Happily, UPS not only delivered the Optoma DV10 I ordered just before the long weekend, I somehow didn’t get charged any customs taxes. I don’t know what’s going on and I’m not going to ask! If you need a projector or tv, you should give VisualApex a browse. Not only did they have by far the most comments (and the most positive comments) at ProjectorCentral, I attest to their responsiveness over email and the speed at which my order became a shipment.
I’m happy with this projector. I won’t rehash any information from the detailed review I referred to in my previous post. I’ll try to add some more information of interest instead.
The sound is lacking in bass. I really noticed while playing DDR.
You need the remote to work the projector. There are buttons on the projector, but only the basics.
Power cord is a regular computer power supply cord. That’s great for me, in case my cat does in yet another cable.
Having such a large screen really shows any artifacts in the video. It’s probably less noticeable with non-animated, modern movies, but my test animes (all I had on hand) were older, showing compression artifacts over the the many patches of solid colours. It showed up as a distracting kind of “shimmer”… if I paused, I could see compression “splotches”. Other, more modern DVDs (also anime) were fine.
It plays VCDs. I found this useful for playing downloaded videos, instead of hooking up my video card and sound card. Of course, the quality wasn’t that great, but it was tolerable.
The closes you can watch is at a distance that’s equal to or greater than the projector. Much closer and you can see the distinct pixels. Motion sickness is also likely having such a huge picture moving swiftly.
The Optoma DV10 comes with a very nice carrying case:
The projector needs to be set low to the ground. At a distance of 8′ and height of 3″, it shoots a picture about 80″ diagonal (4:3) that starts 3′ off the ground.
The following pictures are 4:3. I didn’t have any wide screen sources on hand. These pictures were shot at night, so just a little bit of ambient downtown light. The large black swath at the bottom of each picture is the area of wall that wasn’t used.
For reference, I took a picture with a significant amount of light (equivalent to a couple 60 watt incandescent bulbs). Later tests confirmed the point – the projector can’t be until around dusk. It doesn’t have to be pitch black, but at least “evening”.
If there was an unexpected downside, it would be a space organization concern. While a large television would take up far space, I am somewhat constrained in the placement of my furniture in order to get sufficient throw distance, and keeping clutter clear. i.e. with a television, I could have it in the middle of the room, and have something behind or holding it, like a shelf.
The sensitivity to ambient light wasn’t surprising, and my current curtains are pretty thin. It even has the additional benefit of encouraging me to run errands and get things done instead of watching during the day.
As stated before, it’d be nice if the audio had punch, but I don’t think much else could be done given the size of the unit.
The Optoma DV10 is a very good projector, particularly for the price (U$1k). A traditional television for an image half the size would be far more expensive. It shoots very well even on a plain wall; using a proper projector screen would make it even better from the screen’s gain properties. As a portable projector to entertain while visiting, it fits the bill admirably. It’s far less dominating of the room than if I’d gotten a large television, although I admit to some creative furniture arrangement to keep the part of the room in front of the projector totally clear. If you’re willing to consider alternatives to traditional box television, this is a very good one.
