Hurry and get one soon.
Written: May 06 '04 (Updated May 17 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Reliability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Display Quality: |
|
|
|
Pros: Faroudja DCDi, 4000h lamp life, rock solid picture, quiet, front panel fan vent
Cons: 2X speed color wheel, remote, weight
The Bottom Line: An excellent projector with state of the art technology.
|
|
|
| bobbyslav's Full Review: InFocus X1 Multimedia Projector |
I wrote about this product once, and first I thought about simply revising my review, but then I felt like the new things I wanted to say were too important and more people should read them.
It is getting harder to choose an entry level projector these days, with more and more choices constantly coming out in the under $1000 price range. The InFocus X1 was one of the first projectors to break that price point, and in my opinion is still the best value for the investment. I've had the projector for almost a year now, and it has never failed to amaze anyone who has ever seen its picture.
The fact is that pretty much every major manufacturer these days has come up with its own entry level projector under $1000. So here comes the part where I tell you why I feel the X1 is a better choice than the rest of them.
First and foremost this is a budget projector, so an important selling point must be cost efficiency. Projectors don't come cheap, and require further maintenance, as their lamps have a relatively short lamp lives. The X1's lamp is rated at 4000 hours and the replacement lamp costs $299. In comparison, the similarly equipped BenQ 6100 is rated at 2000 hour lamp life and the replacement is $499. You do the math how much more that is. The Dell 2200 is close with lamp cost of $279, but it is only rated for 2000 hours as well. In fact in this price range the X1 has the longest rated lamp life.
Of course even the most budget minded consumers would be ready to trade a few extra bucks for better performance. So price alone could not be a deciding factor. This is where the X1 also stands out from the rest.
The on board Faroudja deinterlacing chip is a truly impressive feature. I had the chance to compare several projectors before I made my choice, and also looked at many rear projection HDTVs with built in deinterlacing. Nothing ever came close to the clean lines that the X1 produces. In fact the Faroudja processor is so good that I definitely think that unless you spend about $300 on a DVD player with its own high end deinterlacing technology, it is much better to use a non-progressive scan player. It is common sense - which do you think will do a better job? Your $60 dollar DVD player's progressive scan or the $1000 Faroudja Chip built into the X1. At the very least do yourself a favor and try it both ways before you plug in the progressive scan, just because you read somewhere that this is the best connection available.
Aside from DVD though, many people would also like to watch TV or even VHS on the projector. VCRs don't have progressive scan technology so you will have to rely on the projector's. Clearly the X1 outdid every other projector or TV I've ever seen. Unless you already have and HDTV box you will have to rely on the projector's processing for TV signals and VCRs.
And while I am on the point of Faroudja DCDi - the replacement model for the X1 is coming out soon. It has already been announced on the InFocus website. It is the X2, and while they have bumped the brightness output, and pretty much left everything else the same, the Faroudja processing will no longer be available. SHAME ON YOU PEOPLE! Greed will ruin this world.
The next point on the subject of competition is the fan exhaust. Every projector has a cooling fan which blows pretty hot air while cooling off the lamp. In a budget minded home theater it is safe to assume that space might be an issue. To achieve a larger image you need more space. This is way mounting the projector on a back wall could often be the best solution. This, however, could be impossible if the projector's fan blows the hot air from the back panel. As far as I know the X1 is the only projector under $1000 that has its vents on the front panel instead of the back. I doubt that many people even think about things like that, but it is very important. Installing a projector is a real pain, and I learned the hard way that cooling is not to be underestimated. Along with the cooling issue, the other problem the projector's fan presents is the noise it creates. It could be quite distracting watching a movie if you are constantly aware of the buzzing sound of a fan. While the X1 is not a champ in quietness, its fan frequency is the least distracting one, and really disappears once the movie soundtrack starts. The only time you would be aware of the fan is in perfect silence. In contrast, several other projectors produce a much higher frequency noise which is very distracting and less blending with the background noise. The similarly priced Toshiba S10 for instance, keeps changing the fan's speed so the frequency is also different. I had that projector for about a week, and it drove me absolutely insane. I haven't tried the BenQ 6100 at home, but I know it also has a changing fan speed.
While lately there have been a few more DLP choices on the market, until recently the vast majority of under $1000 projectors were LCD machines. They do have their advantages in brightness and color saturation, which makes them perfect for computer presentations, and office use, but when it comes to home theater, they really lack in the contrast department. So when choosing a projector read the specifications. For the contrast ratio the higher the number the better. Most entry level LCD projectors have a contrast ratio of 400:1. In comparison the X1 and pretty much all other DLP projectors are rated at 2000:1. Most of the time those numbers, as well as the brightness numbers are highly exaggerated, but that applies to all contestants, so still you want better published specifications.
The one area, where the X1 trails its competition is its color wheel speed. It is an older 2X technology, which many people complain to produce an annoying rainbow artifact. The latest entries in the category - the BenQ 6100 and the Optoma H30 have a 3X color wheel (BenQ), and 4X (the Optoma). This indeed could be a deciding factor for many people. Personally I see the rainbow artifacts and am very well aware of them, but they do not by any means reduce my viewing experience. I haven't told anyone who came to watch movies about it and nobody has ever mentioned anything about it. I seriously believe that unless you know what the rainbow artifact is and you keep looking for it, you will never notice it.
One more advantage of the DLP technology is the smaller space between the pixels which make up the image. The screen door effect on DLP projectors hardly ever noticeable. Not so on the LCD ones.
There are few other minor annoyances I would like to mention about the X1. The remote control is pretty bad. It has very few buttons, and a useless joystick button, supposed to control the mouse on your computer for presentations, but the operation of the mouse with the button is painfully slow. Further more that button is really sensitive and even the slightest touch activates it. So if you just leave the remote laying on a couch or something and the button is rubbing against something it is using your batteries. There is also only one effect key which you can program to control the aspect ratio, the freeze, or the zoom function, but only one at a time. And since this button is the only way to activate the zoom and freeze function, you can never use the two functions at the same time. Really stupid. The aspect ratio you can still control using the menu system, but digging through all the options is quite time consuming.
The last thing I would mention is the projectors dimensions. It is probably the biggest one of the bunch at 6.8 lbs. Other than those minor problems I clearly think that the X1 is the absolute winner.
With its state of the art technology, and performance the InFocus X1 is a pure joy to have. I am truly disappointed that its successor the X2 is a definite step back targeted towards the business users. It is a transparent move from InFocus to overcharge for their products since they are keeping the InFocus X1 in the form of the ScreenPlay 4800, which is the exact same projector with a different remote, and a price tag of $300 more.
On the bright side - while they are fazing out the X1 InFocus is offering a $100 rebate which brings the price even lower to $899. Now is the time to get one.
Recommended:
Yes
Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 750.00
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
bobbyslav
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Bobby L
Location: Columbia, SC, USA
Reviews written: 133
Trusted by: 4 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.