I bought a PLV-Z1 in march 2003, along with a 92x52 screen, for a total of $2100.
I thought it was the perfect match for my small living room which has no space for a CRT of any kind (zero available floor space).
I thought the projector was very competitive with the expensive plasmas of the time, which were in the $3000 range.
I'm using the projector as only TV, turning it on about once or twice a day only. Over 2.5 years, I have had 6 burnt lamps, and about a total of 3000 hours of viewing.
That's a total of $1500 in lamps, on top of the initial $2100 investment, or $3600 . I could have had a decent LCD or plasma for that price even back then !
If the trend of 2 lamps a year continues, at the 5 year mark the cost of owning the projector will be $5000, which would have been a very decent flat screen 2.5 yrs ago including a 5yr warranty ... And something that wouldn't necessarily be dead right at the 5yr mark .
So, I'm not sure that I made the right decision anymore in buying a projector.
I just can't see myself buying one more lamp for this damn Sanyo lamp-eater !
What would you replace the lamp-eater with, considering the no-floor-space requirement ?
If I go with another projector, I could deal with an average lamp life of 1000 - 1500 hours, which would last me a year to 18 months, but 500 hours is simply unacceptable. If somebody offered a 12 months or 18 months lamp warranty, I would jump on it.
But otherwise I think I may be looking for advice on items that are likely to last for a longer period of time, ie. LCD or plasma. Advice is welcome !
I thought it was the perfect match for my small living room which has no space for a CRT of any kind (zero available floor space).
I thought the projector was very competitive with the expensive plasmas of the time, which were in the $3000 range.
I'm using the projector as only TV, turning it on about once or twice a day only. Over 2.5 years, I have had 6 burnt lamps, and about a total of 3000 hours of viewing.
That's a total of $1500 in lamps, on top of the initial $2100 investment, or $3600 . I could have had a decent LCD or plasma for that price even back then !
If the trend of 2 lamps a year continues, at the 5 year mark the cost of owning the projector will be $5000, which would have been a very decent flat screen 2.5 yrs ago including a 5yr warranty ... And something that wouldn't necessarily be dead right at the 5yr mark .
So, I'm not sure that I made the right decision anymore in buying a projector.
I just can't see myself buying one more lamp for this damn Sanyo lamp-eater !
What would you replace the lamp-eater with, considering the no-floor-space requirement ?
If I go with another projector, I could deal with an average lamp life of 1000 - 1500 hours, which would last me a year to 18 months, but 500 hours is simply unacceptable. If somebody offered a 12 months or 18 months lamp warranty, I would jump on it.
But otherwise I think I may be looking for advice on items that are likely to last for a longer period of time, ie. LCD or plasma. Advice is welcome !