InFocus ScreenPlay 4805

• Reviewed by: emsltek

  Strengths: inexpensive, several inputs, HDTV-compatible, high contrast, clear picture

  Weaknesses: fan noise, low lumens

  Overall: I purchased this projector (refurbished) from Office Depot on an after-Thanksgiving sale for $550. This was pretty much an impulse purchase, but I have been extremely pleased. I had been eyeing projectors, waiting for them to drop below $700. If you find this one new (or refurbished) under $700 snap it up quick. It offers 4 display modes: 16:9, Letterbox, 4:3, and native (I assume native to the source).Get yourself a component switcher (analog $30, digital $100) so you can connect multiple component sources (DVD player, dish/cable tv, xbox/game console, etc.) to the projector. I found an analog component switcher at Circuit City for $30...works great, but it is the one piece of equipment that doesn't have a remote (bummer). In my research I saw a digital compenent switcher with remote for $100, but that was not in my budget. It runs Halo2 at 480p and it looks fantastic. The picture is great...even on a white wall, which mine is. I assume a reflective screen would only increase the picture quality. Make sure you have "big sound" to go with the big display of the projector. The fan noise is noticable when the room is quiet. It can heat up a small room, too. Also, make sure you can darken your viewing room. Replacement lamp price from Infocus is $340 (ouch!) but I think you can expect at least 1500 hours on a lamp. In 7 months of usage, I have 560 hours.

• Reviewed by: KSKline

  Strengths: easy setup and plenty of connection options

  Weaknesses: lamp burned out in 1700 hours 13 months

  Overall: From day one I knew I had made a good purchase. I had the system up and running in less than one hour using the component connections into one of the new hd-dvd players. WOW. Then I finally found an S-video cable long enough to run from my stereo receiver to the projector so I could view my dish. That picture is ok, but nothing like the dvd. So, I recently took the plunge and purchased an external hdtv tuner with dvi output and connected it into the hd input. Folks, this is what home theater is about! I had everything connected in time for the NFL playoffs and had a party. Everyone was knocked out by the quality over dvd. I have not been in any home theater shop nor seen anything better as had none of my friends. I would recommend to anyone looking at setting up an inexpensive home system and spend the savings on some quality cable and a high end receiver. Hope the price on lamps goes down though or start buying infocus stock!

• Reviewed by: venu_surendran

  Strengths: Good color saturation, good contrast and pretty bright. No rainbow. Quiet and does not run very hot.

  Weaknesses: screen door effect visible at closer proximity to screen, no power down button in the unit, not very clear documentation.

  Overall: Over all very good for the price. bought it from infocus store (refurbished). item came without the remote. called up infocus (no customer service on weekends and on weekdays, average wait is atleast 15 min!) and they promised to ship it. the unit looked ok with minor scratch marks. lamp seems new and no marks on the lens. performance is pretty good. very good color saturation. blue is amazing. so is red. green is not that perfect, but i guess i can tweak the settings. upto 3 stored settings, excellent! contrast is also pretty good. Best seen in dark room. Its very bright, have to lower brightness to 40 to 45%. can see a lot of detail. movies come to life and you feel like you are in a theater. Unit is quiet, with a slight humming sound from the fan. you stop noticing the sound once the movie starts. The unit does not run very hot either. Close to the screen (76"), there is SDE. This can be a problem when the room is small (apartments). everyone needs to sit as far back as possible. No rainbow at all. zoom lens is not sufficient, again a problem in smaller rooms. you need 10 feet to get 76", but i guess this is the limit to avoid SDE. One big issue I had was the lack of power down button in the main unit. since I did not get the remote, i am forced to turn the power off, so there is no 1 minute cool down cycle. Not sure if this is affecting the lamp.Overall excellent for the price and performance. I have only started using this, so no clue on reliability etc. But from other web posts, its a good product and well recommended.

• Reviewed by: discostus

  Strengths: Great Price pointMultiple connection capabilities Many advanced features Crystal Clear PictureSleek / compact look

  Weaknesses: - Fan Noise a bit high- Not true HD (however not terribly noticable as HD looks fantastic)

  Overall: I purchased the 4805 Infocus DLP projector for an in-home theater room in my basement. Currently I own both an analog big screen TV as well as an HD ready Big screen (65") in an upstairs living room. I was shocked when I saw the color saturation right out of the box as well as the brightness of the picture even with ambient light.The controls/menus are easy to navigate and are very in depth with lots of options. The Keystoning and invert options makes for simple installation from the ceiling (which is what my application was).I am very happy with my Infocus and would buy another one without hesitation. The 2 year warranty was also a huge factor.

• Reviewed by: mumpkin

  Strengths: Excellent picture, no rainbow or screen door effect.

  Weaknesses: Need separate adapter for DVI and HDMI. Only 1 mono speaker, bulb life.

  Overall: You can't beat this projector's picture quality for the price. A great alternative to a big screen tv. Though you give up on sound with just the 1 speaker and you don't want to get to close to the unit, as it runs quite hot, if you want a big picture, this is the perfect way to go.