[leisner]

I am ready to replace the very old vidikron projector which came with my house, and after looking through what's available used, at a reasonable price have narrowed my choice to:

barco 808

Sony 1272

New Zenith 895


I am looking for strong preferences on this choice. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.


Also any pros and cons of the various used re-sellers out there would be very much appreciated.


BTW my HT is in a separate basement, and totally darken-able.


Thanks in advance

Larry

 

[axe]

hi, I don't really have any strong preferences on these units, but I'd personally go for the barco 808, mostly for the EM-focus.. people with more experience will fill probably fill in here I like the sony 12xx aswell, it gives a very nice picture indeed..

 

[deronmoped]

For the money a low hour 1272 will be the best deal, the Barco will be a little sharper with the electromagnetic focus and cost you a little more. The Zenith does not have EM focus or point convergence, but does have liquid coupling and you are paying extra because it is new.


I have a 1272, send me a PM if you want more information about it. It is for sale.


Deron

 

[Chuchuf]

My vote would be the Barco 808.


Terry

 

[mdj930]

I have a sony 1252 ( same pq as the 1272 ) and a Barco 808s. the sony is set up as well as I can get it and I like the picture very much and I only did a quick setup on the Barco and the Barco looked much better. The sony is nice but if you could afford the extra for the Barco I would go that rout.

Mike

 

[Energeezer]

I replaced a BG800 which is similar in performance to a Sony 1272 with a BD808 and I can tell you the improvement is huge.

Steve

 

[R.Thompson]

I would go with the BD808. I have owned both the 1272 and the BD808 and found that the "ideal" resolution for the 808 was about 900 lines and the 1272 was a little over 600. (I was using my HTPC and the Powerstrip program) Also, I was able to focus the BD808 to a higher degree than the 1272. (Has bigger tubes and better focusing adjustments)


On the 1272, I thought it had more accurate colors, but this is not to say that the Barco had bad ones... just a little worse.


I would not consider the Zenith though I am sort of talking out my a$$ since I have never used the Zenith.


I say Barco

 

[deronmoped]

My Sony has no problem doing 1024X768, I could try a higher resolution, but in my case I believe there is no reason to. If you just watch DVD's you will notice that the limiting factor is the DVD itself. If you do HDTV you will need a even better PJ then the Barco. Some people say you need a nine inch PJ to be able to do HDTV.


It all comes down to how much more do you want to spend on that last 15% or so. You could say the Sony is 85% there the Barco is 90% there, a NEC XG is 95% there and the G90 is at 100%.


You do not want to forget about the tubes though. Newer tubes help with focus and colors.


Deron

 

[R.Thompson]

I apologize, I did not want to imply that the my 1272 would not do 1024x768, it did. I just felt that the picture was a little too soft when compared with the 600 line setting that a lot of people on this forum suggested. The actual number suggested was 1067x600 since this is a pixel perfect 16x9 ratio.

 

[budiman]

IMHO, the 1272, even though it can do 1024x768, will be very soft and the (horizontal) lines will be overlapping. A good test will be to put a bitmap that has alternating red and green horizontal lines (each 1 pixel thick). You'll see in the projection that it will be red-yellow-green lines.


Don't have any experience on the barco, so don't know about that.

 

[EC]

I'm very new to CRTs. I bought a Barco BG808s because it is modular in design so parts can be swapped out fairly easily. Also, Barco's have a reputation to be easy to setup. Since I'm new to CRTs but have some electronics ability - I found the Barco very easy to setup using its guided installation.

 

[jisaac]

im not sure wich Barco youre talking about but the BG808s is in a different class than the 1272 or the zenith. Its an 8" tube , has a huge 120Mhz bandwith and large horizontal and vertical scan rates. Given the right tube condition it should rival the G70 itself, do hdtv , and maybe even 1080P.

 

[RobertWood]

Larry,


I've owned about 50 video projectors (both CRT and digital) including examples of the 7" Sony's.

A couple of years ago I got hold of a Barco 808s. I will tell you flat out that it has been one of the overall finest units I have ever owned. It has never

had a hiccup, is about the easiest thing there is to setup and adjust, and makes a drop dead gorgeous picture.

I'm an Ampro projector buff (have a couple dozen of them) so have started using one of those again. I tried to sell my 808s with the forum's classifieds but no one wants to buy it (I'm assuming they are afraid of the high chassis hours). So I've put it in the closet which is where it will probably stay until I need it again.

So I will tell you emphatically that an 808s is probably one of the best choices you (or anyone) can make. My hat's off to the Europeans. Until this thing I thought only the Japanese knew how to build electronics.


Bob Wood

 

[deronmoped]

Bob


Why did you pick the Ampro PJ as the one you watch?


Deron

 

[RobertWood]

Deron,


I found an AmPro that really performs well and I have enough Ampro parts to keep it going probably forever.


Bob

 

[leisner]

Thanks for all the input.


I guess the answer is nearly unanimous; a Barco 808, and I guess a 1208 is a newer alternative.


Now I just have to find a projector with reasonable hours (hint hint)


Thanks

Larry

 

[RobertWood]

Larry,


Don't be afraid of high chassis hours. These things can go forever as long as the CRT's are in good condition.


Bob

 

[scottatl]

Bob, if they can go on forever, why do you need so many spare parts for your Ampro?



"I found an AmPro that really performs well and I have enough Ampro parts to keep it going probably forever. "

 

[Curt Palme]

Hey, none of us ever repair projectors, we simply 'upgrade'.


Curt

 

[Chuchuf]

Barco Graphics 808 is a great projector. But as Bob has pointed out the 808S is superior for a number of reasons. The setup firmware is much better on the 808S in that it gives you independant control over the left side, gullswing adj, gamma, and so on. I have set up and sold both and perfer the 808S over the 808. Althouth the 808 or 808S doesn't have large enough CRT's to fully display HD like a 9" tube, the HD picture is still awesome on the 808 and better on the 808S. I set up an 808S on a 100" torus screen the other day as a test and came very close to taking down my 1209. The reason, it's lens's seemed to handly the curve of the torus a bit better than the 1209 so the desktop of my HTPC was crisper (and all the 808 models seem to produce a very nice clear desktop for some reason. Better than most other CRT's)

Now as to where you can get an 808 or 808S. Well there are a few very reputable sellers of CRT who hang around the forum. Some even specialize in Barco's and Sony's.....hint, hint.....lol. I'd mention them by name but then I'd have to shoot myself....lol



Terry