It would be interesting to know what owners of the Gateway 56 DLP have experienced with its projector bulb life. Please respond back with how many hours your current bulb has without burning out or how many hours your first bulb lasted before burning out. Thanks!
Gateway projector bulb life survey
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Damn I hate to hear this. If all we are going to get out of these bulbs is 2000 hrs.......................We got screwed. If these Large TV's was not so hard to sell an get a fair Price I might put this on the market an go for a Big Brand name
| Originally posted by hymie My first bulb lasted just under 2000 hours. I'm starting my third week of waiting for the replacement. |
1850 hrs and still on the first bulb.
I'll start by saying that I'm very pleased with PQ of this set and so far have had no problems.
Of interest, Firecap sent me a message in April, It's as follows:
""Buster,
Yes, my Gateway was the very first one that Seth has ever calibrated. I believe it was worth the 400 buck because of two reasons, first my TV was burning very bright, the highest he has every seen. I guess normal level are around 6500, mind was at 7800+, I probably save a year on the bulb life. Second he adjust my color (I had too much blue) and got my black levels just right. Watching a dark movies is very enjoyable now. I upgrade to a DVI DVD player at the same time so that might have seem like a bigger difference in PQ for me. But saving the bulb life should be worth it alone plus it doesn't hurt me eyes anymore when watching a long movie. I can't wait to get HD (this summer) and watch NFL games in hi def."
From what I've read on this forum Seth is one of the best out there and He may be onto something.
Maybe these sets were shipped with a bad factory setting? Are any of the other brand DLP sets getting more longevity from lamps? My guess is that there are only a few companies making the bulbs and the manufacturers are mounting in their housings. If that's true and other brand DLP owners are getting longer lamp life, something's not right with GW's product. Could it be that a minor adjustment would extend the lamp life to (at least) what was listed by GW (6,000 hrs)?
At $400.00 a pop (from GW) someone's making a killing selling these lamps, though I hate to think that way. I knew the price of replacement lamps when I ordered the set, although 2000 hrs (Jones07 & Hymie) is a long shot from 6,000 and it seems allot of folks are not able to reach even half the expected hours.
Any techs out there who's knowledgeable of how to check/adjust bulb intensity, please chime in, we need your help!
Lastly, I hope this helps.
I'll start by saying that I'm very pleased with PQ of this set and so far have had no problems.
Of interest, Firecap sent me a message in April, It's as follows:
""Buster,
Yes, my Gateway was the very first one that Seth has ever calibrated. I believe it was worth the 400 buck because of two reasons, first my TV was burning very bright, the highest he has every seen. I guess normal level are around 6500, mind was at 7800+, I probably save a year on the bulb life. Second he adjust my color (I had too much blue) and got my black levels just right. Watching a dark movies is very enjoyable now. I upgrade to a DVI DVD player at the same time so that might have seem like a bigger difference in PQ for me. But saving the bulb life should be worth it alone plus it doesn't hurt me eyes anymore when watching a long movie. I can't wait to get HD (this summer) and watch NFL games in hi def."
From what I've read on this forum Seth is one of the best out there and He may be onto something.
Maybe these sets were shipped with a bad factory setting? Are any of the other brand DLP sets getting more longevity from lamps? My guess is that there are only a few companies making the bulbs and the manufacturers are mounting in their housings. If that's true and other brand DLP owners are getting longer lamp life, something's not right with GW's product. Could it be that a minor adjustment would extend the lamp life to (at least) what was listed by GW (6,000 hrs)?
At $400.00 a pop (from GW) someone's making a killing selling these lamps, though I hate to think that way. I knew the price of replacement lamps when I ordered the set, although 2000 hrs (Jones07 & Hymie) is a long shot from 6,000 and it seems allot of folks are not able to reach even half the expected hours.
Any techs out there who's knowledgeable of how to check/adjust bulb intensity, please chime in, we need your help!
Lastly, I hope this helps.
Gateway may not even be the place. I still haven't gotten the bulb, and they are now saying that it will arrive end of December. But they're just making that up - they advance the date every time it comes near. Their customer service people have no clue as to what's going on, except to say that it's back ordered at the factory. I am enormously unhappy, but I have no idea what to do, or what recourse may be available. It is just so incredibly infuriating that I'm starting to have sympathy for people who go postal.
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Yes................Gateway is the only place...............and they know it. hence the $400 plus tax plus shipping rip-off price. I love the TV but I made a mistake in not buying from a major brand name...................I was warned
Edit to add. Vizio would not answer my e-mail either. I had to call. But once I said this is for a gateway TV the csr said they are the same, But and this is a BIG BUT. They will not honor the 90 day warrenty for none vizio owners nor take returns. Being that it was only a $50 savings, it was not worth it .
| Originally posted by KKemp Is Gateway the only place to get a replacement bulb? Isn't the Vizio tv the same as the gateway? I've looked on their site but they don't list replacement bulbs, and e-mailed them twice regarding replacement bulbs, but no response. |
Edit to add. Vizio would not answer my e-mail either. I had to call. But once I said this is for a gateway TV the csr said they are the same, But and this is a BIG BUT. They will not honor the 90 day warrenty for none vizio owners nor take returns. Being that it was only a $50 savings, it was not worth it .
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hymie, I been in your shoes and the shoes hurt like hell. It take me 3.5 weeks to get a replacement bulb for my bulb that dead at just 2200 hours. "It's rated for 6000 hours yeah right" You are right about them moving the date back every time your shipping date comes an goes. That happed to me twice.
I love the size the features the price of this tv, but I made a mistake in not buying from a major brand name...................Yes I was warned.
I bent over a took the hard one by buying a back up spare Bulb in case my new lamp dies after just 2K hours again. Do not want to be with out a working TV for almost a month again. Enormously unhappy ? Yes I been in your shoes
| Originally posted by hymie Gateway may not even be the place. I still haven't gotten the bulb, and they are now saying that it will arrive end of December. But they're just making that up - they advance the date every time it comes near. Their customer service people have no clue as to what's going on, except to say that it's back ordered at the factory. I am enormously unhappy, but I have no idea what to do, or what recourse may be available. It is just so incredibly infuriating that I'm starting to have sympathy for people who go postal. |
I love the size the features the price of this tv, but I made a mistake in not buying from a major brand name...................Yes I was warned.
I bent over a took the hard one by buying a back up spare Bulb in case my new lamp dies after just 2K hours again. Do not want to be with out a working TV for almost a month again. Enormously unhappy ? Yes I been in your shoes
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How many hours did you get out of your bulb ? My weak ass bulb lasted just over 2200 hours
This may help you get a bulb faster. I or my wife called every other day to complain about not having a bulb shipped out. We made a 100% pest of ourselves. every time we called we asked to speak to a manager and we go up from there. every other day we would do this. Some times they would just place us on hold then hung up. But we would call back the next day an start all over again. Finally they found a lamp from some where to ship us. You waited 3 months ? Oh my God.
| Originally posted by hymie Gateway It is just so incredibly infuriating that I'm starting to have sympathy for people who go postal. |
This may help you get a bulb faster. I or my wife called every other day to complain about not having a bulb shipped out. We made a 100% pest of ourselves. every time we called we asked to speak to a manager and we go up from there. every other day we would do this. Some times they would just place us on hold then hung up. But we would call back the next day an start all over again. Finally they found a lamp from some where to ship us. You waited 3 months ? Oh my God.
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3627 hours and going. The set is approaching 13 months old. Guess it's time to look into a spare. Damn!
Has anyone looked into the lamp refurbishment service offered at http://www.jopprugroup.com/plamp.htm?
They offer to refurbish your lamp for about half the cost of a new replacement. Of course I don't have a burned out unit to send in - yet.
Has anyone looked into the lamp refurbishment service offered at http://www.jopprugroup.com/plamp.htm?
They offer to refurbish your lamp for about half the cost of a new replacement. Of course I don't have a burned out unit to send in - yet.
I looked into lamp technology a couple of months ago when my lamp burned out. 2644 hours. I have put over a 1000 hours on the new bulb.
Philips makes the bulbs. The bulb is an Ultra High Pressure bulb that has a very very small arc lenght to increase optical efficiency in the lenses. Philips continues to innovate lamp technology, so the bulbs in our Gateways and Vizios are already outdated. Our bulbs came out in 1996. The new bulbs are better, smaller, and incompatable.
There are two really fast ways to burn out the UHP bulb. Leave the TV on for 14 hours a day, and turn the TV on and off a whole lot. I have no idea what the happy medium is.
Lots of us have found that using component inputs, the TV goes blank, and cycles on and off randomly. My DVD player does it, my HD reciever doesn't. I would recomend that if you find that your DVD player, using component inputs, has intermitten screen blanking, you stop using your DVD player immediately. Use S-Video inputs untill you buy a new DVD player. The DVD player cost way less than the light bulb it might destroy.
I'm concerned that screen blanking kills bulb life. Power outages also shorten the life of the bulbs.
Best of luck,
Mitchell
Philips makes the bulbs. The bulb is an Ultra High Pressure bulb that has a very very small arc lenght to increase optical efficiency in the lenses. Philips continues to innovate lamp technology, so the bulbs in our Gateways and Vizios are already outdated. Our bulbs came out in 1996. The new bulbs are better, smaller, and incompatable.
There are two really fast ways to burn out the UHP bulb. Leave the TV on for 14 hours a day, and turn the TV on and off a whole lot. I have no idea what the happy medium is.
Lots of us have found that using component inputs, the TV goes blank, and cycles on and off randomly. My DVD player does it, my HD reciever doesn't. I would recomend that if you find that your DVD player, using component inputs, has intermitten screen blanking, you stop using your DVD player immediately. Use S-Video inputs untill you buy a new DVD player. The DVD player cost way less than the light bulb it might destroy.
I'm concerned that screen blanking kills bulb life. Power outages also shorten the life of the bulbs.
Best of luck,
Mitchell
Huh? DLP light engines use a certain wattage bulb, are you talking about degrees kelvin? Doesn't that have zero to do with bulb intensity?
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| Originally posted by Buster H Yes, my Gateway was the very first one that Seth has ever calibrated. I believe it was worth the 400 buck because of two reasons, first my TV was burning very bright, the highest he has every seen. I guess normal level are around 6500, mind was at 7800+, |
He might be talking about Lumens (unit of light).
My bulb is at about 1800 (last I checked), so I guess I'd better get a spare. Love the TV, but if the bulb goes out at 2k hours I may dump it and go with a name brand from a local shop that will support it better than Gateway.
I too was warned not to buy Gateway, but I thought I'd give them a chance...lesson learned. If my bulb goes at 2k hours, overpriced bulbs may be the last things I (or my company, family and friends for that matter) ever buy from Gateway.
My bulb is at about 1800 (last I checked), so I guess I'd better get a spare. Love the TV, but if the bulb goes out at 2k hours I may dump it and go with a name brand from a local shop that will support it better than Gateway.
I too was warned not to buy Gateway, but I thought I'd give them a chance...lesson learned. If my bulb goes at 2k hours, overpriced bulbs may be the last things I (or my company, family and friends for that matter) ever buy from Gateway.
I thought about dumping my set but it's hard as hell to sell a TV this size. And my wife don't like the ideal of our home becoming a showroom for "maybe" buyers to take a look at it..................I'm kind of stuck I think.
I got a back-up lamp just in case. So worst case I'm home free for 1.8 more years.
I got a back-up lamp just in case. So worst case I'm home free for 1.8 more years.
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