Optoma MovieTime DV10

Pros: Flop and Play anywhere

Cons: DVD lid feels cheap, very poor quality, poor bulb life

Summary: I did all the research, the stats look good, and it seemed pretty good for the price. However, all is not as the stats state. The picture is dark and really does need a very dark room for proper viewing. To my eyes and my family, the picture never seemed to be really sharp no matter how I adjusted the settings. The bulb ($349) "will not" last 2000 hours, even if bright mode is never used: mine pooped out at 1280 hours. Optoma did say they would sell me one at their price of $279, which still doesn’t sound like a good deal for something that won’t even last a year. I later found from the technician that it’s better to leave on if it’s only going to be off for an hour or so.

Ok, I might be able to justify the lamp as it is very nice to have such a large screen, and the portability is nice occasionally, but the quality of the one I have is extremely poor. After 7 months I had to send it in as it sounded like broken glass inside when started and they ended up replacing the color wheel and another part and adjusting two things. Cost me $27 w/insurance to ship. After getting it back it wouldn’t play certain DVD’s that my other DVD’s would play so I had to send it in again, but at least this time they gave me a shipping label so I didn’t have to pay for that again. Beware though; I got the impression if the projector had this problem a month or so more down the road I would have had to pay for shipping again. Good thing about the service is that they do turn it around pretty quick (5 bus days) and ship it next day air.

So, would I recommend the DV10, absolutely not! It’s unreliable, doesn’t provide a sharp picture, and the service technicians although knowledgeable, seem to be very limited in what they can do for the customer. After this experience, I either recommend an LCD projector from someone other than Optoma, or live with a smaller screen Plasma or LCD TV and not worry about bulbs. If you do get one though, get the best warranty you can!