[nigel_ht]

I was on a beer mission at the local Costcos and saw a tent setup with an Optoma and Vutec screen combo.


Since they were closing I didn't have any time to take a closer look or talk to the guy but has anyone else seen this? I think the combo was in the $4K range, DLP and I vaguely recall a decent speed color wheel. 1280x720...but don't quote me on that one...they were in the process of clearing folks out so I had to run to the beer section.


Did I see the H76? I don't remember any other optomas that fit that bill. Or maybe I just mis-remembered the rez.


Nigel

 

[Andrikos]

Interesting indeed...

Was this a Costco roadshow or was it displayed with their regular stuff?

I'll have to check it out during the weekend...

 

[J.Mike Ferrara]

Wow, front projection goes mainstream.

I guess that means more Joe 6-pac types on AVS....

 

[MikeSRC]

At that price, it sounds more likely that it was the H56. The H76 (if it's ever released) will be more than $4k dealer cost.

 

[nigel_ht]

Quote:

Originally posted by Andrikos Interesting indeed... Was this a Costco roadshow or was it displayed with their regular stuff? I'll have to check it out during the weekend...

I'm not an official costco member so I don't really know...it looked like a "roadshow" setup in as much as it was a tent and not a room. I'm guessing they're pushing for Super Bowl Sunday.


I also saw a much wider selection of plasmas than I expected at Costco. There was a LCD projector of some kind in the tent as well. If I had to guess on the screen size it was probably 52x92...it was much larger than the largest plasmas being carried.


Nigel

 

[Andrikos]

Wow, good stuff!

Even if it's *only* the H56, nobody can offer prices lower than Costco and NOT go bankrupt.

If they get into this with good offerings, they'll destroy the competition.

They already are the biggest wine seller in the U.S. and they're not even spread to most of the country...

 

[drapp1952]

Now this could be a smooth move for a change from Optoma. If Joe's in the market doing a beer run for Sunday and sees what $4K could give him compared with some of the big screens on the floor, he may consider it. It's when he wants to take a few paintings off the living room wall and notices it's kinda washed out during the day that he might start looking for the receipt.


Dan

 

[Andrikos]

For costco you don't even need a receipt to return stuff...

 

[Craig Peer]

The sooner front projectors go mainstream, the sooner the day I can afford a 3 chip DLP - hoorah Costco!!

 

[nigel_ht]

My friend swung by and brought me propaganda (sales literature).


It is indeed a "road show" rather than a Costco regular feature.


The projector, from looking at the specs and Optoma projectors is a EzPro 756 (heh, guess this belongs in that other forum ) that comes with ceiling mount. The actual projector isn't listed...just "Custom DLP Optoma (True 1080i)". True 1080i, I wish.


The screen is a 84"x 48" 1.3 gain Vutec wall mount.


2000 lumens onto 1.3 gain 84" screen = pretty bright picture. Not able to deal with sunlight or direct lighting but okay with a bit of ambient for ESPN-HD.


Heh, they throw in 52 weeks worth of popcorn. I should hope so given that the 756 is not a $4K projector.


Still, J6P will probably like it enough if they have it for this Sunday.


Nigel


PS Oh, the LCD is an unnamed Hitachi. 1200 lumens, 800x600 300:1 CR.

 

[mlharges]

It's not just Costco -


This weekend I was at a New Orleans area Sam's Club and I saw an InFocus 4800 package with screen for $1300-$1400 (if I remember correctly). They weren't demoing it, so you had to recognize what it was just sitting there on the shelf, but imagine how many they'd sell if people could see it in action compared to the $2K and above plasmas.


Mike H.

 

[Hank Perkins]

Go to the Costco website, no more rear projection units for sale there, tv w/ dvd players, plasma's, lcd's, and projectors.