Optoma HD65 720p DLP Home Theater Projector (2008 Model)

I have been running an Infocus X3 for the past three years and recently it started to have problems. I decided to use this as an opportunity to upgrade to a new projector. I wanted a native 1080p projector so I started researching all the models that are available. The price is steep on these projectors, but I figured it was worth the cost for a great image. Here is my setup. I have a dedicated 20'x24' room that I use just as a Movie/Game room. Oh yeah, I have 10' ceilings. I have a built in shelf built into the wall that allows me to ceiling mount my projector exactly 24' from the screen. I keep this room dark like a cave when watching movies or playing video games. I don't like ambient light during movies and that is what a lot of movie theaters do now. Since my projected screen was so large with the Infocus I couldn't afford a real screen. I tested a lot of paint surfaces and found that a good flat bright white painted surface produced a stunning picture for my Infocus X3. When I had my Infocus mounted I had a projected image of just under 12' wide. I have an Xbox 360 with HD-DVD add on drive for games and HD-DVD movies and a Panasonic DMP-BD55 for my Blu Ray movies being fed to my projector. Ok, so I was looking at the 1080p projectors and my father-in-law just recently bought this little tiny projector called an Optoma HD65. I had never heard of this model and so when I saw it hanging from his ceiling I thought it was too small to be taken as a serious projector. So he showed me his new toy and put in "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (Blu Ray) in and I was instantly impressed with this little box. Since I was in the market for a new projector and thought that I had to spend between $2000 - $3000 for what wanted I had never considered a 720P projector. I started looking at the reviews for the Optoma HD65 and it started looking better. Amazon had it for less than $900. I didn't have a Blu Ray at the time, but by buying this instead of the expensive 1080p I was able to buy it as well. I figure three years would be average for a projector before needing to upgrade. I think the 1080p projectors will be more affordable by then. Anyway, I ordered the ceiling mount for the Optoma HD65 from someone on Ebay for like $27.00. I recommend this mount. It is perfect. When I mounted the projector in my room I started getting nervous because the projected image was HUGE!!! I didn't think it was going to fit. I was able to scale it down and it fits perfect in my room. It projects a bigger image than my Infocus X3 was capable of. My image from 24' back is a whopping 15' wide!!! It is very crisp and the colors just pop out. I have a DVE calibration HD-DVD that I was going to use to calibrate, but the colors out of the box were spot on for me. I may run the calibration one day, but right now I couldn't be more pleased. Keep in mind that the only reason I can get such a big image is because it is placed so far back and I have 10' ceilings. I favor DLP projectors over LCD, but since this is a DLP projector placement is an issue because of the lens throw. DLP projectors make good ceiling mounted projectors and the lens needs to be centered on the screen since there is no lens shift with the Optoma HD65. If placement is not an issue for you then I highly recommend this projector. It fit my needs perfectly.

I couldn't be more disappointed with the Optoma HD65. My Panasonic PT-AE700 LCD projector began a rapid decline after only 3000 hrs (and a $300 bulb replacement) due to it's poor optical block design and the dreaded blue blob that eventually covered the entire screen. After being burned by organic LCD technology I decided to switch to DLP. The reviews on this bargain 720p projector seemed too good to be true, and like all things in life that seem that way, it was too good to be true. Sure, I got it for only $614 from Amazon, but what a waste of money. 1) the fan noise is terrible - unless you'll be using it in a noisy family room, trying to use it in a quiet home theater is truly unbearable 2) the light leakage through the cooling vents is ridiculously bad - I can't believe Optoma's designers even think this is acceptable engineering. Mounting the projector on the ceiling, the entire 2'x4' white ceiling panel in front of the projector is lit up and totally distracting. I even tried putting black over the ceiling panel, hoping to absorb some of the light, and it is still bright enough to be noticeable.I could have probably suffered with one of those 2 problems to save the money (now I'm going to have to spend more than twice that to buy the Epson Homelite 8100, which is what I should have done in the first place), but to try and ignore both those major flaws is not worth the constant frustration. I've never experienced as much buyers' regret as I have after buying and trying the Optoma HD65. I only hope that Amazon will credit me a full refund, but even if they don't, it's not worth keeping this piece of junk.By the way, I will say one positive thing about the HD65, the picture quality and color was quite nice. However, I now understand first hand what they mean about how difficult it is to place a DLP projector. This thing has almost zero placement tolerance when it comes to its location in the home theater. I have a 92" screen, and I found that I had about 6-10" of tolerance when it came to its distance from the screen (the zoom is nearly worthless), and even less tolerance in relation to the top edge of the screen (hanging it from the ceiling mount). I guess I was spoiled by the tremendous flexibility of the Panasonic LCD projector, which had a wide range of zoom and excellent lens shift. After relocating my mount more than a foot closer to the screen than the Panasonic, I then had to do all sorts of mods to adjust the height to be able to work with the Optoma. I finally got it lined up and filling the screen, but the amount of effort and frustration was many times more than it would have been with any LCD projector.Even though I was burned by organic LCD technology from Panasonic, my attempt to switch to DLP was such a failure that I'm going back to what I know looked great, so I'm getting the Epson 8100 for around $1350, but it's 1080p instead of 720p, has a quiet fan, great picture, and lots of placement flexibility and none of the horrible light leakage of the HD65.Save yourself the frustration and avoid this product unless you're just getting it to use in the backyard projected against a sheet or white wall. For your home theater you will not be happy with this projector.