CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

MikeEby · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 5237 Location: Osceola, Indiana

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

Here's an old Zenith with a clicker remote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szZhKpeOPhk&NR=1

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

MikeEby · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 5237 Location: Osceola, Indiana

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

papalek · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 1536 Location: Longs SC

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:29 am Post subject:

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

unkyjoesa · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 84 Location: Marion TX

Can of worms opened Smile

It was not my intention to impune the Marquee, it is a fine projector that has been trouble free since I purchased it, I made an observation and posed a question, so those of you who took it as a slam against the Marquee need to go back a read the thread again.

But as far as Marquees or any other device being trouble free that is just a load, this board and others are filled with projectors that fail on a regular basis, you guys mod them all the time to make "improvements" to the original design, if they are so great why are you "improving them"?

I am sure Curt and others have come across some projectors that have had one failure after another, and that have requred more then a little effort to repair.

I made an observation based on the number of parts used, and questioned whether or not fewer components could be used, I think they could be, without sacrificiing quality.

I know DLP's are throw away devices "like most everything else these days" I have owned the Infocus X1 before, it lasted about 3 years and finally the bulb went, I paid $800 for the projector and sold it on e-bay "broken" for $300. So for 3 years of use it cost me about $166 per year. The marquee cost me substantialy more, and I purchased it right after selling my Sony 1271 purchasing the X1. The X1 was used for gaming and watching TV. The marquee for HD only and upscaled DVD's.

Optoma has a good track record in my opinion, if someone can point me to the thread about the reliability of the HD65 or HD70's failing it would be appreciated, I see the odd thread about bulb failures but that is the extent of what I have been able to find. Optoma carries a 2 year exchange warranty, and for a few bucks more I can extend that to 3 and it will cover 1 bulb replacment. If I get 2-3 years of use out of the unit I will be happy. I am paying for the convenience of the unit and the size, a price "I" am willing to pay.

Draganm, I have yet to "tear" into the Marquee to part it out, I am still fighting the wife to keep it when we can re-examine the mounting of the unit on the ceiling. Just becuase I am going digital does not mean in any way am I comparing it to the Marquee in terms of reliability or picture quality. It is no different that I like Honda's and you may like Toyota's its your preference versus mine.

As far as the reliability of LCD monitors, I speak from experience, I run a computer business, and have been in the industry since 1985, I manage 5 clients at this point, some ranging from 20 pc's to over 125 at one of them, that is a lot of equipment, computers and monitors. My customers started replacing thier CRT monitors for LCD's when they first came out, and my observation, and my customers is that they do not have the longevity that CRT monitors do. So my opinion of LCD monitors is based on real world observations. Not some personal use or bad experience with one bad monitor, I assume that LCD TV's are the same basic design, as far as the way they are lit, using a flourescent tube and a HV ballast, and this seem to me to be the weak link in the chain.

I think we can all agree that for the most part, as far as electronics, this has become a throwaway society, but now that money is a bit tighter, people may change thier minds like they did with automobiles and start demaning quaility products and be willing to pay a little higher price. "As Curt eluded to on his statement about HD's"

perisoft · Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 2920 Location: Ithaca, NY

I've got a 286 PC from back in the mid '80s. Built to last, that thing - heavy steel case, hand built boards, expensive as hell.

Yep, now I've just got some throwaway computer, really light, when a board dies you just replace it...

I'll take my $1000 PC which gets upgrade-cycled out of existence every couple of years rather than a $10000 PC with 1/100000th the performance (literally) that still works today.

All this talk of 'oh, it's disposable', 'it's throwaway' is completely pointless unless you're moralizing. The only variables are these: Can you afford it, and is the ROI there? The ROI on a throwaway PC that you replace every year is a hell of a lot higher than on a single big-iron server that will last well-past its own obsolescence and which costs twenty times as much.

And, ironically, it's the 'throwaway' nature of the world which allows us to have the great toys we do: DVDs are ubiquitous because everyone's got a DVD player. And DVD players are ubiquitous because of - guess what! - throwaway engineering. If DVD players were built like CRT projectors, they'd be four grand a pop and we'd all be using VHS.

So, the next time you get the urge to complain about throwaway electronics, throw out your computer, your DVD player, your PS3, your microwave, your alarm clock, your electric shaver, your hair drier, your coffee maker, and your electric toothbrush. They're all built to match cost against expected in-use lifetime.

If you've got a problem with that, feel free to live like people did before large-scale automation: Hot in the summer, cold in the winter, bored to tears, and dead at 60.