Is it worth the work to upgrade a Sony 1270 to a 1272?

YES. The 1272 will throw a noticeably better picture if the tubes are good. 21 point convergence is helpful unlesss your 1270 is in perfect condition(most have worn capacitors). Also, the 1272 is a little brighter and sharper(at least at low hours). If the 1272 has low hours and good tubes, go for it. As far as bandwidth, both machines max out at 720p(as far as what the tubes can resolve) anyhow, so not a big gain there. The 1272 should beat the 1270 otherwise.

Also, if the 1272 is 2nd gen(HD-8 lenses), use the
PT-43's from the 1270 on it. The PT-43's are sharper and offer somewhat better colors.

Nuh.

The 1272 won't be much sharper. It won't do 1080p very well (1080i ok though).

I would aim higher these days. Marquee or NEC XG or Xtra, or Barco808 - EM focus.

I just don't think it's worth the effort, obviously Sonynut disagrees, but there just aren't that many of us running 125x/7x these days. There's a reason for that. I sold mine 3+ years ago, we have all gone EM or EM LC at least.

I'm just going by the fact that he said "very little money/effort". Yes upgrading out of the Sony 12xx series would be a great jump, but can't be done for very little money..

I base my opinion between the 1270 and 1272 on the fact that I have owned 2 of both.. actually heres the list:

2 1270's
1 1271
1 1251
2 1272's

The 1272's beat the 1270 in ease of use/image quality enormously(convergence problems/drift because of old worn out circuitry mainly(benefits of 21 point convergence ONLY found on the 1271 and 1272)- but OK tubes on the 1270's). The difference between the 1251 and the 1272 was quite noticeable also. Between the 1271 and 1272, not a whole lot of difference except for a teeny bit more brightness and sharpness. Again, HD-8 lenses that came stock on 2nd gen 1272's will kill the benefits, since they are softer.. use the PT-43's.

If the OP can get a 1272 with good tubes/below 3000 hours or thereabout for "very little money", it will be worth it until he has a decent amount of cash to upgrade out of the series. Not to mention the 1270 will make a good parts machine(about 2/3 of a PJ worth of parts). I still say go for it.

No offense of course, Mark. I am what I'd like to call a "king" of budget home theater, which is why I am still stuck on a 1272 after almost 5 years.

It would have to be *no* money, and I can't see how it is very little effort - it is the same effort if you bring in an NEC or any other projector - you still have to get the old one down, put the new one up and set it all up again.

You would get a *massive* difference going to an EM machine like a Marquee or an NEC....

Then again if you have a problem free PJ, you are asking for trouble, for a little better PJ?

Like Mark says, if you are going to upgrade, get something that will do what you want.

Of course if the 72 is real easy to come by, you could put it on a stand and compare it too the 70 you have and then make a decision.

Deron.

Hopefully I don't sound too argumentative, as I am actually a nice guy who tries to help as much as I can . It all boils down to how much money the 1272 costs, compared to an EM focus machine. Yes there are HUGE benefits to going to 8" EM focus, but again not for very little money. If the OP won't have a decent amount of money(usually over $1000) for quite some time, the 1272(in good shape) is still a good idea in my opinion. I was quite happy to upgrade to a 1272 after 3 years, and am stil happy with it after another almost 2 years. The 1272 will suffice probably another 2 years(I have PLENTY of spare parts just in case) until I can upgrade. The 1272 is a better quality, better built machine than an ancient 1270. I will add that even of the 1272 has bad tubes, if the tubes in the 1270 are good, the 21 point convergence and upgraded and 6-7 years newer electronics will be worth swapping the tubes into the 1272(again the worn cap factor).Both 1270's I owned had some serious convergence issues that, no matter how I tried, could not be taken care of.

I should ask this.. Penfold99, how much will the 1272 cost you?

Yep, it all depends on cost. Swapping effort is free/fun.

But you can pick up EM machines cheap, you just have to be patient and willing to do repairs.

It's all about networking and patience. For instance I sold my 1251 for double the price of the Xtra that replaced it - and I sold the 1251 at fair market value at the time. Networking.

Then an XG popped up for $500 with good tubes but unknown chassis condition - thanks to Yonexsp here on AVS. I got it working but I have subsequently put 3 boards in it ($95 + shipping) to get it quirk free. Networking.

If it's free/price of beers, sure go for it. But if it's a big hassle or a few hundred bucks..aim higher.

Sonynut, can you really swap any parts/tubes between them? Tubes are different, so are the electronics - is much compatible?

What about getting the 1272 and keeping it till the 1270 gets worn tubes?

I'm thinking that's what I would do. I loved my 1271 so much I wanted minty spares just laying around waiting till the dreaded wear gets bad or at least shows up.

What I actually did however is buy a G70. Which could be more fun. Why not look for one of those?

=Brian

p.s. the tubes may be different but are pretty exchange-able. (Though sometimes you run out of adjustment on the focus pots.)

It's all going to depend on tube condition, and more importantly how long the set has been run in standby mode. (set on, but no light output)

As per my FAQ, ES focusing tubes are noticably softer at about 3000 hours of runtime whether the tubes emit light or not. THe 12XX series only have 4 digit hour meters, so a set with 2500 hours could have 12,500 hours on it, 11,000 of that not emitting light. THe tubes will look pristine, but they will be soft.

The 1252 and 1272 use the sharper 07MSP tubes, but after 3000 hours or so, they'll be as soft as the older 07MP as found in all other 12XX sets (except 1292).

But yes, if it's virtually free, grab it. If nothing else for spare parts for the 1270.

If you are hoping for an improvement in PQ, I would never waste the time. All things being equal, the image is still going to be roughly the same on both projectors. The 1272 was my second PJ.
The next step up, as Mark said is a NEC, although he suggests the XG, The lowly PG series will be enough of an upgrade over any Sony 12XX that you'll notice right away and the cost of a PG is almost irrelevant these days. After that it's the XG, marquee, 808, etc.

don't walk, run and go and buy that projector. 100 bucks is a good deal(provided the tubes are not worn). Hell you could buy the projector and part it out on ebay for more than 100 bucks.

Yep, I agree, it's well worth $100.

Whether it's a significant upgrade and worth swapping out is debateable (hence the debating ) but yep, it's worth $100 if it's local.

If the 1272 truly only has 2200 hours it, then it should be a pretty nice upgrade over a much older machine (with probably many more hours on the chassis and tubes.)

As a benefit, it will be really easy to slap the 1272 back up in place of the 1270 - especially if you swap lenses. Same mounting location, same mount, etc.

For $100, it's a no-brainer - and I'd be all over it.

As for "being patient" and waiting for a good deal on an EM machine to come along, that's a hell of a lot easier said than done where I live. In my neck of the woods, I've only seen a handful of CRT projectors go through the very few venues you'd ever see them... and that's in probably 5 years or more. So, the idea of "stumbling" onto something may or may not be realistic for some of us. I'm just sayin'...

So, I don't have much choice... Unless I want to drop a couple grand on something nice, I have to be happy with my lowly 12xx's for now.

SC