Customer Reviews

Optoma EP749 Multimedia Data Projector

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this product at Best Buy. It seemed to be the best as far as resolution and still below $1000. They call it a data projector, but in fact I use it for movies and the like. DVDs play with good clarity on a typical DVD player. Settings for the computer require some adjustment. It does get a bit grainy watching mpg quality video. It seems to be better for a ceiling mount due to the projection angle. The product is impressive, but not over impressive for what is on the market today.

I bought this projector at Best Buy in June of '07 for about $800. I used it to watch TV and movies, often in HD, and was comfortable with the picture quality that I got for the price. As other reviews have noted the color quality isn't great, but high quality HD sources look very good. Lower quality standard def sources don't always look so good, but most of the time they are good enough.

My family and I used it about 6 hours a week, on average. After 350 hours of use (as measured by the lamp hour meter in the projector) and 14 months into it's life, two months out of the manufacturers 1 year warranty, the projector quit working. It will not turn on (no lights, no fan, no indication that it is even getting power). It gave no indications of having trouble prior to this.

Because Optoma only warranties this projector for a year they sent me to a third party service company. This company charges $145 up front to look at the broken projector, $85 of which is non-refundable. The minimum repair charge is $145, plus parts and labor ($100/hour).

I am very careful with equipment and haven't done anything with this portable projector that would be considered unusual. It spent a year sitting on an open, well-ventilated shelf in my TV room, and took one trip in the car, carefully packed into the very nice carrier that it comes with. It worked fine for several weeks after that.

I calculate that it has cost about $2.25 per hour of viewing. When I pay for a movie to watch on it, it only costs about $1.75/hr.

If I buy another projector, it will not be an Optoma. They do not stand behind their products long enough.

We also bought one of these and the bulb burned out after less than 150 hours of use. It was supposed to last 2000 hours.
To replace it: costs more than $400.
My advice: don't buy Optoma!

I bought this projector used For 450.. when i got it it only had 320hrs on the bulb now its up to 1200 hrs still running strong! i do keep in in a good home non smoking home keeping it clean is important since the fan cooling it is what helps make your bulb last longer i also run it on Econo mode they say it should get 3000 hrs compared to the 2000 hrs if u have it off. Anyways i would buy it again....... well worth my money

Owned 3 years average bulb life 400 hours. 2 replacement genuine Optima bulbs later this projector is now in the trash.
Instalation was hung from the ceiling of a climate controlled computer room.

When it's working, the picture looks good. Unfortunately, after slightly over 1 year and 450 h of use, the lamp failed. Replacement lamp costs above $300. Customer service told me that they only have 90 days warranty on bulb and 1 year on projector. I heard the expected life time of the lamp is 2000 h. Will never buy Optoma again.

I bought this product used, but with only 38 hours on the lamp. I have had bad experiences before with used projectors, and wasn't sure about this one. But since I got it for a good price ($250) I pulled the trigger.

Much to my surprise, using it as a theater projector, the color and brightness were great. Being no stranger to HD, as a long time subscriber, I thought the HD picture was very close to what I was getting on my living room, and rec room pictures.

I have read plenty on the lack of life on the lamp on this model, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But since I don't use it a whole lot, I'm hoping to get a couple of years out of it. This model does also get very hot. Which would make sense why the bulb doesn't last long.

I've seen many images on many different media projectors, and the Optima projector is just, well, flat.

The color lacks depth, leaving presentations lackluster and media showings sad.

When I contacted Optima customer support, their answer was "This is a data projector and it doesn't give true color." I don't need true color, but every other projector I've seen gives better color.

I'm not happy with it, but for now I'm stuck with it.

We are promoters of a national/world level bicycle race. We have to give training programs to large numbers of public safety personnel and to hundreds of volunteers. The Optima EP 749 Multimedia Projector met all of our needs.