On 18/10/2013 08:42, Charlie Pridham wrote:
I need to change to digital projection, I occasionally give talks to
garden clubs and have a slide projector but have found it increasingly
difficult to get hold of the slide film so last year bought a DSLR
camera, very pleased with the pictures but at present I can't use them!

You can get digital to slide done professionally for a (high) price.

So as I am not Alan Titchmarsh and don't charge a huge amount to give
talks I was looking at something like the Epson EB S02H which seems to
retail at around the 240-250 mark but the spare bulbs are 140 ish and I
wouldn't be happy not having a spare. (Why are the bulbs so much more
for these projectors compared with slide ones?)

You may find that some of the better gardening clubs and venues have
their own digital projectors (although spare bulbs are another thing).
It is often cheaper and better to replace the projector with the next
generation higher resolution one when the bulb blows up. By then the
cost of the replacement bulb and an entire new projector are comparable!

The BCSS branch I belong to has its own HD digital projector and a
laptop for speakers to use with calibrated colour. Our village hall has
a lesser grade DLP one 720p rather than 1080p bought second hand. It
isn't kept in the hall except when being used for obvious reasons.

BTW pay attention to the fan noise rating (typically in economy mode) if
you are going to be talking over it as opposed to playing movies. I have
known some when on full brightness that sound like a hair drier!

While looking at all that I noticed a LED-33 projector for just 130
which claims 25000 hours bulb life?

LEDs last longer but are IME mostly not as bright (yet). In a darkened
room you might get away with it there are some that would be cheaper
than a normal projector and a spare lamp. No experience of this one but
would be interested if anyone has seen it in use (or an independent review):

http://www.projectorsite.co.uk/index...=133&parent=26

£370 for a native 1280x800 display @ 2600lumens noise 30dB

I'd aim for full HD 1080p if buying new these days.

My question is, does anyone here use the cheaper LED projectors and is
the picture quality OK? (ie does it compare with an old fashioned slide
projector)

I suppose I normally project onto a 5' square screen and can chose the
distance, normally evenings so I don't need to project in bright light

The other thing to look out for is local voluntary groups who can make
projectors & OHPs available to hire/borrow for educational talks.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown