Epson 8100 / EH-TW3500

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Sun Oct 11, 2009 1:59 pm **Post subject:** Epson 8100 / EH-TW3500

So I've been after a projector for a long, long time... now I've finally bought one. I decided to get an Epson 8100 which is known in europe as EH-TW3500... what a ballache these companies are, not very consumer friendly!
http://www.aboutprojectors.com/Epson-Po ... ector.html
http://www.aboutprojectors.com/Epson-EH ... ector.html

Anyway, the specs are:

3LCD™ Display Technology
1800 ANSI Lumens
1920 x 1080 Native Resolution
16:9 Native Aspect Ratio
Resolution (Native / Max)	HD (1920 x 1080)
Video Compatibility	NTSC, PAL, SECAM, HDTV (480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p)
Projection Lens	F = 2.0 ~ 3.2
			f = 22.5 ~ 47.2mm
Dimensions (WxHxD)	17.7in. x 5.7in. x 15.4in.
				(44.96cm x 14.48cm x 39.12cm)
Weight	16.1 lbs. (7.3 kg)
Inputs	1 x Composite
		1 x S-Video
		1 x Component
		2 x HDMI
		1 x RGB D-Sub 15pin
Control	1 x 12V Trigger
		1 x RS-232C
Operation	Audible Noise	22 dB
Projection Lens	Lamp Type	200W E-TORL
Lamp Life	4000 hrs
Lens Shift	Horizontal: +/- 47%
		Vertical: +/- 96%
Projection Distance	2.9ft. ~ 29.6ft. (0.88m ~ 9.02m)
Projection Mode	Front
Projection Screen Size (Diagonal)	30in. ~ 300in. (76.2cm ~ 762cm)
Optical Zoom	2.1:1
Other	Features	Epson Cinema Filter
			Advanced Sharpness Adjustment
			Epson Super White
			Six Axis Color Adjustment
			Customized Gamma Adjustment
			2:2 Pull Down
			Output Scaling
			Test Pattern

There's a whole stream of projector's out now after the Optoma HD20 broke the 1080p market a while back but I've been holding out for a long time and figured now would be a good time to buy. The specs are excellent, this is an upgrade to the best of last year for the price range. Nice blacks, excellent control over positioning, cheap and long lasting lamps etc.

Review:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/epson_8 ... jector.htm

I'll post feedback when it arrives, I got drunk and purchased it last night (is a ritual i have for things over £1000 :lol:

), and its quoted as 5 days delivery to spain.

elchupacabra

So you got this instead of an LCD television? You need a big black wall (or a big white wall in the dark) where this is going to project at. It's a good solution when moving a lot (England<->Spain). Easier to carry than a LCD tv I guess, although 7,3 kg is quite heavy.

spudthedestroyer

Yup, I'm going to order a screen from a spanish company because of the size.

spudthedestroyer

Wow! I'm so impressed with this... I don't have a dark room, nor a monitor, fired it up, pointed at a white wall, plugged in my laptop, fired up a 1080p mkv... and it looks really awesome, even with these factors in play.

I used an iphone here for this photo:

fuEgo

Congrats spuddy, seems very nice!

But why didn't you choose "Panasonic PT-AE4000U 1080p Home Theater Projector" for ~300,- more...?

Quote:

Since the AE4000's picture quality not only surpasses the competitors in its price range, but rivals and in some cases exceeds that of "high-end" models selling for five times the price or more, it warrants a solid 5 stars for performance. Since it has more features than any other home theater projector ever built, 5 stars is not even enough to illustrate its distinction in this category. Similarly, its ease of use is unrivaled-perfect color calibration out of the box in Cinema 1 mode, smart menus that are easy to navigate, lens memory to accommodate 2.40 super wide screen without an anamorphic lens-no other projector has all of these things, and most have none of them.

spudthedestroyer

I looked. Its not out and there's always something 300 more (read £500!), and then for 300 more there's a better one.
Wasn't worth it though long run, its like holding out on buying a graphics card.

I'm better spending that difference on a pimp screen, and HD media box, network over powerline switch set and an xbox360. Can get them all for the price difference give or take

spudthedestroyer

Well, that's me done with tvs... just too ... small... :lol:

Loving the project, haven't bought a screen yet, its so bright that it looks good on my white wall, i can see the darks are slightly off though. Need to get my ass in gear and get a spanish distributor to sort me out. I don't think they'll do a screen the size of the image i'm projecting less than £200, i'll have to shrink it!

spudthedestroyer

I *still* haven't bought a screen but at night the projector looks fantastic.

I bought an Acer Revo r3610 and a homeline power for the network, I've setup kubuntu and install XBMC. Decided to keep kubuntu because i run sabnzbd to direct directly to my media player and can compile/etc and use it as a general linux box.

I'm going to investigate streaming pc games to my netbook, i haven't played call of duty modern warfare 2 that i bought ages ago, bet it looks boss on the projector

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:35 pm **Post subject:**

Been wowing everyone since purchase, this ranks up as one of my best buys ever.

Been putting everyones shitty tvs to shame with this beast.

Anyone else in the projector club?

karstmobile · **Posted:** Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:35 am **Post subject:** Re:

spudthedestroyer wrote:

Posted with TouchBB on my iPhone

drughi77

Hi....i was also considering to buy the Epson EH-TW3500 especially for gaming. Do you consider this projector very good or it gets a pass.....as i have read lots of reviews saying that its colour depth can't quite rival that of the best LCD and DLP models and the black levels are soft...is this true.

can you help me out and give me your opinion on what to do?

thanks

karstmobile

drughi77 wrote:

Hi....i was also considering to buy the Epson EH-TW3500 especially for gaming. Do you consider this projector very good or it gets a pass.....as i have read lots of reviews saying that its colour depth can't quite rival that of the best LCD and DLP models and the black levels are soft...is this true.

can you help me out and give me your opinion on what to do?

thanks

Are you a bot?

Domo arigato....

spudthedestroyer

drughi77 wrote:

Hi....i was also considering to buy the Epson EH-TW3500 especially for gaming. Do you consider this projector very good or it gets a pass.....as i have read lots of reviews saying that its colour depth can't quite rival that of the best LCD and DLP models and the black levels are soft...is this true.

can you help me out and give me your opinion on what to do?

thanks

I am completely happy with the quality of the EPSON EH-TW3500, the black levels are soft when you compare this to a projector twice the cost but its extremely strong for the price range its in, and the profiles handle this well. Under direct sunlight (I am in spain), it actually performs very well.

spudthedestroyer

I wanted to give an update to everyone and say that I will never buy another tv. There's no going back

fuEgo

never say never... flatscreens are growing :outsider:

spudthedestroyer

fuEgo wrote:

never say never... flatscreens are growing :outsider:

seriously, at flat screen the size and quality of my projector would be tens of thousands of dollars. There's a smaller tv down at mediamarkt for €40,000; its smaller and the image quality is worse. TV is dead.

Jynks

Spud.. what size is the screen on the wall? Most of my mates that have projectors in their flats haven't enough room to project it so the image isn't really that much bigger than a decent 50+ tv.

Also, how much dose it cost to replace the bulb... and how often do you need to do that?

How is the motion... can u watch high speed stuff like sports matches with out stuttering?

How is the heat? Can you like play a decent gaming session, then watch some tv after?

spudthedestroyer

Quote:

Spud.. what size is the screen on the wall? Most of my mates that have projectors in their flats haven't enough room to project it so the image isn't really that much bigger than a decent 50+ tv.

not measured but its much bigger than any tv I've ever seen that isn't ridiculously expensive; 70"+ easy.

Quote:

Also, how much dose it cost to replace the bulb... and how often do you need to do that?

Dunno, when i looked when I bought it, it was < $200. Life is rated at 4000hr and is under warranty.
Not blown on me yet so I dunno. I watch it for several hours at least every day.

Quote:

How is the motion... can u watch high speed stuff like sports matches with out stuttering?

Yeah, stuttering would be the playback device rather than the projector though. I use an Acer Revo which has a nvidia ion. There's not stuttering or tearing, well for a shit encode once or twice.

Quote:

How is the heat? Can you like play a decent gaming session, then watch some tv after?

Well I live in spain and its high 30s, I assume you mean can you play it for long periods? Yeah, I normally have 8hr+ sittings easy. It gets warm but so does everything

spudthedestroyer

and i'm a lazy bugger and haven't bought a screen yet :lol:

Looks ace on a white matte wall, its the place to watch movies all my friends tvs don't really get a say in the proceedings... which sucks because they trash my place when they come round.

Jynks

Hmm... yea I have been considering getting one of these for a long time...

How about playing during the daytime?

Epson 8100 / EH-TW3500

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