Customer Reviews

Optoma HD71 720p DLP Home Theater Projector

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I spent considerable time comparing projectors and arrived at this one. The reason I bought this projector over a TV is because I move often and wanted large screen quality with portability. I read a comment, and I agree, that projectors in the personal price range will never equal HD TVs in terms of overall quality, and bought this expecting such.

The reason I chose this projector was because of the portability and the brightness. As a DLP it is naturally much lighter compared LCD counterparts, and the brightness is needed due to predicted use in lighted rooms. It is very light and I was able to easily carry it in my backpack although it is a little bulky. The brightness is not as satisfying as I thought but it is still easily visible in medium ambient light situations.

Also worth noting is that compared to several other projectors in this category I did not find many angry customers with serious short term or long term problems with this projector.

Pros: Easy setup (connected HDMI cable to my PC and it recognized it without any assistance (os: vista)), easy interface, sliding lens cover, nice adjustable height bar, plenty of various inputs, very quiet (I sit immediately next to it to watch movies and don't notice it)

Cons: Came with only component cables (but I expected this and bought my own hdmi cables), only 1 HDMI and 1 DVI port, not as bright as I hoped, no quick-key on remote or body for volume

Note: Super-ultra-bright remote (I cannot stress enough how bright this thing gets when in use, you can probably use it as a flashlight) but do not see this as pro or con

Overall experience: I use this projector mainly for gaming with my xbox360 and movies with my PC and have been very happy with the quality on each.

This projector is awesome.... For about $1100, I now have a 106" 'flat screen' TV in my media room. I was a bit hesitant about picture quality and wasn't sure this was the right product for me. So, before I went through all of the hassle of wiring the whole room and then not being happy with the projector, I decided to do a test. I took the HD cable box and connected it to the projector. I turned on the power and pointed the projector towards the brown wall of my media room. In about 60 seconds, I had a huge, clear, bright picture EVEN ON A BROWN WALL !!!! I'm going to paint and frame that part of the wall white so I'm sure it will be even better. My room is in total darkness, so I'm sure that helps. But I would suggest this as a perfect low cost projector. Only drawback is that there is only on HDMI port, but I think they make adapters for that now.

Works great for outdoor theater even in day light if the sun is not shining on the screen. Very bright display at night.

This projector showed outstanding HD quality pictures. I thought it wouldn't compare to a regular HD TV but it sure does when u play at night and on a projector screen. I mainly use it for wacthing blu ray movies. I also bought the epson duet projector screen, which is 80inch, so i can bring it to my friends house or watch in the backyard. It's very portable.

I am just about done remodeling our whole upstairs which includes our 500sf gameroom. I am creating a portion of that to be the "media" area and decided to go with a projector. I got this projector b/c the reviews were very good. To say the least, I am very very happy with this projector. The picture quality is super. The ease of use is very simple. I was a typical male and did not even open the manual... I did not need to. It was very simple and there was nothing to really change. We first tested the Xbox and my son was on cloud nine playing on a screen that was 6 feet wide. I then hooked up the Cable to it using the standard video cable and the picture looked really good. Will be going to get an S-video cable tomorrow.

When the playroom is complete I will be doing a ceiling mount there. Due to the projection angle, you can get very close to the screen w/out obstructing it when you do a ceiling mount. Not that you should be that close.

I have an old Sherwood video/audio system that handles multiple input/outputs and I will be using that system to manage my audio for the various items (xbox, wii, regular cable TV, and DVD player.

I wish the HD71 had a "sleep" function on it so that it would turn off after a certain amount of time. If we have young folks over watching a movie or game late at night, we can set the cable to turn off on a sleep timer but the HD71 will just stay on until it is turned off :(

The speaker on the HD71 is just for emergency purposes only as it is not very loud at all. For a business presentation it would be of some value for that. It came with a set of video cables and a set of composite video cables.

This unit is 720p and I just can't imagine that 1080p could be that much better, maybe it could. But from my research, you can not find a better unit for the money on this unit. I paid $943 for it w/ free shipping.

You will positively be satisfied with the quality of the picture and ease of use. I can't vouch for long term durability and hopefully that will never be an issue. I did purchase an extended 1 yr warranty for aprox $35.

I purchased this projector through [...]. BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE! They call to confirm purchases, they follow up the purchase through email (AWESOME!) even 6 months after the purchase! Anyways, great connections: HDMI, VGA, DVI, RCA, Component. The ONLY problem I have with it: no audio out! HDMI carries Audio and Video, but there is no way to get Audio out. Why would I need Audio in? I don't know, but I found a work around and have enjoyed this projector ever since I purchased it. It's fairly bright in my Living Room if I close the blinds and pull the shades. Worked amazingly well when I had it in my "Man Cave" for gaming/movies. Definitely worth the money!

This is my first purchase of a projector after about a year of experience using others. I am a photographer who occasionally uses projectors to teach and was desiring a projector which was bright, and capable of maximizing details of images. I also wanted to occasionally use this for projecting movies. I decided to give a DLP projector a try. I am pleased thus far, but have yet to see any digital projector which will reproduce the level of clarity, tone, and color that a traditional slide projector does with photographs. This projector is bright but I still find myself wanting to get the room as dark as possible. It connects to my macbook reliably without any confusing sequence of tasks, and works just like an external monitor. Before my purchase I read another review that commented on the small zoom range that the projector has, and this is certainly true, and has limited the positioning of the projector to between 8 to 12 feet to fill the width of a 72 inch wide projector screen. The projector does not come with a cable, so I had to go get one an ended up with a $50 HDMI, another cost. It does not come with a carrying bag, but I found an old laptop bag which is working well so far. I am pleased with the purchase and would recommend this projector to others.

I have average knowledge when it comes to projectors; at 12.5' it projects a very nice image on an 106" screen. I have a grey, 1.8 gain Optoma Greywolf II screen and I am very pleased with the image. As for the noise created by the fan I have no complaints like other reviews I have read.

I like this projector, looks great and feels like I'm in my own theater. Prompt delivery and a pleasure to do business with.

Less than 30 days after purchase, I'm waiting for an RMA to send it off for service or replacement. During the time it was working, it's display was excellent in a non-light controlled room (plenty of ambient lighting and lots of windows). I don't want my money back, I want this one to work! The picture is very bright, especially compared to my previous projector (an Optoma DV10 - which also was RMAed around the one year mark). I wish the display mode would stay in the last selected mode when turned on, instead of defaulting to the native mode. I think I will have to buy an extended warranty once the repair is done because it only has a one year warranty.