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2 Responses to “Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 Home Theater Projector”

1. Stephen D. Doane Says: February 17th, 2010 at 8:41 pm

   I bought the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 after visiting a friend of a friend, who had an older Epson HD projector set up, and it blew me away. I had thought of getting a projector in years past, but never did due to what I thought was very expensive to own (lamp $$ and replacments), initial purchase, and screen purchase. I found that the bulb is rated at 4000 hours, that’s like 3 years at 4 hours of watching the projector every nite! I bought the projector, and was BLOWN AWAY to see the picture in HD on my regular painted light brown wall with no screen yet. The picture was so bright, so clear, I was not going to pay $750 for a 120 inch permanent screen like my friend of a friend did. I did a test to hold a sheet on the wall and project half on the sheet and half on the wall – to my surprise, the colors (skin tones too) were perfect whether on the brown wall or white sheet, and perfectly acceptable to my surprise. I later found a Da-Lite screen for $99 (72INX96IN Model B Manual Pull Down Screen Matte White by Da-Lite) on Amazon free shipping no tax to my door, which adds about 20% brightness and a little more contrast to finish off the purchase. I use the projector with HDMI HD cable box out for TV, HDMI blu ray player, Component for HD xbox 360 (yes xbox is HD 1080 even using component cables), and use the VGA input with a PC and a 50 foot VGA cable to a VGA repeater, so my home PC in the other room can show on the projector if I want it to. Projector is awesome and I recommend it highly. Aside from no one being disappointed with this picture quality, the next biggest feature is the “throw” of the lens. Meaning, most people can’t put the projector in the middle of the room on a stand in the way of your furniture. They usually ceiling mount it. If you have high ceilings like I do (8 feet) and want the projector as much out of the way as I do (almost touching the ceiling) rather than have to aim the projector on an angle towards the middle of your wall, the lens has an adjustment to drop the entire rectangular image DOWN very low and sizable left or right of the projectors face. This means it will install in more places than many other projectors. I just hope the lamp life will live up to expectations, and not die out or considerably dim to half at half life, etc. I can’t find anyone who has yet changed their bulb once or twice to comment if it stays relatively bright until it dies or dims a little every 1000 hours, we’ll see – but you CANNOT be dissapointed by this projector AT THIS PRICE. If you have another grand, that’s different, but for around $1500 this one is the one. Couple that with 90 day advance replacement warranty from Epson, and 2 years parts and labor from Epson direct (projector comes with your own PIN for fast tech support) you will love this one!
   Rating: 5 / 5

2. Carlos Says: February 17th, 2010 at 10:38 pm

   This technically is my third projector so I am experienced in projectors. My InFocus Screenplay 4805 had reached 3000 hours and the lamp burned out. I was ready to upgrade. At first I bought the Sanyo PLV-1080HD as an open box buy. When I got it home, to my dismay there was over 700 hours on it! BUMMER!! Since I had 30 days to return it, the salesman told me new projectors were on the way and to hold tight. (I would never buy a demo projector again!)

   Well two weeks later I saw the Epson in the store. Since I had the Sanyo for 2 weeks, I had something to compare it to. The blacks are twice as good. It is super bright. The colors POP like an LCD TV. Basically it turned my white screen at home into the world largest flat panel. They had a gray screen at the store and the whites were still plenty bright. The screen at the store had glass particles that showed up and were distracting during the movie, so I won’t be purchasing a glass particled screen.

   Both projectors were much better at my home. The demo room has too much light near the screen. At home, I was a little alarmed by the Epson 8100′s oversaturated color right out of the box. The Sanyo was pretty good right out of the box, but the Epson demands adjustment. On HDTV (Cox) most of the people were overly reddish. One of the preset modes for HDTV removed too much color.

   I found a review of the projector that included calibration configurations and that made a WORLD of difference. That’s when it started to shine even on ECO mode! (I think it could beat Sanyo PLV-1080HD’s brightest mode on ECO mode!) I am so excited to have purchased this brand new. I find it a definite upgrade to be able to go 4000 hours on a bulb and only pay $300 for a replacement versus Sanyo’s approximate 2000 hours and $400 for a replacement.

   Blu-rays were awesome on the Epson 8100. Razor sharp. Even up close to the screen, you can hardly see the porch screen. The contrasts and shadow details were notable.

   There are plenty of parameters to adjust this projector. With the warranty, lamp life, and awesome picture. I will definitely be pleased for a long time.

   Some reviews went back and forth about organic versus inorganic panels and guess about what kind of panels this projector is made of. The two year warranty give me peace of mind that if the panels go bad, I will get it fixed.

   I have used a projector since 2005 and I have used it for TV, movies and some computer use. I do cut it off if I’m not watching but I have fallen asleep a few times. It’s on most of Saturday and Sunday. Still in 4 years, I only used the In Focus for 3000 hours.

   I had considered having a LCD TV in addition so I could save the bulb, but I can buy a lot of bulbs for that cost and even a 52″ TV seems tiny after being accustomed to a 92″ screen. I was watching Larry King and the wall behind him was true black. The color was awesome. CNN shines! Sports look GREAT. (Sports were dim on the Sanyo PLV-1080HD.)

   My projector is at least 20 feet away and giving off plenty of light even with my lights on. According to one of the reviews, the light is considerably cut when you have it too far away. I have it at the longest distance where you can have it 100″ and using ECO lamp with the light off and it’s plenty bright.

   I have it on a shelf in the back of the room so I can still enjoy my ceiling fan in the summer. The exhaust vent on the front is a life saver on this unit. The Sanyo was blowing hot air and some bright light out the side of their projector. The Sanyo did have a door to hide the lens but Epson has a lens cover. Since I can easily reach the lens, I’ll just put the cover on, when I’m finished. I may even purchase a full projector cover for when it’s not in use to cut down on dust.

   There were overwhelming positive reviews for the Sanyo, but this Epson will blow it away. Even the exterior design in a little more sexy in pearl white and a little bit more stream lined and less boxy.

   Finally, don’t pay full price as it’s a buyer’s market. I got an awesome price at a major retailer and for 0% financing, so get yours today! Get this projector!
   Rating: 5 / 5

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