[Sethbacca]

I lurk here often, first post. I was all set to pull the trigger on an HD66 for the 3d capabilities or HD20 for the 1080p, but I was in Best Buy (portland,me) today and they had the HD65 on clearance for $399, and an open box with only a couple hours on it for $360. So ultimately I decided to go with the HD65, which means I wont feel too bad when I want to get a 3d model in the next year or two.


Did I make a mistake here? It seemed a killer deal, I'm just trying to gauge how people like theirs. I mostly am going to use it for my PS3 for gaming and movies in a small ~10'x15' pretty well light controlled room.


Also, from what I understand, the 2500 lumen HD66 is just a firmware upgrade of the HD65. Would the higher powered lamp work in the HD65?


Thanks all in advance for the replies.

 

[civilizedcitizen]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sethbacca /forum/post/18218257


I lurk here often, first post. I was all set to pull the trigger on an HD66 for the 3d capabilities or HD20 for the 1080p, but I was in Best Buy (portland,me) today and they had the HD65 on clearance for $399, and an open box with only a couple hours on it for $360. So ultimately I decided to go with the HD65, which means I wont feel too bad when I want to get a 3d model in the next year or two.


Did I make a mistake here? It seemed a killer deal, I'm just trying to gauge how people like theirs. I mostly am going to use it for my PS3 for gaming and movies in a small ~10'x15' pretty well light controlled room.


Also, from what I understand, the 2500 lumen HD66 is just a firmware upgrade of the HD65. Would the higher powered lamp work in the HD65?


Thanks all in advance for the replies.

Interestingly, I did the exact same thing today. I am liking it so far. It's cheaply built but somehow projects a better picture than my Sharp z2000!

 

[Sethbacca]

I got it hooked up just to play with it, no screen yet, going to ultimately get the screen paint. It projects a pretty nice picture even onto just a regular old wall. I hooked up the PS3, calibrated basically using a THX Optimizer disc, then proceed to play some Modern Warfare 2 and God of War 3 demo, and demo'd a few blu-rays.


Pretty phenomal for the price I'm thinking. Now just need a better receiver

Note : I may just be impressed because it's my first pj.

 

[.plaid]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sethbacca /forum/post/18218257


Did I make a mistake here? It seemed a killer deal, I'm just trying to gauge how people like theirs.

I read your post then put on my shoes and headed out the door. The BB in town didn't have one, nor the one in the next town, but the third one! The one I bought had 46 hours on the lamp.


This thing is a lot louder than I would have expected. I'm pretty close to the unit right now, it's about 3ft behind my head, but I'm going to have to get used to tuning out the noise from the fan. Still, for a first projector, it's pretty sweet. I don't regret spending so little to get so close to 10800p @ 80+ inches diagonal.


+1 for sharing your experience that I might have a similar one.


Best,

.


Edit: a bit of searching yielded this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by matt314159 /forum/post/16572433


The high-altitude is a setting in the projector that basically runs the fan faster. You don't need to use that unless you're living some place like denver.

Further, it seems that placement is important. My unit is slightly above and behind me, so the fan is pointed at me as it were. Might be better once I mount it above my head.

 

[Sethbacca]

@.plaid - Outstanding, I'm glad that you were able to get the deal! I decided I'm pretty happy with this thing.


My girlfriend wasn't on board with the projector until I got it hooked up last night, and then she wasn't sure how we had ever lived without it.

 

[jay]



Quote:
Originally Posted by .plaid /forum/post/18220024

This thing is a lot louder than I would have expected. I'm pretty close to the unit right now, it's about 3ft behind my head, but I'm going to have to get used to tuning out the noise from the fan. Still, for a first projector, it's pretty sweet. I don't regret spending so little to get so close to 10800p @ 80+ inches diagonal.

This is the reason why I got rid of my HD65.. Being in Northern Colorado I wonder if your elevation is as high as ours in Salt Lake City.. I had this projector for about a month and got rid of it because the fan was always on high altitude mode.. It was a great PJ and even liked the picture quality than my Mitsu HC1600 but just was going crazy with the noise! Hopefully you can get use to it because I couldnt!

 

[taoggniklat]



Quote:
Originally Posted by .plaid /forum/post/18220024


I read your post then put on my shoes and headed out the door. The BB in town didn't have one, nor the one in the next town, but the third one! The one I bought had 46 hours on the lamp.


This thing is a lot louder than I would have expected. I'm pretty close to the unit right now, it's about 3ft behind my head, but I'm going to have to get used to tuning out the noise from the fan. Still, for a first projector, it's pretty sweet. I don't regret spending so little to get so close to 10800p @ 80+ inches diagonal.


+1 for sharing your experience that I might have a similar one.


Best,

.


Edit: a bit of searching yielded this:


Further, it seems that placement is important. My unit is slightly above and behind me, so the fan is pointed at me as it were. Might be better once I mount it above my head.

Hey, Can you PM the place you found this at? I to am in NorCo

 

[victor-eyd]

Wow! Great price on the HD65. I just got a sharp z2000 for about $40 more from tiger ( a refurb but 0 hrs on the lamp) and right now its used for what you want: MW2, bioshock, blu rays. It's a real upgrade from my previous xga lcd pj and the screen got larger too- from 100" to 118" in 13x12 room.


Enjoy the madness!


Victor

 

[TF Ghost]

"Optoma HD65 - Just picked up new for $360, any opinions"


Awesome?!

 

[.plaid]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sethbacca /forum/post/18220407


@.plaid - Outstanding, I'm glad that you were able to get the deal! I decided I'm pretty happy with this thing.

What are you thinking on for a screen? My local Home Depot is out of stock on their Do-Able panels, but expect to receive another shipment on March 11th.

Quote:
Originally Posted by taoggniklat /forum/post/18227277


Hey, Can you PM the place you found this at? I to am in NorCo

PM sent.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jay² /forum/post/18225832


This is the reason why I got rid of my HD65.. Being in Northern Colorado I wonder if your elevation is as high as ours in Salt Lake City

I'm at about 4700ft ASL, or about 500ft above SLC. The pj is currently shelf mounted behind me - this placement is temporary. I'll ceiling-mount it after I move in a few weeks and it'll be closer to "directly above me." This should help a bit.

 

[Sethbacca]



Quote:
Originally Posted by .plaid /forum/post/18228462


What are you thinking on for a screen? My local Home Depot is out of stock on their Do-Able panels, but expect to receive another shipment on March 11th.

Honestly, I think I'm just going to go the screen painted wall route. Mount the projector on the wall opposite side the room from where the screen is and paint myself a screen

 

[jay]



Quote:
Originally Posted by .plaid /forum/post/18228462


I'm at about 4700ft ASL, or about 500ft above SLC. The pj is currently shelf mounted behind me - this placement is temporary. I'll ceiling-mount it after I move in a few weeks and it'll be closer to "directly above me." This should help a bit.

Actually putting it directly above you isn't going to help with the noise.. I had mine directly above me and that's what drove me crazy!! When you first turn the PJ on is it pretty quiet at first but then the fan speeds starts picking up and gets it to the highest setting during the first 5 mins? That's what mine did.. I actually bought two of them thinking the first one was defected but they both did.. I didn't want to get rid of it because it was a nice PJ but I just couldn't take the noise.. I did make $100 on each PJ when I sold it though..

 

[reconlabtech]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sethbacca /forum/post/18231172


Honestly, I think I'm just going to go the screen painted wall route. Mount the projector on the wall opposite side the room from where the screen is and paint myself a screen

That's what I did:

 

[dukenilnil]



Quote:
Originally Posted by TF Ghost /forum/post/18228191

"Optoma HD65 - Just picked up new for $360, any opinions"


Awesome?!

Agreed, Awesome! I've been watching this projector for a while and almost jumped on a 650 deal including a screen. $399 new and $360 virtually new is insane. Crazy good deal for a projector of that quality. I am hoping to get one before they are all gone. Will find out today.

 

[bobbyg1983]

Just got home with what I believe is the last one in the Chicago area, which I picked up new for $399.

The first store I went to had none, but the associate was very helpful and we used RSS (their inventory software) to check out the other BBs in the area. Two or three stores showed 1 in inventory, but when calling, they couldn't be located and weren't sure what was up, but finally at the Schaumburg store the customer service rep tracked their 1 down. Oddly enough, however, the system had it priced at $719 at that store; every store with 0 in stock showed it at $399, but the couple stores that had an item listed in their inventory had them in the $500-700 range. I spoke to the rep on the phone about matching the price, and she told me that they had another customer asking the same question yesterday and they were going to stick to their $719 price as they appeared to be the only store to actually have one left in stock. That store's GM happened to be in today and I convinced her to check it out with him, and sure enough, they finally agreed to sell it to me for $399, IF I would agree to pay over the phone! I finally convinced her to just hold it at customer service for me so that I could drive over there and pay in person, which thankfully worked out. The point of writing all this is to illustrate that YMM DEFINITELY V. Good luck to those trying to hunt the last few BBs might have in stock.


I'm super duper psyched about this projector, especially at $399! I had a Panny PT-AX200U for a little over a year and adored it. Unfortunately a move of apartments required my selling it and my Carada screen in favor of a more practical plasma for my living room. However just last week my gf proposed the idea of doing an outdoor terrace-of-my-apt theater this spring/summer, so I went on the hunt for an inexpensive projector, and I guess my timing couldn't be better. If the HD65 gives me even close to what I got with my AX200U, then it'll be just wonderful for nighttime outdoor viewing this summer! Hum... it's supposed to be nearly 50 deg here this weekend, maybe I'll just have to jump the gun and give it a try now!

 

[ericlp]

Hmmm... I picket up one for 469... 500 after taxes... Do you think that is a good deal? Or should I go back to the store and speak with a manager about maybe getting it down to 399?


I still got the projector because my HD70 has about 1600 hours and the bulb flickers. I thought maybe I could sell mine on Ebay for a few hundred bucks *AS IS* w/ the mount and buy a mount and pick up the 3 year bulb mack warranty... I haven't taken it out of the box ... Apparently I got the last one. Decisions Decisions! I was going to get an LED projector ... I was kinda waiting for the HX300 from LG to come available tho, the price is unknown.


I was thinking if I use this projector for 3 years, then maybe by that time LED will have a nice cheap 1080P upgreade at 1K ansi.


I'm wondering if it would help to get the priced lower if I had a scanned receipt that got it for 399?


Thanks guys!

 

[cneely8]



Quote:
Originally Posted by TF Ghost /forum/post/18228191

"Optoma HD65 - Just picked up new for $360, any opinions"

I felt pretty good 2 weeks ago when I got mine for $479. Now I feel like I drastically overpaid... thanks....

 

[mastermaybe]

wow, I now may have to go home and choke some sense into someone to rape and pillage every BB in the area till we can secure one.


J/K, congrats, and thanks for the heads up!


James

 

[dukenilnil]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dukenilnil /forum/post/18233958


Agreed, Awesome! I've been watching this projector for a while and almost jumped on a 650 deal including a screen. $399 new and $360 virtually new is insane. Crazy good deal for a projector of that quality. I am hoping to get one before they are all gone. Will find out today.

Secured one open box for $360 w/ a listed 7 hours of lamp use (with the caveat that it could have been reset).

 

[ericlp]



Quote:
Originally Posted by cneely8 /forum/post/18248218


I felt pretty good 2 weeks ago when I got mine for $479. Now I feel like I drastically overpaid... thanks....

Best Buy has a 30 day return policy. They even told me I could use it for 30 days (take it out of the box).


Just FYI.