Optoma HD142X

This projector is fabulous - a great picture for a great price, and definitely more bang for the buck than many TVs on the market. I have a dedicated media room with no windows, so a projector was ideal for this location. It replaced a 65" LG LCD/LED TV, which had a great picture itself, but the 100 inches I get from this projector blows it away. I paired this projector with a Cheetah ceiling mount and a Silver Ticket Products 100" screen. The projector is easy to use and has a crystal clear high definition picture. Installation of the projector can be a little tricky, just because it has limited zoom capability and picture shifting. My media room configuration dictated a ceiling installation directly above the seating area. My wife really liked the fact that the "projection cone" from the projector doesn't easily get blocked by people who stand up from the couch. I've seen several complaints about the fan noise from the projector, but I have found the projector to be very quiet. Another issue noted is a "rainbow effect", which neither me or my wife have seen thus far. The projector is quite bright, even when not in "Bright" mode, but I've found that reduced lighting (dimmed to ~50%) is ideal for TV shows and gaming, while a dark or mostly dark room is ideal for movies. I use this projector with a Yamaha AV receiver, so all of my inputs (DirecTV, Blu-Ray, Nintendo Wii) get switched at the receiver and allow for a single HDMI cable to go to the projector, and I get full surround sound. One recommendation here - buy the projector first and try it out in your viewing space. Play around with the projection settings to figure out what kind of screen size you can get, what the throw distance is, and what kind of mount you need. This allowed me to pick the right screen and mount for my setup.

ok, so I been playing around with those cheap $60-$120 projectors and have just been disappointed. The stated lumens are usually high and are a joke and are no where near their actual brightness. I want to shout this from the roof tops. I LOVE this projector! It is so amazingly bright, even in eco mode. I can have my lights on overhead, light coming in through the slits in the curtain, all in the middle of the day and I can clearly see the picture. Sure the colors are somewhat washed out but it is still a very clear picture. In complete darkness it is OUTSTANDINGLY BEAUTIFUL!!! So bright that it actually hurts my eyes a little. I know its something you have to get used to. Happened to me on my very first big screen tv. took us weeks to get used to it then lol. The 1080p picture is just so clear and amazing. Its clarity in the dark actually beats my 65inch tv. I been messing around with those cheap projectors and they had me convinced that a projector just wasnt worth having. If it wasnt for a friend of mine who has some very high end equipment encouraging me to step up to the $500 price range, he assured me I would not be disappointed. After dealing with these 320x240 native resolutions and even 560x500 ones, I was done. I listened to my friend though and started searching. A lot of youtube videos raved about this projector and the video reviews had given me some very high expectations. They did not disappoint! The best I can describe it is, it was like going from a 100 inch sd screen to a 100 inch of in your face 1080p greatness where you can see the pores on the peoples faces. It was the exact same feeling when I went from SD to HD all those years ago and saw my very first show and was just totally blown away. I seriously just can not even imagine how much better the higher end models must be. Its just inconceivable at this point for me. I am 100% perfectly content at 1080p on this projector. There are some minor issues I have. The menu system is somewhat cumbersome. Why is power to the usb port OFF by default? That just seems wrong. It took me about 10 minutes of going through the menus to try and figure out why my firestick wasnt working. The sound is very loud, Thats a plus, its also a minus that there is literally 0 bass. Its so tinny that it actually hurts your ears. It will eventually get hooked up to my surround sound so I guess its ok. Overall, the complaints are very minor to goodness that is everything else about it.

After reading what seems like hundreds of reviews on projectors and debating heavily between this, the BenQ HT2050, and the Epson 2040, I decided to bite the bullet on the HD142X after a price drop. Projector is excellent. Picture is great, set up and controls are easy, and it is quiet enough I never notice it. I currently have it set at 130" on a screen which I painted with Sico Pure White Pearl finish paint from Kent and it looks awesome. It's obviously not ideal for bright rooms or with the lights on but it is still watchable with a small amount of light in the room. When researching this projector I read a lot of people complaining about the 'RBE' or rainbow effect caused by DLP projectors like this one. I have not had any issues. I've had at least a dozen different people watch movies and TV on it and nobody has ever noticed. The only time I pick up on rainbow is if white text is on black background and I purposefully move my eyes or head quickly to see it. To those who are on the fence, I recommend going for it.

Had it for more than a month. Ran this projector equivalent to the time spent on my old flat screen TV. No issues so far! It's great for movies and sports. 2D and 3D are exceptional at 1080p. Noticible rainbow effect at particular times and black in dark areas of overall image. Great starter and impressive projector has exceeded expectations! Now for a popcorn maker and a slush machine and you're set for couch potato heaven :)

You can't buy a better projector for under $1000. Not only that, you can't buy a better projector for $2500. Check projectorcentral.com to make sure it will work for your space. This unit has fantastic image quality with tremendous colour and great for sports and video games as well as every day tv. I use it as my living room tv, set at 110". It only has two hdmi inputs but I only have one cable going to the projector, the other end my HT receiver and the rest of my components are plugged into the receiver. Can't say enough great things about it, long bulb life vs similar models is just the icing on the cake.

Incredible specs for the price. Image is super bright and sharp. After years of using second-hand projectors, I finally coughed up the money for something brand new. I'm amazed by the crispness of the image. Words are easy to read and you can see even the individual blades of grass in the projected image. Also impressed with the quietness of the fan. Projector doesn't heat up the room as much as my previous projectors. But unique to this projector is the supreme quietness. I use this as a home theatre projector. I live in a loft with big windows and I don't use a screen. So I need a machine that is powerful and bright. Half the time the room isn't even dark. Still works very well.

Projector had a terrible fan sound right from new but unfortunately I had opened the projector after the return date. Sound went away after the projector heated up so was willing to deal with it. After not even a year of use, the lamp blew out. Like as in snapped with a loud pop noise. Tried separate replacement lamps and the picture flashes now making it unwatchable. Bad experience, will not buy Optoma again.