Mitsubishi HC1600; Is this a good deal?

[jstute55]

I found this deal from On Time Digital (quite strange that there is a camcorder picture instead of the projector ).

The projector and 100" electronic screen is included (along with a mount, cabling, etc.). I have been pricing these for the last few hours and the manual screens are pretty cheap; however, the electronic screens are fairly expensive. I would need an extended mount as there is a ceiling fan right in the middle of the room.

I have been considering upgrading our living room home theatre from a 62" Mitsubishi DLP to a projector. The room has some light issues and it will not be completely dark. Could this be an issue during the day? Also, with a retractable screen should i keep the TV for regular TV viewing and the projector for movies, sporting events? The bulbs seem expensive and would not want to have to buy one every year.

I am fairly new to the site so any information will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[Beta Man]

That's a terrible deal........ I think you can find the HC-1600 for $900 or so.... look around, screens can be had for $300 or so for an electric retractable.... and even less for a manual.

I have the HC-1500 which many claim is a better model but I haven't seen them side-by-side, so I'm going off of other reviews for that..... The HC-1500 can be bought for $800 or so.... I got mine for $600, so you may be able to find it for around that number.... I saw it recently for $730 I believe.

HERE.... Best buy has the HC-1600 for $800 new

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1216425209401

Haggle for the service plan, and it includes a free bulb replacement.


EDIT:

Light... ah... light is a killer for pretty much any projector... I'd keep a t.v. for normal viewing for many reasons..... you said light was a problem so that'd be the biggest reason to keep a t.v. but for me.... I just don't find it too enjoyable to watch the news or weather channel on a huge display... plus, bulb life...... also, if you turn on the projector you'll want to leave it on for at least 15 minutes before turning it off otherwise you wear out the bulb faster...... it has to do with the fact that the bulb warms/cools etc..... plus you're right.... you don't want to rack up the hours on the bulb when watching t.v. in the background while doing other things too..... I currently have the t.v. on watching Fox-News while posting this

Another thing.... you don't want to watch the news in the morning on the projector in complete darkness also...... there are many advantages to having a television for "normal viewing"

I like to use the projector for "Movie time" .... it's a special time indeed

[Disky76]

Originally Posted by jstute55

I found this deal from On Time Digital (quite strange that there is a camcorder picture instead of the projector ).

The projector and 100" electronic screen is included (along with a mount, cabling, etc.). I have been pricing these for the last few hours and the manual screens are pretty cheap; however, the electronic screens are fairly expensive. I would need an extended mount as there is a ceiling fan right in the middle of the room.

I have been considering upgrading our living room home theatre from a 62" Mitsubishi DLP to a projector. The room has some light issues and it will not be completely dark. Could this be an issue during the day? Also, with a retractable screen should i keep the TV for regular TV viewing and the projector for movies, sporting events? The bulbs seem expensive and would not want to have to buy one every year.

I am fairly new to the site so any information will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

That is not a good deal. I paid only $800 for my HC-1600 on Amazon. I would definitely keep looking. It's a great projector...but not at $1300.

Good luck!

[Disky76]

Sorry I forgot to answer the rest of your questions...

My home theatre is set up in a living room, which has windows, but I had to take control of the light situation. As Beta said, light will kill the picture in a projector setup. But if you can eliminate the light, then you can still have a stunning picture any time of the day.

The HC-1600 is a bright and sharp projector...as long as light is not shining directly onto the screen, it can project a decent picture with low, ambient light in the room (say from a regular lamp). Daylight, however, is a major issue. I would recommend thick, room darkening drapes on all windows and doors.

If you have pass through doors to a dining room, etc...I would also recommend hanging drapes over them as well, which you could always open when the projector is not in use. The object would be to get the room as dark as possible for day use.

[Beta Man]

I have recessed lighting in my movie room, and can tell you that with the lights off my room is pitch black thanks to window treatments.... I painted the windows black in addition to thick velvet curtains....... when I turn on the lights, even if they're turned to the dimmest setting..... the picture begins to wash.... and as you turn up the lights it gets worse....... so it's pretty easy for me to see the effects that light has on the picture.......

[zachd73]

Originally Posted by jstute55

I found this deal from On Time Digital (quite strange that there is a camcorder picture instead of the projector ).

The projector and 100" electronic screen is included (along with a mount, cabling, etc.). I have been pricing these for the last few hours and the manual screens are pretty cheap; however, the electronic screens are fairly expensive. I would need an extended mount as there is a ceiling fan right in the middle of the room.

I am fairly new to the site so any information will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Hello... I recently bought an HC-1600 myself. I looked online at Best Buy and it was on sale for $699. The store had it and did a price match for it. Luckily, the box had a big hole punched in it and I asked if they had another one and they said no but they would give me 10% off so it ended up being about $700 even!

People told me the 1500 is a better projector than the 1600... but I think those claims are overstated (read the reviews, the differences are minor). You will have a fairly hard time locating a 1500 anyways since they are not widely available now. You might want to check around for the equivalent panasonic model as their projectors are typically well respected as well.

I would say keep checking stores like 6thave.com, bestbuy.com, etc. for the 1600 and I bet you will find one for $700-$800.

Best Buy did offer me a 4 year service plan and said they would replace the bulb if it went out for 4 years. This was $200.

My only problem with this is in 2 or 3 years when my current bulb runs out.. I'm more than likely going to be upgrading to a new projector so it seems silly both to worry about the cost of extra bulbs or to get that protection plan for it.

Do the math on how much t.v. and movies you watch per week/month/year. We don't watch a lot of t.v. and don't have cable and just watch movies for maybe 10 hours a week so I likely won't need another bulb but you might if you watched 15-20 hours a week (or more).

Personally, I don't mind watching the news or any t.v. on the projector! It seems tiny to try and go back to even a large screen t.v.


I have blackout material sewn in with our curtains.. which.. unfortunately it does not actually black out the light completely but it cuts the light a great deal. I find the picture is acceptable during the day even with say 20% of the light coming in. But it certainly will affect the picture a lot if you do not have any light blocking window treatements.

That might be a reason to keep the t.v. I wouldn't keep the t.v. to conserve bulbs though.

I think you will be pleased with the 1600 if you get one. Do note that you are more limited in where you can put it as it does not have a vertical or horizontal lens shift.

This was not as hard as I thought it was going to be to install, but projectors that do have lense shift are certainly easier to set up.

[jstute55]

Thanks for all the replies. You all have certainly addressed my questions and I appreciate all the input. This is really a good site for getting information. Much obliged!

[Beta Man]

The HC-1600 has shown up in my Amazon Gold-Box for $630 a couple of times now too..... so if you don't have the models you're looking at in your Amazon Wish-List..... I'd suggest putting them there.