Customer Reviews

Optoma H31 Home Theater 480p DLP Video Projector

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I did alot of online shopping, reviewing, studied alot of info. and I made the Correct choice. The Optoma H-31 is the projector to buy. Everything that I read online and dug out about this projector is accurate. IT SHINES excellent. DVD with componet cables off a new Panosonic ES10 is breath taking. NO screen door effect until you get close as about 4 feet. This on an Optoma Screen 92 inch diag. from a projected distance of 13 feet. Viewing distance is from about 9 feet back. Skin tones are spectacular REAL Film could not be better. I see things in old videos that I never saw before.
For example, Like test your eyes on your own stuff that you have now Tv dvd or tape.See if in the pool scene in Caddy Shack if you can see the Caddy's tan lines. This projector will let you see awesome detail.The Optoma screen puts out enough light to read buy in a darkend room. The resolution is superb.
All for less than a plasma or rear projector box occupying floor space. Direct TV with S-video is excellent.

GO ahead an try it Amazon has an excellent return policy.

I was hesitant when I purchased this projector because it was listed as only having 850 lumens for viewing, but this projector has out performed any projector I have ever used for home cinema applications. When I first turned it on an incredibly bright, sharp image projected from approxiamately 18 feet away onto the opposite wall! I have used it in a variety of applications to include: satellite, DVD, and XBOX. I am tickled to death to know that I have spent at least half what my friends have spent for big screen televisions. I can also move it with without the use of a dolly and I can still project the picture over six feet tall! I have never written a review before and have been simply compelled to offer my experience because I value what others have shared in the past. In my opinion, it is well worth the price.

I did a fair amount of research when I wanted to get a Video Projector for Home Theater as well as hooking up to my Macs (a Powerbook on location for presentations). Read the other reviews here on Amazon because I think by and large, I agree after testing this new unit with those who rated it highly. While the lumen spec seems low, the unit produces bright and clear images out of the box in a darkened room. If you have room darkening blinds or show at night, even on a white wall, the quality is excellent. I am using a DVD player with HDMI output to the Optima using DVI. Don't skimp, use this all digital connection if you can (and get a good cable). The quality of the two films I viewed (2001: A Space Odyssey and The Fifth Element) looked clear and clean with superb colors using the "Cinema" mode right out of the box. I do have a calibration DVD I might mess with but I have to say, I think I might just leave everything alone (if it ain't broke...). I'm pretty critical of color and the Optima does have lots of controls to affect tone and color but I'm not sure I'm going to mess around until I see a lot more output.

The unit is very light, comes with a nice carrying case. The remote is backlit which is nice. With the [...], I spent less than [...] and I'm blown away at the quality of the product considering what you used to have to spend on a projector (and still can). While I still love my 56" Samsung DPL projection HDTV, the H31 looks better to me and cost a lot less money. You will not be disappointed with the quality assuming you have good viewing conditions and use DVI.

I bought this one year ago today. I use it every day and it is excellent.

I am using component cables, fiber audio cable from the DVD and 16 guage wire for the speakers for a $250 Sony audio system I bought. I put the show directly on a white/cream wall and it is great. I see no rainbow, etc. I would suggest anyone buying it to use Component Cables for video. I am color blind but with these cables I could definitely see the difference.

I hope it lasts a good long time and bulbs are available. This was an excellent buy. I have had this thing about a year now and it is still going strong. I am using an HD DVD player with a DVI cable and the results are great. You do need a dark room but it is easier and less expensive than buying an LCD TV and the screen is MUCH larger. After a year of daily use, it is still great!

I recently bought this product after about a month of research & Wow it really shows its worth as a true cinema projector straight out of the box.Although you may want to deactivate Keystone feature & tweak the white balance for enhanced picture quality. Do use the Component / DVI interfaces to your DVD player/ Laptop for a true 16:9 High Definition experiance. The unit is capable of displaying brilliant picture upto 16 ft across from 24-30 fts without losing the sharpness. The unit is absolutely quiet albeit emitting heat from the lamp, duly cooled by the in-built fan. The remote control is great with backlit buttons. Overall it easily surpasses both in quality & built when compared to more expensive projectors available today.

As Usual when I decided to by a projector for my home theatre and a bit of work, I did a lot of research (i really mean a lot) and finally got Optoma H31... Best investment ever made. This id the best projector avaliable in marke in this price range and even beats some pretty good one in higher price range too. The picture out of the box is really great, a tiny little bit on greener side for my taste, but otherwise excellent. Even my wife who i havd to fight with to get a projector was very impressed with the picture quality. Since it has a DVI input I bought a Toshiba DVD player with HDMI output and the picture really rocketed off then on, some of the dvds looked much better on DVI than on component connection. I must have watched over 80 movies since i got the projector in Dec 2005. Each and every movie was a great experience. Not to mention the superball in HDTV was awsome, mind blowing, blew all my friend off even before the game started. The Projector also comes with a carrying case making it easy and safe to carry along, also in the box are a couple of adaptors and cables which are ver usefull. The remote has a nice touch of glow when any key is pressed and slowly fading off. The keys on remote are pretty good to control the projector. So far I have not noticed any fan noise or light leakage to be distracted. There are enough inputs on the projector to plug in all type of cables. I even watch pictures & movies recorded on my canon sd500 digital camera which are great too.
I would highly suggest this projector for any one looking below $1000 price range and also above.

While you can read all about how great this projector displays ( bast display / $ value ), I am writing this for a whole other reason.


After 2 weeks of viewing I dropped this projector and then it started to generate lot of fan noise. I noticed a small piece of cabonet broken and ripped out and it was clear to me that H31 can't be saved under the warranty.

Nervertheless, I opened an RMA and shipped it to Optoma spending 20 bucks and using the same package J & R had it packed. Once Optoma received the package they reported broken color wheel and asked if I wanted to fix the cabinet ( $ 200 parts and labor ). I responded with a NO for cabinet. As broken color wheel was covered in warranty Optoma replaced the wheel and shipped me back over DHL. In less than 7 days I have my H31 back working just fine and the total cost to me was $ 20 ( USPS shipping ). I am really amazed at Optoma and this incident gives me a strong reason to consider Optoma when I buy my next projector.

This is the one to buy if you are short on space . Make sure that you can darken the place where you would want to use this .

The best picture quality from dvd is got via hdmi cable and from PC via VGA . The factory settings worked fine for me .

Couple this with a good amplifier and speakers .. your theater is ready ...

I bought this projector so I can use it with my laptop on the road to make presentations.
It took about two minutes to get it running. I used the S-Video cable to plug it in my PC because my laptop is recent and has this output but they also provide the more generic RS-232 cable with the projector to work also with older computers.
The only disapointment is that the remote control they provide has to do with the projector functions only.
I found the Hiro 2.4GHz WiFi Presenter with Laser Pointer and Mouse Function on Amazon and it looks like that will be the correct combination to use if I want to control the Powerpoint slides remotedly on the PC while chating with the audience. All in all, I am very satisfied with the projector, the price was right and the ease of use is great. I do have to wait about 1 and half minutes after I hit the power off button to let the lamp cool off before disconnecting everything but that was expected.

The projector gives a very sharp and bright image, just use a clean, flat, white wall as your screen and turn off the lights, you'll be amazed how your living room turns to a movie theather!