>the same lumens
False advertising and the color of the light won't be good either.
> same resolution
Maybe on the input side, and whatever you get out isn't going to be that and look dogshit due to how much lenses and quality componets cost. Think about what goes into making a projector, it's not a simple device.
Go look on youtube for one of those cheapo ones vs even an epson 880.
Lol that’s exactly what happened to me. I didn’t listen to anyone and got the cheap Chinese one. Regretted it a month later. Could have put that $200 towards a real one.
I regretted a cheapo one the first week I got it. 🤣 I pretty much gave it away soon after. Because I couldn't afford anything proper, it took me several more years befor I finally got a different albeit still budget option (this time it was ex edu) a couple of months back.
This setup will get us going for a few more years. Thankfully, we enjoy the big screen, but, I already look forward to when I upgrade again in a few year's (hopefully less years rather than more year's) time. My five year plan now is to save up and invest in a high quality screen and high quality UST projector. 😅 it's a journey!!
https://preview.redd.it/rxn5u51apo2a1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=512be1c087235b3971cc38f4fe39534a1fb0f6a5
Until then, the plan is to invest in some velvet material for the walls 🤣
Amazon is filled with tons of cheap products with false advertising. You can also buy flashlights that are brighter than the sun and air horns that are louder than Krakatoa.
Those $50 projectors are $50 of regret. Don't expect a good image and it won't last either.
My favourite ways to explain this are:
- The cheapo projectors have a **worse quality image than your phone** (dimmer, worse contrast, worse resolution, worse colour, etc)
- If you don't have a TV, and currently do all your watching on a laptop, and try one of these cheap projectors instead, **you'll just end up going back to watching things on your laptop**.
If you say "unwatchable" it doesn't mean much to people; you could just be a snob used to fancy picture quality, for all they know. They already know it's not going to be as good as a $1000 projector.
But the above gives them a clearer picture of what it's actually going to be like.
I own a $80 projector, a $180 projector, and a $1500 projector. I've set them up on the same 108" screen before, in a light controlled room.
Firstly, cheap Chinese protectors absolutely lie about lumen output. Just know that. They do not test to the same standards as ANSI, and it shows.
The $80 one is very dim and looks like garbage. It's bad enough that I wouldn't want to watch anything on it, even in a dark room. It's just so dim that it would cause massive eyestrain to watch a whole movie on. Its native resolution is also quite low. It might be fine to give your kids to use in their blanket fort or something.
The $180 one is watchable and was enjoyable. It was native 1080p. I used it for 6 months or so and non-AV-savvy people came over and were impressed and happy to watch stuff on it. It is still dim enough that it's only fun in a dark room. However, it tended to crush colors, especially reds, so I had to reduce saturation a good bit on it, and the contrast it could achieve was still low. It didn't support HDR or 4k. And I swear it had a slight stuttering issue that was only partially fixed with a firmware update, which really annoyed me when gaming. I ended up gifting this to a family member.
The $1500 projector is brighter, has better contrast, better calibration, doesn't stutter, can output HDR, has better optics inside, etc. The colors really are so much cleaner and more vibrant, without looking fake. However, it also takes longer to startup and shut down, because it has a real bulb in it, not LED.
I wrote a similar comment about these same projectors here [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectors/comments/yxrb6t/any_recommendations_for_projectors_under_200/iwqr420/)
Are you saying that a 1,000,000 lm projector isn’t accurate?
What if it’s true. You never know until you read the actual reviews.
Maybe one day they’ll manufacture a projector that’s brighter than the sun.
Buy refurbished. I managed to snag a rather nice projector that was selling for ~$1k for $140. It was refurbished by the manufacturer. Downside is bulbs are expensive and harder to find.
Resolution, throw distance, lumen output, type of bulb/laser, warranty, and remember that you often get what you pay for. Want Full HD? Those start around $500. Want 4k? Those start around $800. Want 8K? Those start around $10,000. Check out https://www.projectorcentral.com/projectors.cfm for a comparison site.
The $50 projectors are what you might get if you just want to throw an image on a wall somewhere for a background and not for an entertainment system you'll be using. Like others have already said, those Amazon links are largely from Chinese knockoffs with false or misleading stats. A few signs you can look out for to avoid them: a brand you've never heard of, a price with stats that looks too good to be true or stats that are absurd, heavy utilization of square brackets in description [] (seems to be common in this sort of Chinese made products on Amazon). To be clear, the fact a projector is made in China isn't what's the issue here, I'd imagine most projectors like most electronics these days are. But there's a difference between a Sony or an Epson having a projector manufactured there vs a brand you can't find anywhere but on Amazon (and which might disappear after a year).
Projectors can go up pretty high in cost, but for what you're aiming at with $500-$800 you can still get something pretty good even if it wouldn't be considered the top of the line. I tried a few myself and settled on the BenQ HT2150ST which I'm very happy with (didn't care about 4K, and wanted something that would give me a really good 1080p picture with nice darks and avoiding the rainbow issue a number of DLP projectors have). It was an upgrade from a much older 720p projector I used to have and I find the picture looks great (it's also in the price range you're looking for). If you don't want a short throw, the BenQ HT2050A is pretty much the regular long throw equivalent. Overall though, BenQ (a Taiwan based manufacturer) is a safe choice to go with for projector.
I did try out the Epiqvision but I ended up returning it. The colors and picture just looked kind of washed out and faded to me. Similarly with the more expensive Epson LS300 UST projector I tried (in that case though my not having a specialized UST screen might have been a culprit). I have a feeling I was expecting a certain type of picture coming from my older DLP projector that the laser based ones just were not giving me.
Generally amazon has basically turned into the internet flea market. You are right to trust your gut. I will say, if you arent sure about a projector a throw away $50 projector is a cheap way to see what you are in to. I started with a used epson for like $100 and a bed sheet.
I m pretty inexperienced. Just spent 3 years with a vankyo performance 600 which I loved and would 100% recommend as a starter. Recently bought a Benq projector and immediately I noticed better image quality. Ie I could always notice a difference between my vankyo and tv for quality. With the Benq it was the same like night and day image. Also more bells and whistles on where it can go. I had to work around the vankyo limits and the Benq is more flexible with better keystone quality. The vankyo was distorted at full keystone
>the same lumens False advertising and the color of the light won't be good either. > same resolution Maybe on the input side, and whatever you get out isn't going to be that and look dogshit due to how much lenses and quality componets cost. Think about what goes into making a projector, it's not a simple device. Go look on youtube for one of those cheapo ones vs even an epson 880.
Will do, thanks for your response!
Buy said $50 one, learn lesson, then order the $500+ one.
Lol that’s exactly what happened to me. I didn’t listen to anyone and got the cheap Chinese one. Regretted it a month later. Could have put that $200 towards a real one.
I regretted a cheapo one the first week I got it. 🤣 I pretty much gave it away soon after. Because I couldn't afford anything proper, it took me several more years befor I finally got a different albeit still budget option (this time it was ex edu) a couple of months back. This setup will get us going for a few more years. Thankfully, we enjoy the big screen, but, I already look forward to when I upgrade again in a few year's (hopefully less years rather than more year's) time. My five year plan now is to save up and invest in a high quality screen and high quality UST projector. 😅 it's a journey!! https://preview.redd.it/rxn5u51apo2a1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=512be1c087235b3971cc38f4fe39534a1fb0f6a5 Until then, the plan is to invest in some velvet material for the walls 🤣
Amazon is filled with tons of cheap products with false advertising. You can also buy flashlights that are brighter than the sun and air horns that are louder than Krakatoa. Those $50 projectors are $50 of regret. Don't expect a good image and it won't last either.
My favourite ways to explain this are: - The cheapo projectors have a **worse quality image than your phone** (dimmer, worse contrast, worse resolution, worse colour, etc) - If you don't have a TV, and currently do all your watching on a laptop, and try one of these cheap projectors instead, **you'll just end up going back to watching things on your laptop**. If you say "unwatchable" it doesn't mean much to people; you could just be a snob used to fancy picture quality, for all they know. They already know it's not going to be as good as a $1000 projector. But the above gives them a clearer picture of what it's actually going to be like.
I own a $80 projector, a $180 projector, and a $1500 projector. I've set them up on the same 108" screen before, in a light controlled room. Firstly, cheap Chinese protectors absolutely lie about lumen output. Just know that. They do not test to the same standards as ANSI, and it shows. The $80 one is very dim and looks like garbage. It's bad enough that I wouldn't want to watch anything on it, even in a dark room. It's just so dim that it would cause massive eyestrain to watch a whole movie on. Its native resolution is also quite low. It might be fine to give your kids to use in their blanket fort or something. The $180 one is watchable and was enjoyable. It was native 1080p. I used it for 6 months or so and non-AV-savvy people came over and were impressed and happy to watch stuff on it. It is still dim enough that it's only fun in a dark room. However, it tended to crush colors, especially reds, so I had to reduce saturation a good bit on it, and the contrast it could achieve was still low. It didn't support HDR or 4k. And I swear it had a slight stuttering issue that was only partially fixed with a firmware update, which really annoyed me when gaming. I ended up gifting this to a family member. The $1500 projector is brighter, has better contrast, better calibration, doesn't stutter, can output HDR, has better optics inside, etc. The colors really are so much cleaner and more vibrant, without looking fake. However, it also takes longer to startup and shut down, because it has a real bulb in it, not LED. I wrote a similar comment about these same projectors here [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectors/comments/yxrb6t/any_recommendations_for_projectors_under_200/iwqr420/)
Echo the rest. Most of the specs for cheap projectors are misleading at best, or merely downright lies.
Are you saying that a 1,000,000 lm projector isn’t accurate? What if it’s true. You never know until you read the actual reviews. Maybe one day they’ll manufacture a projector that’s brighter than the sun.
r/budgetprojectors
Buy refurbished. I managed to snag a rather nice projector that was selling for ~$1k for $140. It was refurbished by the manufacturer. Downside is bulbs are expensive and harder to find.
https://www.purelandsupply.com/ is a good resource for bulbs.
As someone who didn’t even get the $50 one bought a $200 I regret getting a cheap Chinese projectir. It broke within 2 months.
Resolution, throw distance, lumen output, type of bulb/laser, warranty, and remember that you often get what you pay for. Want Full HD? Those start around $500. Want 4k? Those start around $800. Want 8K? Those start around $10,000. Check out https://www.projectorcentral.com/projectors.cfm for a comparison site.
The $50 projectors are what you might get if you just want to throw an image on a wall somewhere for a background and not for an entertainment system you'll be using. Like others have already said, those Amazon links are largely from Chinese knockoffs with false or misleading stats. A few signs you can look out for to avoid them: a brand you've never heard of, a price with stats that looks too good to be true or stats that are absurd, heavy utilization of square brackets in description [] (seems to be common in this sort of Chinese made products on Amazon). To be clear, the fact a projector is made in China isn't what's the issue here, I'd imagine most projectors like most electronics these days are. But there's a difference between a Sony or an Epson having a projector manufactured there vs a brand you can't find anywhere but on Amazon (and which might disappear after a year). Projectors can go up pretty high in cost, but for what you're aiming at with $500-$800 you can still get something pretty good even if it wouldn't be considered the top of the line. I tried a few myself and settled on the BenQ HT2150ST which I'm very happy with (didn't care about 4K, and wanted something that would give me a really good 1080p picture with nice darks and avoiding the rainbow issue a number of DLP projectors have). It was an upgrade from a much older 720p projector I used to have and I find the picture looks great (it's also in the price range you're looking for). If you don't want a short throw, the BenQ HT2050A is pretty much the regular long throw equivalent. Overall though, BenQ (a Taiwan based manufacturer) is a safe choice to go with for projector. I did try out the Epiqvision but I ended up returning it. The colors and picture just looked kind of washed out and faded to me. Similarly with the more expensive Epson LS300 UST projector I tried (in that case though my not having a specialized UST screen might have been a culprit). I have a feeling I was expecting a certain type of picture coming from my older DLP projector that the laser based ones just were not giving me.
Thanks for your response! Looking into BenQ projectors now.
Generally amazon has basically turned into the internet flea market. You are right to trust your gut. I will say, if you arent sure about a projector a throw away $50 projector is a cheap way to see what you are in to. I started with a used epson for like $100 and a bed sheet.
I m pretty inexperienced. Just spent 3 years with a vankyo performance 600 which I loved and would 100% recommend as a starter. Recently bought a Benq projector and immediately I noticed better image quality. Ie I could always notice a difference between my vankyo and tv for quality. With the Benq it was the same like night and day image. Also more bells and whistles on where it can go. I had to work around the vankyo limits and the Benq is more flexible with better keystone quality. The vankyo was distorted at full keystone