CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[CyberBitZ]

Hi all;

Name is Henk, I am new here. I have been visiting this site for over 6 months now and have noticed that many Australians visit here from Ebay.

I have a small internet cafe in Perth and have been a AV lover for many years so naturally when I renovated this old shop along came all the gear, no new stuff for me, all top brand pre 2002. Sony, Boss, Sherwood, Yamaha etc.

For my latest aquisition I really need strong advice from experts, if you have the time please. I have 9 years lease on this place and part of it is a 200 square metres backyard which I have just fenced in. My friends and I have made shade houses and tree trunk seats and tables out there. We want to run some open air Music DVD Concerts.

I have bought a 4.5 metre Truss with projection screen so that's ready. So just now I have put in a bid on a Barco Graphics 808s here;

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220196643444&_trksid=p3984.cWAT.m240.lVI

Could anyone give me an opinion on that projector, and also on the one up for sale?

Cheers!

Henk

[timbo]

Henk, you have asked for help from the experts and I'm sure they will chime in with informed and valuable opinions.

May I offer the opinion of a newcomer like yourself?

I think the seller's ad has some inacurracies:
1. tubes "1000-1500 hours MAX" - from what I see at Curt's Wear Chart, it looks like much more than that
2. tubes "8 out of 10" "9 out of 10" - again from the Wear Chart, I think 6/10 and 7/10 is a fair assessment
3. "2500+ US dollars in the US" - not for a projector in this condition
4 "I do not have a remote for this" - no remote, uhg! (What is that the pictures? It looks like a remote)

There is too much b.s. in this ad for my liking, Henk.

[Dave Lister]

You want to run a CRT projector outside?

They take hours to set up, they are not plug and play or as I normally call the easy to set up stuff, plug it in the wall and press the on button gear.

You are far better off with a digital for a quick set up projector. (Gah I feel dirty suggesting someone buy a digital )

That Barco in the ebay ad has been set up with the active image area too small , you would have to set it up the same way to work within the wear area or you will see the difference between the wear area and the unused phosphorous on the tubes.


Timbo:

The 2 photo's that show the remote are from 2 different projectors, 1 has a white top cover and the other has a black top cover, the remote is the built in controller, not exactly remote unless you modify it.

I agree that the seller is full of it and that PJ should be avoided, not worth what he wants.

[macgyver655]

CRT projector's are the greatest thing for a filmlike pic, " In a light controlled room". For outdoor use, forget it. Unless your only going to use it at night and there are no street lights or any other lighting, and your able to protect it from the elements in a permanent setup.

Other wise, It has to be.......... Digital. Of course in your situation the poor blacks and short bulb life in a business surrounding shouldn't be an issue.

When looking, your main concern should be light output. Contrast ratio and resolution probably wont matter as much for what you say you will be useing it for. Good Luck.

[CyberBitZ]

Thank you so much, I was not sure about this. I do know 1 thing - Ireally want to do this concert thing - where do i go next?

No way will i buy an LCD or PLASMA - been there done that.

Anyway - thanks so much guys, very much. I think i will be visithing here often.

Cheers! - Henk

[kal]

Regardless of which solution you choose, welcome to the forum!

Kal

[kal]

Regardless of which solution you choose, welcome to the forum!

Kal

[CyberBitZ]

[Curt Palme]

Seriously, in this case you want a digital. You might be an audio/videophile, but most of your customers won't be, even if they enjoy Pink Floyd. Get a 2500 lumen+ digital, prepare to buy new bulbs and to throw the set away after 2-3 bulb replacements, and you'll be fine. Cancel that eBay bid, you're wasting your money on that set, both on the fact that 1200 lumens won't be enough, and that set is far overpriced.

[Curt Palme]

Seriously, in this case you want a digital. You might be an audio/videophile, but most of your customers won't be, even if they enjoy Pink Floyd. Get a 2500 lumen+ digital, prepare to buy new bulbs and to throw the set away after 2-3 bulb replacements, and you'll be fine. Cancel that eBay bid, you're wasting your money on that set, both on the fact that 1200 lumens won't be enough, and that set is far overpriced.

[jask]

I know prices in Australia tend to be higher,but this is way too much!!
I am still laughing seeing Curt recommend a digital to a potential buyer - in your case it makes far more sense, and will give you a brighter image for what you want to do.

Cancel that bid

[CyberBitZ]

Ok I cancelled and have gone for a (Yuk) 3000 lumens LCD - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEBTOX:IT&item=230215911799&_trksid=p3984.cTODAY.m238.lVI

I suppose since we will only be using it once a week it should go for as long as my lease - 9 years lol.

Question though; Are the lumens rated the same in CRT as LCD? Or is the CRT rating per tube? This is one I have Googled many times because I had a NEC CRT recently that you could see quite well inside my cafe in the day, that was rated at 800 Lumens, but an LCD projector rated at 2000 lumens that I tried out did not come anywhere near that, you could only just see the image. Interesting one? - Cheers you guys and thanks so much for the advice!

[ecrabb]

The NEC that you had that was rated 800 lumens was rated using a method for CRTs called 'peak', where a small box on the screen is lit and measured. There's another rating for CRT's sometimes called 'all-white' that on your NEC was probably closer to 250 or 300 lumens max. That 'all-white' rating is the most comparable to the total light output on digitals.

The problem with digital lamps is that they start to dim from the first moment you start using them. Some of them will have their brightness cut in half in 1000 or even 500 hours. So, if the 2000 lumen digital you tried had a bulb with 1000 hours on it, it could have easily been putting out well under half the rated illumination - probably even less if it didn't look as bright as a CRT projector.

That's why you always see people who are selling used digital projector with a 'spare bulb with 50% of its life'. What they don't mention is that it was god-awful dim, they had to change it. Now, they're selling the projector before they have to to buy another $300 bulb to put in their projector that's barely worth $300.

The digital you picked out looks fine to me. A digital is the only way to go for an outdoor setup you'll be putting up and tearing down every week.

SC

[CyberBitZ]

Well - this is it, I put in for the digital and will go all out to get it. I hope soon to give you guys some pics of the most amazing little internet cafe in the world. Put together by so many people and friends, going since 1998 with 6 PC's on a 54K Modem running '98. The front was a Vinyl Record Shop.

Kinda romantic I guess. I remember one of you guys saying I am running a business, it's not really that. More like a communitty centre, I don't make much money but it is where my heart lies. Used to be a very good youth worker with street kids but in the end they wore me out.

Wish me good fortune guys! Keep an eye on this please; http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEBTOX:IT&item=230215911799&_trksid=p3984.cTODAY.m238.lVI and if you can - pray for me.

It has 8 hours to go...

Cheers! - and thank's so much!

Henk

[macgyver655]

Hey Cyberbitz. Your forgetting a very important part to achieve your goal. Price and availability of the bulb. If they are hard to get or rediculiously price your in trouble already. Also the fact that you'll have customer's viewing you'll want atleast 1 or 2 spares. You would not want to be in the middle and the bulb goes out and have nothing to replace it with. You may need a new one right off the bat also. That auction is not real clear on the strength of the ones it comes with. Oh, and dont buy the new bulbs until you get the projector and make sure it works.

Isn't that shipping a little high?

[CyberBitZ]

Ok - thank you for caring very much. I can get the bulb from Hong Kong for $400, once I get it I will order one within 2 weeks (funds). The shipping is very high but the item is 8 miles from me so a friend will help me pick it up, I cannot drive (Epelepsy). We will make sure it all works - thank you - Henk

[jask]

Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

[CyberBitZ]

Hi Guys;

Worked out good, I won it at $730au and will try and pick it up today. This was well within my budget, I had expected it to go around $1500 since the original price was near $11,000 US up to February 1995. (http://www.projectorcentral.com/Hitachi-CP-X880W.htm) so I am pretty stoked there .

Next week my Seleco is arriving, it is a SVP450HT. This is one I have not been able to see on Curt's site, nor anywhere else anyone familiar with this one? I think it was manufactured in 1997, had new tubes put in in 2001. I picked it up for $510au. The tubes are good, about 80% left, the seller is reputable .

This is all kid's stuff to you guys offcourse, being able to "play" with 9" Baco's, Sony's and the like but I will have one of those one day! I came from an illness (grand mal epelipsy) which landed me in hospital by ambulance many times in coma's and near death and have made a full recovery so it's kind off like starting a new life at 52

I tried to put an image url in but it didn't work, so here is an url with some pics of the shop. http://groups.msn.com/cyberbitz/shoebox.msnw Everything you see we build ourselves on a penny budget and lots of lateral thinking

Anyway - Cheers from oz and Henk&Jamie

[Nitmoe]

The Seleco unit appears to have the following specs:

7" ES focus tubes (non-LC)
900 Lumens
Digital chasis controls
Resolution - more than 1000 lines - Should be good for 720p and 1080i (Probably 1280x1024 computer resolution)

As for the digital, try to avoid running in "Whisper mode", it will shorten bulb life

[Fujifrontier]

is there any circumstance at all where you could use a CRT outdoors?? I've been wanting to set up a large screen outside and drag the Sony out to have a movie night.

[ecrabb]

There isn't really anything preventing you from using a CRT outdoors. But, given the size and weight, lack of brightness, inflexible throw and difficult setup it just isn't really an ideal situation (there's an understatement!). I suppose if you were only going to do it once or twice a summer, it wouldn't be bad. But, think of all crap you always have to do to get ready to entertain, and ask yourself if you want another 2 hours of screwing around setting up a CRT projector on top of that... after dark.

Now, compare all that to picking up $2-300 digital, and you can see why people go the digital route for 'backyard theater'.

SC

[CyberBitZ]

Well - you guys won't believe this, but sometimes good fortune comes our way.

I Have my rear projection CRT's inside, both Sony's and brilliant, one 47" and one 57"
I have my Seleco coming but for outside?

I got the Hitachi projector and what an amazing machine. I got very fortunate

Worked out that it was up for sale before on Ebay and got bid $4000 plus - but the deal did not come off, the buyer was de-registered by Ebay.

Second time it sold for $2600 plus - same story, the buyer was de-registered

By this time I guess bidders thought it was a scam, same projector going up all the time. I was not aware of this and put a bid in for $1200au. It had one other bidder. I got it at $730au, picked it up today.

Lovely guy, all as new an able to project 6.5 metres. my outdoor screen is 4.5 metres. An amazing machine.

My Seleco is going in the foyer of the shop, but I agree - unless you set up a CRT permanently outside, go for a 3000+ lumens LCD (if you want to go a crazy 4.5 Metre like me)

I cannot wait to see the results - but I promise you guys one thing - we will take many photo's and let you see. If i wasn't for Crew and Curt (sorry Curt - Crew talked to me first lol) I would have bought a worn out Baco I believe.

Jesus Loves you;

Henk