Optoma HD80 1080p Home Projector
Optoma HD80 1080p Home Theater Projector
The Optoma HD80 is a true 1080p DLP home theater projector with studio-grade resolution and best all-around high-quality display experience for home theater enthusiasts. The HD80 delivers higher brightness and provides truer, more vibrant colors to the projected picture, and features BrilliantColor, Texas Instruments’ color processing technology. With an amazing 10000:1 contrast ratio, the Optoma HD80 delivers great color saturation and subtle color details for the best image quality.
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star Beware! Not HD80
This is not a complaint on the HD80, but rather an error with Amazon. The HD80 and HD803 are two separate models (see Optoma website). The HD803 is a sibling of the HD80 which has less contrast, less lumens and a 1 yr warranty vs. 2 yr, and it costs less. You may be perfectly happy with the HD803. However, if you clearly are trying to purchase the HD80, Amazon will be unable to help. I have made two unsuccessful attempts at purchasing an HD80. The second attempt the customer service rep stated that they would drop ship from the manufacturer. This did not happen, and alas, I find myself searching for an HD80 elsewhere.
First time that I have been displeased with Amazon.
5 Stars Outstanding image, tons of inputs, great price… nothing better…
I’ve used this projector for one year with a Comcast HD-DVR cable box (outputs in 1080i and 720p), a Playstation 3 / Blu-Ray player, an Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver w 1080p upconversion.
My room is 22 x 15 which is a little bigger than you need, but is about the right size if you want the maximum screen size (120 inch diagonal). You need a room that’s at least 18 x 12, at the VERY minimum, if you want a 100 inch screen. Make sure you have a tall ceiling – the projector has to be at least TWO feet above or below the image. Our basement ceiling is about 9 feet and that’s more than enough space.
Currently the 120 inch screen has a total image area of 6,136 inches or 43 square feet. It is a gigantic image… having HD quality at this size is something special. Every sport looks amazing, especially NFL games and the NFL Network HD channel. ESPNHD is perfect for catching up on sports. The HD movie channels – HBO, TMC, Starz, Cinemax, and Showtime (my favorite) look great.
Even the regular TV experience is changed. In addition to the HD versions of all the broadcast channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX), almost every cable channel – CNN, MSNBC, ESPN and ESPN2, Food Network, Animal Planet, Discovery, National Geographic, G4, etc – broadcast in HD and their stuff looks awesome. Shows like Man vs Wild, Survivorman, etc, that show wilderness up close, are breathtaking in HD. I can’t stress how different it is to watch TV now. It’s very immersive.
However, to truly experience the best from this projector, you need to use 1080p quality, or Blu-Ray. I got a Playstation 3 when I purchased this projector to take advantage of the 1080p resolution, which is the highest possible resolution available on the mass market today. Movies in Blu-Ray look outstanding – very deep blacks, vibrant colors, lots of brightness. The original look and feel of visually complex movies, such as The Dark Knight, is preserved. The image quality really is comparable to movie theaters when you’re in 1080p mode. Video games, such as NBA Street Homecourt, Call of Duty, and Madden NFL 09, all of which are 1080p games, look extremely sharp. Even my Nintendo 64 games (007, Mario Kart, etc) look great – nothing like the HD games, but much better than you’d expect. Very sharp.
I didn’t buy this off of Amazon because of a sale & coupon at my local shop – got it for less than 2000. But, Amazon almost always has the best prices on this product, so I posted my review here so that people can get an idea of my experiences.
In short, I love it. It does everything you could want from a 1080p HD projector. There is really something to be said for having a razor-sharp image in such a large size (up to 120 inches diagonal). Everything is on another level.
2 Stars Picture good…Design bad
I bought this projector to replace my Optoma HD70. I have a room in my house as a designated theater with the screen, chairs, sound, lighting..you name it. I thought this would be an easy install. I was so wrong! Here is the problem…Unless you have the space to mount the projector around 2 feet above or two feet below the top/bottom of the screen, this projector is totally useless! You can’t mount it at screen height or even just slightly above/below. To read about this, go to the “projectorreviews” website. I wish I had read this ahead of time. I figured that since the throw ratio was correct for my room, I was all set. Not so…
Optoma seems to have made an excellent projector for the price based on image quality, color and inputs. But, don’t make my mistake, do your research and make sure you have the clearances in your room to install this projector in the few places that it can be placed. As a side note (no pun intended), you need to be dead on straight with the screen because there is no horizontal keystoning at all. This wasn’t a problem for me, but it will be for some people.
In the end, I would say this: The projector seems very good for the money, but since 75% of the potential buyers for this product will be sliced away because of placement issues, I would stay away from this one. If for no other reason than you may not be able to resell it after you want to upgrade. Remember, placement will be a problem then too! There are many other projectors that do not suffer from this that are in the same price range. I like Optoma for budget-minded home theater enthusients, but this one is off the mark for the average home.
PS – My local Best Buy store has this mounted in their Magnolia Home Theater Center. It doesn’t work in there either. They can’t hit the screen correctly because the screen is not low enough. If it is in mine, it might be in your’s too, so go take a look.
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