Infocus X1, anyone have one?

[Brett]

I just purchased, have not yet open (but its hard), an Infocus X1... does anyone have or had experience with this projector...I am curious if I am just wasting money here buying so near the entry-level of projectors.

-Brett

[bald]

Just purchased one about 3 weeks ago from circuit city.
Personally it's probably the best $1000 I have ever spent.

I watch a lot of dvds and for that it's fantastic. Regular SDTV looks like you would expect it to blown up to 90 inches. Watched the sugar bowl - looked great. I prefer the huge screen for sports, but sometimes for regular programming (who wants to see a 5 foot tall head of a newscaster) it can admittedly be a little overwhelming.

Only real complaints people have about the projector is that you can see "rainbow" artifacts if you dart your eyes around the screen during high contrast (whites on black, vice versa, etc) scenes. Only way to tell if it bothers you badly is to fire it up and check it out.

The worst thing about owning this projector is that I want to watch movies all the time, and it's killing my grades.

bald

[zealot]

My next door neighbor has one, and it's absolutely amazing. I was shocked that an entry-level projector could look that good, but it's convinced me to get one myself.

His only problem with it is that he plays a lot of xbox games, and he needs a special converter to view the startup dashboard (since it's not in high-def)... the picture only shows up once the game starts.

[rgs]

I've had one for a year. It's a terrific machine, particularly with DVDs, but even digital TV looks good on it. HDTV is great if you have it. Works well with Snapstream. I don't think you'll be sorry. In my experience the rainbox effect is overrated. I've never seen on nor has anyone else who has watched it. Mind you, I don't *try* to see them either.
Richard

[Brett]

...ok so you all seem impressed, so now I ask what kind of screen is displayed on, how much, where at, and how hard was it to setup?

Sorry for all the questions I am trying to decide between this route and buying a home entertainment piece of furniture...

thanks in advance,
Brett

[bald]

Originally posted by RadioActive
...ok so you all seem impressed, so now I ask what kind of screen is displayed on, how much, where at, and how hard was it to setup?

I would really suggest visiting AVS Forums. Visit the Digital projector Under $3500 forum. Do a search for infocus x1 or x1, and you'll find all kinds of information. They also have a forum dedicated just to screens - buying, building, etc.

Another good source of information is Projector Central. You can find reviews, distance/screen size calculators, projector specs, etc.

To answer your question specifically in my case, I bought some blackout cloth from joann's fabric, built a frame out of wood, painted the frame black, and stapled the blackout cloth to the back of it. Total cost was probably about 50 dollars. To buy a "professional" screen will run you at least $150 for a low end setup. More professional permanent wall mounts are significantly more than that (200, 500, 1000 and up etc are a few price points). My projector mount consisted of a piece of particle board and two shelving brackets from lowes, cost of that was like $15.

In terms of difficulty of setup, I didnt really find it that hard, as long as you are moderately handy with a drill, saw, a level and a measuring tape. When hanging/leveling things it helps to have someone else around to help you hold things and make sure what you're calling level/straight looks that way to someone else as well.

I am a student and I did all of this in a couple days over christmas break (building the screen, the wall mount, buying/setting up x1, rearranging furniture/wires etc.)

I am extremely happy with the way things worked out. I love watching movies with the new setup, friends that come over are equally impressed and dumbfounded that such a system can be had for a fraction of the cost of a fancy new plasma tv.

good luck,
bald

[rgs]

You can display it on a matte white wall. Quite good. I use a wall painted with Screen Goo. Even better. You can get info on that on the AVS forum. There's nothing to setting it up. You can make your own ceiling mount but there's someone on the AVS forum that makes very nice ceiling mounts for the projector. "Robert Soroka" <robert@digital-visions.ca> is the name and the email address.
Regards,
Richard