Famous Maker TS-20M9 20-Inch LCD Monitor with DVI - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I have owned this screen for almost a year now, and have to say that I am quite impressed. Back when I bought this (the de-branded version of the HP 2009 screen) the price difference was significant enough that I went with the de-branded screen instead of the much more expensive HP version.
Normally I stay away from de-branded/off-bran/refurb items, but I was NOT disappointed with this screen by any means. The gamble paid off!BUILD
VERY sturdy. I have carried this back and forth from my office to home (I can't stand working without it now) and it has been surprisingly scratch-resistant! The tilt mechanism is not cheap by any means, I never feel like I am about to break it.
QUALITY
This is where the screen loses a star. The contrast ratio leaves much to be desired - you will be seeing the contrast gradation rings on this screen! However the response time, brightness and color rendition are all EXCELLENT. As a photographer, I am mostly satisfied. If I am doing extremely important work I use a higher-end screen, however for video/graphic design I have been very pleased so far.
SOUND
Do not purchase this screen (or the De-branded one for that matter) expecting to not need headphones/speakers. For youtube videos, listening to music and general use it's ok if not a little soft. For movie playback/gaming you are not going to be happy - although, who really buys a screen expecting BIG noise?
OVERALL
I am looking to purchase a second one of these soon, and that should say it all. HOWEVER since the recent price drop in the original version by HP I don't know if the de-branded version is worth buying - if the seller hit the hundred dollar mark for this screen I would buy it again in a second!

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ViewSonic PJD5122 SVGA DLP Projector -120Hz/3D Ready, 2700 Lumens, 3000:1 DCR Review

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(More customer reviews)Folks, I have never written a review on Amazon before, but felt I really owed it to you all for this particular item. In a word, the ViewSonic PJD5122 is awesome! I've always been a fan of ViewSonic, since the early days when they made what were considered to be the best value CRT monitors for the price. This unit is no different.
Most importantly, the thing that had me waffling about buying this projector, over a truly HD model for twice the price, was whether or not it would project the Xbox 360 output in 16:9. This is important as we are also using the Xbox as a DVD movie player. Well, the projector DOES output in 16:9! This is the way we watch movies at my sisters house and I barely miss going to the theater. That was my sticking point and I wasn't sure about this until we got it and powered it up. Now, because I am a nice guy, all of you know this. Special Note: YOU WILL NEED THE XBOX 360 (S)VGA OUTPUT CABLES... they run about $40 and I would spring for the official Microsoft ones as people were having trouble with off brands, according to my research.
Now, a caveat: Some of you want 1080p. If you have a blue-ray player, or you expect to see the texture in Halo Master Chief's gloves, well, this isn't for you. I didn't care about 1080p. I am not going to start buying Blue-Ray just yet, so I am not really unhappy using anything more than 720p HD. This is not only good enough for me, it is BETTER than good enough. If you want a big screen gaming experience on a tight budget... then HOLY COW does this thing deliver. It is bright, crisp and the colors are gorgeous, even in a well lit room! I game during the day sometimes and it is nice not to have to blacken out the windows with spray paint. :)
I bought one of these about six months ago as a gift that I also would use when staying at a relatives house. They use it for movies, I use it to game when everyone goes to sleep. We even built our own screen using "Parkland Plastics Polywall". We love that set up. Anyway, I am SO HAPPY with the output of the Xbox 360 on this projector that I am going to now purchase ANOTHER ONE for my own home theater / gaming room.
Buy with confidence, people. This is among the best purchases I have ever made for home entertainment and I saved a TON.

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The PJD5122 delivers 2700 lumens with an 800 x 600 SVGA native resolution. It offers a variety of features including manual zoom/focus and auto vertical keystone correction as well as multiple computer and video inputs, yet it is very easy to set up and use. There are 8 default picture modes including Daylight, Cinema, ViewMatch, Blackboard, Whiteboard and Greenboard. The ECO mode function reduces the fan noise output for less distraction during important presentations and even extends the lamp life up to 6,000 hours. The PJD5122 offers both security bar and Kensington lock port for increased theft deterrence.

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ViewSonic PJD6381 XGA Short Throw DLP Projector -120Hz/3D Ready, 2500 Lumens, 2400:1 DCR Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this projector in order to use it with the N'vidia 3D vision glasses and play my games in 3D.
I have already owned 2 Epson LCD Projectors and this is the first time I am using DLP.
The installation was easy to plug to the PC, the build quality looks good and the specs are excellent for this price range.
Then I turned it on and my first surprise after placing it at the same location than the previous was that I was projecting on the ceiling and with a huge size. Mind you, the Epson projectors have already a very short throw angle but this one bits it by a lot. I ended up placing it on the floor at about 6 feet from the wall I project on and the size of the screen is of about 15feet in diagonal.
The lighting was excellent at 60Hz but started dimming seriously when switched to 120Hz. Another thing is that I had to go to the native resolution of 1024x768 in order to be able to use the refresh rate of 120Hz.
Then the bad part... Running the N'vidia 3D software, it did not recognize the projector as 3D ready. It is actually not on the list of supported projectors yet. I should have checked this before buying.
Another thing is that the quality of the image seems good for Windows environment but for the movies and games it is not that good. I may have to tweak the parameters a lot to get the quality I had with the previous one.
In clear:
Pros:
Well built, lamp life of about 6000 hours, extremely short throw angle and very good lighting at 60Hz.
Cons:
Not yet 3D compatible, Placement of the projector can be tricky (on the floor?), quality image inferior to older LCD models like Epson. It seems I can't get my lens to give me a crisp image, there still some imprecision in the image.
Conclusion:
Good projector for people who have a short space for projection, do not need 3D yet and can't have a dark room to use for projection. Parameters tweaking may be necessary to get the best image for gaming and movies. Updated in February 2011.
I have now used this projector for a while and eventually Nvidia fixed the issue of 3D and it has worked as a charm ever since. 3D games are very good in general. The image quality has improved much. I do not know what I did but now it always looks good.
If I had to give a bad point, it would be that I cannot connect my PS3 directly to it and when I do connect two computers to VGA1 and VGA2, VGA2's image is interfered a lot. It flickers and does not make it much usable.
Conclusion: At this stage, I am not ready to change for another one, being fully satisfied with what I have now. Next steps will be to be able to increase the resolution to much higher than 1280*1024... One can hope...

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Vivitek D538W-3D 3200 Lumen WXGA HDMI 120 Hz 2D to 3D Portable DLP Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)2D picture quality is very good. Very quite in low power mode. 3D (720p only) effect is very good. 2D to 3D feature is useless. I bought this projector assuming it will work with variety of 3D formats mainly 1080p 3D blu-ray disks but it only works with 720p 3D content.
Will need 3D adapter to get 1080p 3D working. Probably 3D-ready projector with adapter is better and cheaper option. 2D quality is very good but for couple more hundred you can buy 1080p non-3D projectors.
Setup: D538W-3D, PS3, Optoma DLP link glasses.

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From converting traditional 2D content into 3D to projecting 3D content from pretty much any video source without an external box, the Vivitek D538W-3D digital projector takes 3D to another level. The D538W-3D features a brightness level of 3200 lumens, a 3000:1 contrast ratio and being native WXGA (720p), it delivers sharp, HD picture quality. With DLP/BrilliantColor technologies and connectivity options including HDMI v1.3, the Vivitek D538W-3D is ready to change just about anything into another dimension.

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ViewSonic PJD6531w WXGA Wide DLP Projector -120Hz/3D Ready, 3000 Lumens, 3200:1 DCR, HDMI Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my first projector, so I cannot really give too technical of a review. However, here are the things I've noticed in the short time I've had it so far...
Like others have said, it's bright. I can use it in the middle of the day with blinds open and see perfectly fine. From what I understand, the image will gradually get dimmer the more hours it has, but for now it's superb.
It's very easy to use. I've never operated one before and was able to use it right out of the box. Plugged it in, connected my ps3 or laptop, and turn it on. It automatically detects everything without issue.
The image can get quite large. So far I've been using it to generate an image about 8 ft wide with a good picture. The projector is 14ft away from the wall. Definitely much larger than any LCD or Plasma!
I purchased this projector for a short term relocation. I didn't want to have to ship a TV and figured if I bought a projector I could take it home with me in a few months. It's easily portable, and this one comes with a case (unlike some others. I also looked at getting the Optoma hd66 which is in the same price range, and I don't believe it came with a case and the viewsonic had a few more features).
I haven't used 3D yet since 3D glasses are still quite expensive, but one day I hope to try it.
If the lamp lasts 4000-6000 hours, I will be perfectly satisfied. That should give me several years of usage, and at that point it'll be time to upgrade anyways (technology flies these days)! Or, I could replace the lamp, although I still haven't found any bulbs online yet. I use ECO mode as well, and the difference in ECO mode and standard is hardly noticeable. ECO mode is plenty bright enough.
UPDATE: Be sure to check the contrast settings if you don't see a proper picture. The contrast setting automatically switched to 0 for HDMI input somehow and I almost returned it thinking the jack had become defective (only saw blank screen). I'm not sure why it changed, but be sure to check if the image seems off even if you didn't change anything yourself.

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The PJD6531w is an advanced 120Hz/3D ready DLP projector which includes BrilliantColor technology to produce more vibrant colors, while the high brightness and contrast ratios make this projector shine in virtually any lighting situation. The PJD6531w delivers 3000 lumens with a 1280 x 800 WXGA native wide resolution. This projector is designed for table-top use or can be mounted on the ceiling for classrooms and meeting rooms. The top load lamp and filter-less design provides for easy maintenance and low total cost of ownership. RJ-45 connectivity enables remote network control, while the extensive input options and integrated 10W speakers provide for amazing multimedia performance and effective presentations or classroom lessons.

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ViewSonic PJD6251 XGA DLP Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)I have have been a front projection home theater enthusiast for many years, going back to the old "3 gun" or 3 lens crt projectors.
Over the years I switched to LCD projectors. When it came time to replace the $500.00 lamp in my old Epson, I decided to look at the new generation of DLP projectors. I chose this model because it has a super bright 3700 lumens & is 3D ready. This projector also gets 4000 hours of lamp life, & the replacement is only about $250. at this time.I was not disappointed, the picture quality, brightness & contrast ratio make it a fine HD home theater projector. I shoot my own 3D movies in the HQFS format ( high quality field-sequential) & they look amazing on this projector. You can also find 3d DVDs in this format here on Amazon, & some bootleg copies of older films like "Creature from the black lagoon, House Of Wax, Dial M for Murder & others on Ebay which were copied from old Laserdiscs which were released in Japan in F.S.3D in the 80's & 90's.
The 3D in those dvds is good, however the resolution in only S-VHS quality at best. The HQFS dvds are quite good, unfortunately the selection of titles is limited. To view 3D on this projector you must have the Active Shutter DLP 3d glasses, the viewsonic models are available here at Amazon for about $89.00 each. Something you should be aware of in regard to 3D usage, these DLP projectors except only the shutter format ( projectors have no tuners) so you won't be able to watch 3D TV (like ESPN3D or Comcast3D) without going thru a PC & using a third party viewing software like stereoscopic player, or TriDef. It is also not compatable with the current generation of 3D BluRay players. There are external format converters coming out on the market which will convert the various formats (top over bottom, sise by side etc.) to the shutter format used by DLP projectors, but
for the moment, I know of none available for this model. Mistubishi makes one which works with there brand of DLP tvs, but I don't think they work with the projectors. So for now, your best bet for 3D content on thses projectors ids the HQFS & F.S. format dvds, or running your tv tuner & 3d Bluray thru a media center computer & using the afore mentioned software to convert to the 3D format accepted by this projector. 3D aside, it is a super-bright & super-clear projector for home theater use. It's 3700 lumens & high contrast ratio gives it a movie-theater like quality even in normal room light.

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