Optoma is one of the leading projector manufacturer in the world, and yet, I got one that is defective. When it arrived, everything was fine. In terms of projector performance, I agree with other reviewers, and even critic review from Projector Central. It a great little projector for a great little price, if it works. Sure it's a little difficult to focus, but I was surprised at the picture quality. Playing HD materials gives HD quality, regardless of what the native resolution may be.
Yet, at the day when I have it setup properly after calculating the distance, getting the projector screen, and testing with all available sources, it shut down on its own. It wasn't even 10 hours since I have first started using it. It refused to power on after that. I tried different power sources, different extension gangs, even direct wall connections, nothing worked. And since I imported this, I don't have local warranty, and to return it to Amazon will cost me more than the projector itself. Lucky for me, the local distributor/service center accepted the projector even though it was an import, but therein lies another issue. When the technician turned on the projector in the service center, it worked like a charm. I was flabbergasted. The technician told me to use a good 2-pin converter (my country Malaysia uses a 3-pin connector) and then went on to charged me USD 25 for that little amount of advice. I had no choice but to pay the money, which wasn't made known to me BEFORE he accepted the projector for service. Sure I could argue, but I was just glad the projector worked at that time.
I went on to buy a good converter as advised, and went home to test it. Worked like a charm. So I put it away. The next day, I had everything set up with the projector screen and sources and everything. I turned the projector on, and nothing. It played dead. No matter what I do, it just won't come on. So I paid that service fee and bought an expensive converter for nothing. I packed it away.
The next day I turned it on again, in my room, just to test, and it came on! I was thrilled! I set up everything, and brought the projector out to my living room. Connect it, turn it on, nothing. It played dead, again.
I have absolutely no idea what the hell is wrong with it. I have no idea how the hell to fix it, and I am definitely not going to bloody send it back to the service center so they can charge me again for something that they didn't do.
I also sent an e-mail to Optoma US, but they have not replied to me. It's probably because of the holiday season, so I'll give them a few more days. If I can't get this projector to work and no one from Optoma is going to help me fix this, I am never ever forever buying another Optoma projector ever again. Right now, I have a great little low cost projector when it works, and a very expensive paper weight when it doesn't work.
So for all international customer thinking about importing this projector, make sure your local service center will accept it, or at least you have ways to return the projector to Amazon for a refund.
As a conclusion to my review (more like my experience with the projector), I declare this projector F.U.B.A.R.
Thank you for reading. Hope it helps.
*Updated* January 3rd 2012
Found out that the problem was due to a faulty power adapter. Bought a compatible one from a local electrical shop and everything works fine. Still difficult to focus though. And the projector actually loses focus while in use. I experience this once in about 60 minutes.
More importantly, the support staff DID NOT REPLY to my e-mail at all. Guess my problem isn't really their main concern so long as my credit card had cleared the purchase. Optoma actually dares to ignore a genuine problem on their product, so guess what I'm gonna do? Ban for life. I will never ever buy another product from Optoma again. I will never recommend anyone to do so, and I will also never sell any Optoma products ever again (did I not mention that I own a company that builds home theaters for my clients? Well, I do.). So for those who are reading this review, choose another product. I know there are not many products that fall within this price range, but I'd suggest that you save up just a little more, and then go for a better projector. It will be worth the wait, and you will save yourself all the trouble. Trust me on this. I am speaking from experience. This projector isn't bad, really, just that the company that makes it is.