720p CRT projectors in the $1000 range?

You can get a CRT projector that can do 720p very well for under $1000. If you're lucky you could even get one that does 1080p well for under $1000. I got a Sony 1292Q for around $550.

A CRT projector with 8" tubes, electromagnetic (EM) focus, and liquid-coupled (LC) lenses would do 720p very nicely. A CRT projector with 8" tubes, electrostatic (ES) focus, and air-coupled (AC) lenses would do 720p, though it would be slightly soft. I have a Sony 1271Q (8", ES, AC) and 720p looks pretty damn good on it. I'd personally take slightly soft 720p with great contrast, black levels, color fidelity, no screendoor, and no rainbows, over the sharper and brighter picture a digital would provide. A 127x with good picture tubes would go for maybe $300 to $600. The problem with getting a CRT projector is that you either have to patiently hunt for one that's at least semi-local on eBay or spend lots of money on shipping. In addition, you'd have to run it in an environment with total light control, a.k.a. -- a really dark room. Try a search on AVS's for sale forum, VideogoN, eBay (to search for Sony CRT projectors simply search for "VPH"), or check out Curt Palme's inventory (www.curtpalme.com).

there is a nice barco 1208 on videogone for sale 999 i bet you can get it for less.

http://cgi.videogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...242&class&3&4&

$650 each new, but at 10,000 hours rated life if they are in good shape when you buy the set, you'll never need any (unless you're a gamer that plays 10 hours a day..LOL!)

Figure out how many hours a day you'll watch, and figure out how many hours a year you'll run the set.

2 hours a night =730 hours a year, so even a lightly worn tube set will last 10 years.

A typical bulb for digital pj last about 1000-2000 hours and can cost form 500 to 700 dollars crt last alot longer up to 10000 hours and usualy only the green tube wares first and new tubes from vdc are about 600 , and i have seen one post on here wher someone has about 80,000 hours on an old sony ! take into consideration changing bulbs to tubes it ends up being alot cheaper, i found an Electrohome Marquee 8000 for 470 bucks on ebay and love it! i switched from didgital and now will never go back !

Athansios

Hey, another college student wanting a crt, cool. Let me first to tell you welcome to the club, but also tell you, you really need to know what your getting into first. Check one out locally if possibly and see what you think. These are large and I couldn't bring mine to college, too much moving. Oh, did I mention these things are big? hehehe.

edit: For most crts I don't think that throw distance will be large enough. My xg needed an almost 1.5x screen width setup and for a minimum of 60 inches that will mean you need at least 10ft to the lenses and another 2 or more for just the length of the pj. Again, you may want to consider your options. Good Luck.

It still be cool !

Athanasios

I just have to correct something here. Digital lamps typically cost $300-$400 on average, not $500-$700.

It can be on the floor and I would highly recommend this. You may want to consider getting a digital though, it won't look as good but you could get one in that price range, at least a 720p projector.
A few people have suggested me to get a digital but once I had a XG and how good that looked I won't settle for anything less. I'm picky though, but I would rather have no pj then be stuck with a crappy digital. You could try picking up one for cheap on the bay though, maybe.

http://www.curtpalme.com/Projector_Rankings.shtm
Here is the ranking of crt projectors. For the most part its accurate. I got the oppurtunity to see a crt first hand before a purchase, unfortunately it was one of the best 8'' LC machines and it set the bar pretty high for me. I think that would be an excellent first pj but you may upgrade later if you like what you see.

Ask for pics of the tubes. I saw a Mitsubishi VS 1281 on there too, its at 99. now but its pick up only. Not sure where you live in proximity to the seller. Dont know much about the mitsu set but i have heard they throw a great pic. if i lived closer i'd get it t out of curiosity.

Athansios

Just so you know, the lower the crt ranks on the list, the better! Just in case you thought the opposite was true. Good luck in your search.

Wow, I honestly have not seen those prices in at least a year. I have not seen a 12XX sell for over $250 in a long time. I can't imagine anyone paying $600 for one. There was a brand new D50 on ebay with 14 original hours and the guy kept lowering his price until it eventually sold for around $500 I believe.
You can get better projectors like Nec PG for $200-$300. I see them all the time on ebay.

Oh, forgot to mention ambient light sucks, a pitch black room is perferred. These things aren't super bright like a digital. Don't forget, this is a great tool for new guys:
http://www.curtpalme.com/CRTPrimer.shtm

That guy has been trying to sell that unit forever. Probably because the tubes don't look good.

Also, if you want to watch in ambient light you'll want to shade the light and crank up the contrast a bit (and brightness too). A torus screen or light grey screen will work best in ambient light.

I was accounting for resellers as well.

Any 12xx would be a pretty decent start into CRT front projection. A 1251Q will do DVD very well and will accept 720p and 1080i, even though it won't be able to fully resolve them. The 12xx projectors are built like tanks and are pretty easy to setup. I own two 1271Qs.

possibly, I know with the 360 I just used the VGA out cable and then bought a $5 VGA to 5 BNC (RGB) input cable.

The Xbox360 has a component HD cable, if you buy the pack with the HD cable that is what you get.

I can confirm that a Sony VPH1000QM can get 80,000 hours or more on it's tubes.
I am only just now starting to think about raising the G2 voltage to get some more brightness out of them.

RGBHV is the same as VGA, just with a different connector.