Projector Bulbs - Newbie Question from Portugal

[TonyR]

Hi Folks

 

I was wondering if you could help me out please. I am the new HOD ICT at my school and one of the things I am doing is reviewing what projectors we have and how long we can realistically expect them to last in order to write my development for the next 5 years. Here is a list and quantity of the projectors I have.

 

Make Model

EPSON EB-X6

EPSON EMP-73

EPSON EMP-S1

EPSON EMP-S1H

EPSON EMP-S3

EPSON EMP-S4

EPSON EMP-TW20

EPSON EMP-X5 Quantity - 7

SANYO PRO Xtrax Quantity - 10

SONY VPL-ES4

 

Plus a few newer ones that I do not need to worry about for now as I have spare bulbs for these.

 

Please can someone tell me if there is a reputble dealer who would be able to supply me with a stock of bulbs AND be able to ship to Portugal. I need weigh this up with the cost of replacing some of the older ones with new ones.

 

Many thanks, Tony.

[TechSupp]

I would suspect the S1, S1H and S3 are getting ready to change based on the ones we have, at £130 approx for a bulb don't think you would get your moneys worth with the price of projectors that come with a 3 year bulb warranty these days. Can't comment on the others as had no dealing with those models (well apart from the EB-X6 which I have one which is not that old so it should be OK).

[TonyR]

Hi

Thanks for that, fortunately I only have one or two each of those and those they are getting dim they are still usable. The biggest concerns are teh Sanyo Pro Xtrax as I have 10 of these and that is a lot to go wrong... Most are 2005/2006 installations... so I might choose to get some replacement bulbs for these and make some schoices about which ones get the highest use and therefore replace the units as appropriate..

Thanks, Tony.

[oxide54]

or replace them with casio's (bulbless)

[TopBanana]

do you have a ebay account as many of the bulbs you require are on there ? if not I am sure that misco (systemax) have a european division that can help you out

[elsiegee40]

Given the age of some the projectors and the cost of new bulbs, I would seriously look at buying new projectors. Casio bulbless projectors have a 5 year guarantee, no filers to clean and no bulbs to change. They are cost-effective!

 

You can use your existing projector mounts with the help of a drill and/or a piece a chipboard.

[oxide54]

You can use your existing projector mounts with the help of a drill and/or a piece a chipboard.

 

we didn't even need that, just some threaded rod and nuts.

[maestromasada]

or replace them with casio's (bulbless)

 

wow! that sounds really good to me, will find out the price difference between casio vs epson

[TonyR]

what are these casios? can anyone point at a link? how do they work? what life span do they have?

Tony.

[featured_spectre]

life span is around 20 years

 

XJ-A140 - CASIO Projectors That is a link that tells you about them!

[Jamman960]

We have a few Epson EMP-S4's - we found that the quality of the image even from new is extremly poor(its only an SVGA projector)... unfourtunatly for us the bulbs last pretty well but we are replacing them as the bulbs go, the images they produce just aren't good enough for the classroom

 

I'm planning to go the Casio route, the cost of the projector initially is about the same as a normal projector plus 1 bulb, I'm guessing the projector itself will fail before the bulb reaches 20,000 hours but even then the educational version comes with a 5 year warantee so your covered for a good amount of time anyway. I expect normal projectors to last us around 6 years and use 2-3 bulbs in the process. If the casio's last longer its a bonus

 

edit: We're yet to evaluate the Casio unit's themselves, image brightness and noise in full brightness mode are possible issues but a few members here are already using them so I'd guess the brightness and noise is acceptable.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Jamman960

[oxide54]

casio's are around x2 the price of epsons. warranty for 5 years for education. so no costs for 5 years.

 

brightness is not a problem. they are brighter than epsons and more flexible in terms zooming they seem to have a better zoom range, and they even auto-keystone.

[localzuk]

casio's are around x2 the price of epsons. warranty for 5 years for education. so no costs for 5 years.

 

Be careful here - the bulb warranties provided by manufacturers have an 'upper limit' on hours used. ie. you don't get a constant stream of bulbs for 5 years when you request them. Much like the 'warranty for a lifetime' that Vauxhall offers on their cars - this is limited to 100,000 miles.

[oxide54]

Be careful here - the bulb warranties provided by manufacturers have an 'upper limit' on hours used. ie. you don't get a constant stream of bulbs for 5 years when you request them. Much like the 'warranty for a lifetime' that Vauxhall offers on their cars - this is limited to 100,000 miles.

 

i'd be very surprised if I got sent any casio bulbs

[Jamman960]

Be careful here - the bulb warranties provided by manufacturers have an 'upper limit' on hours used. ie. you don't get a constant stream of bulbs for 5 years when you request them. Much like the 'warranty for a lifetime' that Vauxhall offers on their cars - this is limited to 100,000 miles.

 

The Casio Education warrantee that comes with the LED projectors is suprisingly good - 10k hours or 5 years(according to Misco). I'd consider either of those as a pretty good life for a projector.

 

One thing to watch with other warrantee's is the bulb limit - Sony's educational bulb warantee normally only allows 1 bulb per projector apparently.

[oxide54]

even before we started buying the casios. when we still on epsons we were of the opinion of buying new projectors rather than replace the bulb as there wasn't much in the price difference. and at lot where still dim after changing bulb

[hullpete]

i wouldnt advise using bits of chipboard and drilling extra holes into existing projector brackets!, [advertising removed] do a range which house the casio projector perfectly and are backward compatible with a 50mm pole, plus imagine your brand new projector falling from height after being poorly and unprofessionally fixed from a piece of wood!, deffo not good practice, Edited November 24, 2010 by john
advertising removed

[Marc-Engineer]

casio's are around x2 the price of epsons. warranty for 5 years for education. so no costs for 5 years.

 

brightness is not a problem. they are brighter than epsons and more flexible in terms zooming they seem to have a better zoom range, and they even auto-keystone.

 

Not true the casios are just under 2000 ANSI on the ones i have tested the Epson X8 are 2500 ANSI and a sharper image, yes the casio dont have filters to clean but they still need a deep clean every now and again as they have nothing to stop dust getting in i have seen dust ingress in these on 2 sites

Epson come with 5 year on site and yes it does cover lamp and yes it does cover more than one lamp.

 

Most Epsons are auto keystone but this is not a selling point as you usually only do it once.

marc

Engineer

[localzuk]

Not true the casios are just under 2000 ANSI on the ones i have tested the Epson X8 are 2500 ANSI and a sharper image, yes the casio dont have filters to clean but they still need a deep clean every now and again as they have nothing to stop dust getting in i have seen dust ingress in these on 2 sites

Epson come with 5 year on site and yes it does cover lamp and yes it does cover more than one lamp.

 

Most Epsons are auto keystone but this is not a selling point as you usually only do it once.

marc

Engineer

 

200 ANSI? I hope that's a typo. If it is a typo for 2000 ANSI, then did you use the 2500 lumens model or the 2000 lumens model?

[DarrenC]

Marc, I think you're missing the point with the Casio's.

 

Many people comment on the image quality being not quite as sharp as other projectors or the colours not being as true and the noise being slightly more...

 

The point is they will last for far longer than a standard projector. The massive zoom allows you to replace most old projectors with minimal messing around with cables, brackets etc...

 

Schools are all pressed on their budgets, the total cost of ownership is far better on the casios especially when you take into account the energy consumption.

 

 

Are they the best quality projectors out there? No they are not. Are they adequate for the vast majority of classrooms? Yes they are.

 

 

If the school can afford them they are a great option.

[oxide54]

the total cost of ownership is far better on the casios especially when you take into account the energy consumption.

 

coupled with technicians not having to change bulbs in a school with 100+ projectors freeing them up for other stuff, although changing a bulb in itself isn't the longest job in the world factor it is one of the few jobs where you physically have to visit the problem, technicians office location and projector location aren't always next to each other, for some schools even on different sites.

 

the massive zoom is amazing, i watched most of the world cup on one. honestly most teachers have commented on the picture quality being better. (obviously their making an unfair comparison to a 5 year old broken projector, but if their happy, whats the problem?>)

[vikpaw]

I got an email from one of our suppliers (select technology) recently who are offering a 3000 ANSI lumens Casio which for us is worth it due to the strong sunlight:

 

it's pretty dear, but we tend to pay quite a lot over here anyway.

 

New Casio LED 3000ANSI Lumens Projectors - Lamp Free, 5 Year Warranty for Education, Maintenance Free

......stock of the 3000 ANSI Lumens Casio LED projectors

Current Price @ £959.00