Used Vidikron 2C...Should I or shouldn't I?

.... Formerly Vidikron certified and trained installer steps to the podium, clears throat...

Ahem.

DON'T BUY IT.

Thank you.

* I was factory (well, import warehouse)trained on the old 3-gun series VPF40 & 50 series and the Vision 1 & 2, but also had to wrangle with Crystal series in store displays, and the Marantz LCD for a time.

Find a good, used DLP, not a badge-engineered bomb waiting to go off. Back in the day, if anything short of a clump of pixels resulting in a very, very noticeable blob on your screen didn't go out, no warranty on the LCD panel...

*** all statements subject to my admittedly foggy memory

*** Three guns break. They're like computers, it's not "Will it break", it's "How much will it cost to fix when it breaks" because it will. Trust me, it will. Usually when you have a house full for the big game.

*** Picture a 4 square inch piece of shrinky-dink plastic baking in your oven...That's your LCD panel sitting in front of that super-bright bulb. It will fail, oh yes, it will fail...

**** slightly off topic-CRTs- The guns in a 3 gun CRT projector are working anywhere from 3-8 times (depending on your fact source, projo model, etc.) than do the guns in a rear-projection TV set. Life span is shortened accordingly. Remember that a re-tube also necessitates re-set-up of your projector. That's not free unless you happen to be able to do it yourself, and I've not run across anyone without formal training who could do that (although if there are people who can "just figure it out" I'm sure they frequent this forum...) Remember if you do it wrong, you can and will make your picture look crappy, and quite possibly trash your new guns.

**last thing- DO NOT commit the sin of thinking any old screen will do. You need to match the screen type with the projector, the room, and your viewing position as well as ambient light issues to make it worthwhile. Your co-worker's screen may not be what your room needs. Check out the websites of Draper and other screen companies for more info on screens and applications. With ANY LCD or DLP projector, keep in mind good black levels will be tough to get, which means you absolutely must control ambient light and get the right screen. Oh, and pay close attention to set up and required positioning of the unit for your desired screen size-- LCDs are limited in this regard.

*** You really want a little box with a noisy fan and heat output like a first generation Krell amp on full boil in your music room?

****I need therapy.

I have been involved in video for over 20 years.. At least 8 of those years working with lcd displays. I have seen only 1 panel failure out of maybe a hundred installed units that was a result of heat stress. Tom

Well, I ran and hid long before 20 years-- to what do you attribute pixel / full panel failures in the Crystal series projectors?

--this may be a timing issue, but for a while there they were rampant, and Vidikron had a standard measurement of what was and was not grounds for warranty-- it was a set number of failed pixels, and they all had to touch. If you had 4 pixels out but they didn't touch, they called it OK.

As always, my post was just my 2 cents with a little attempted humor thrown in.

Yea, they say I have been around since the Earth cooled. My experience has been mostly with Sharp brand a few Sonys and now the Yamaha. Sharp had very few pixel problems. I think 3 was the limit that was acceptable and that depended on the position and the color. They were very easy to work with on these type of issues. I have seen only one entire panel meltdown. That was on a Sharp... in 8 years.. Tom