscreen?


Any tips or recommendations? My white textured wall isn't cutting the mustard.


__________
w500

Da-Lite 92" pulldown 1.0 I think its only $130 from Dell.com

Hi! Long time lurker, first time poster.

Is the W500 still a good choice for ~$800-850CDN? It seems like it is still one of the best projectors for the price.

I have a dark basement but it would see some daylight and potentially be moved around a little to family/friends for movie nights etc.

Price is definitely the motivator for us (my wife has given me a budget) Patience is not one of my virtues but should I wait for a price drop or different pj?

Thanks,
Paul

W500 projector. About 700 hours. I used it for some time with component video from a Zenith 318. I then switched to HDMI from a Phillips 5990 upconverting to 1080p. Now when I turn it on using the HDMI feed I get a red screen with a resolution so low it just looks like blocks on the screen. Maybe 50 dots per inch. Happens with all dvds. Doesn't matter if I switch the resolution on the Philips back to 720p or 1080i. If I go back to component from the Zenith everything is fine. I suppose it could be the HDMI cable or the Philips player, but I'm suspicious of the W500 as occasionally when I start it up with the Zenith I get a bunch of crawly lines on the screen and the only way to get rid of them is to turn off the projector, wait 90 seconds and turn it back on again. This has always fixed the problem with the component feed but it has no effect on the HDMI feed and the problem, of course, is much worse. Finding where to look may be a problem. I guess I could buy another HDMI cable though they are expensive. I don't have any other DVD player that will do HDMI and I bought the player over the internet so I can't take it back to the store very easily to be tested. I could send it back but, as I said, it may well be the W500. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Richard

hey guys - I just picked up a BenQ w500 today and was wondering it anyone knew the actual thread size of the mounting screws? I've searched online and in the manual and can't seem to find the specs for it (and I don't want to haul a projector into Home Depot or Canadian Tire)...

thanks

I also recently purchased this projector and am in the process of mounting it. Thinking of DIY...

I believe I found the thread size in this thread. Metric M4 Thread (4mm x 0.7mm pitch). I have not purchased the bolts so I can not confirm. Let me know where you find them and I will do the same.

Yes! Found it in this post:

Page 33, post 969. Can't post links yet...

Cheers!

I got my mount from monoprice and the bolts fit perfectly. For 17.00 bucks you cant go wrong.

I'm down to I believe 80% of bulb life...

I was watching a movie the other day, and a warning came up telling me I need to replace my filter ! hhmm I'm guessing I should probably do this huh ?? how much do these guys cost? how hard is it to replace? anyone replace one? what would happen if I don't ??

Where did you get your bulb I think I'm well over a thousand hours


You sure you haven't missed some clean dust filter messages? I've had those a few a times and just taken out the filter and blown compressed air on it.

so I don't need to replace the filter, I just need to blow some air through it? I guess I'll go fire up my compressor....

oh yeah btw, where is the filter located?

Open the bottom hinge, pull out the tray with the foam, and vaccum it. Then put it back in the projector.

awesome thanks ! i'll get on this tonight

How's everyone got theirs calibrated? I have a greenish tinge to mine that I am trying to improve on but can't quite seem to get it the way I want but I also am only guessing and trying small moves. Anyone known of sites or posts on calibration tips and technics?

Get yourself an AVIA calibration disc. If you search around a bit on here you'll likely find a download for it. Follow the instructions and re-calibrate ever 6 months or so.

There's also an HD 709 disc available that I haven't tried yet.

Simply entering someones settings won't help you at all. What looks good on my screen in my setup may look like dog crap to your setup.

I realize that no 2 proj are going to be the same. I guess I will play a bit more and purchase some cal. equipment in the future.