Rating: 
Summary: X1 = Excellence!!!
Review: After having replaced a fine 55" Mitsubishi HDTV with this projector, everyone who has viewed movies in my home theater can't believe the X1 sells for under $1000. Sure, it has no NTSC tuner nor any sound system worth mentioning, but that's precisely the point. All that stuff is outboard for even the most modest home theater enthusiast, and thus is redundant and unnecessary (as well all more costly) when purchasing any other type of monitor. The 7200 and 7205 are truly fine machines, but they are not worth the thousands of $$$s more than the X1, unless you are a fanatic. I still don't believe this unit performs as well as it does. DVDs explode into life and even Directv looks pretty sensational. Finally, remember the X1a and X2 do not include Farjouda processing. Big difference from my perspective. With the X1 you can't go wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: Very pleased but need component
Review: After reading the reviews here and elsewhere, I took the plunge and got this around Christmas. Here's my observations based on my initial temporary setup.
I set this up in a converted lower level room showing against white painted sheetrock. I have four windows in the room. Set the projector up temporarily on my entertainment center approximately 12 feet from the wall. (Audio through a home theatre audio system)The unit does not come with the component adapter which I recomend
as almost essential for viewing DVDs. So you need to add that cost ($25) and the component cable costs if you dont have one (radio shack...$50) to the cost of the unit. First of all, you need very dark area for the Film presentation setting. This is not really a problem in my setup because I have light tight window shades. I have not bought a screen yet so part of my problem may be the lack of brightness due to the white sheetrock. In any case,
normal TV viewing with the lights on is not particularly satisfying. Before I got the adapter, I viewed DVDs through S-Video and found them okay, but definitely saw some screen door effects. (Especially noticeable in the "Finding Nemo" DVD. S-Video connector is okay, but the difference between that and component video is night and day. I put the Nemo DVD in after I hooked up the component cables and it just blew me away. No screen door problem. Only small problem I saw was some slight blooming of blues in the high saturation range (such as Dory's body). Not that noticeable and I was looking at it with a hyper critical eye. A lot depends on the DVD compression and such....Lawrence of Arabia Superbit version looks great compared to it;s poorly produced predecessors. Xbox games were okay on the big screen...I have to fool around with the settings some, but the lack of brightness does make it feel a bit shadowy compared to TV CRT viewing. In any case I bought it for DVD viewing and for that it's just great. Recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Best Value for your money
Review: Great Projector. Exceed my expectation. The picture quality of this projector is better than my []Sony GrandWega 60XBR800. I think the best combo is a Plasma TV for TV and daytime watching and the projector for DVD movie watching. I am really happy with it. My kids also love this projector. I brought it with me and hooked up to my laptop to watch movies for the kids while on vacation.
Rating:
Summary: THE GREAT INFOCUS X1 PROJECTOR
Review: Hi everyone,
Each year around this time, your old friend Sam gets into high tech gear and explores the latest gadgets out there. This year I wanted to add big screen video to our bedroom to take advantage of watching more of the many, many DVD's I have amassed in the past few years. Why watch lousy TV programs when you can see a good feature and see it movie size?
Well, I had NO IDEA what a REVOLUTION has occurred in video processing technology at a price ANYONE can afford right now. Those of you who have seen my eight foot projected picture at home will appreciate what I am about to tell you....you can have close to that great quality for DVD's, Cable TV or High Definition, or other sources for only $999.99 and all you need do is go to Circuit City and buy the INFOCUS X1 projector. Infocus is one of the leading manufacturers of projectors for industrial use and their sets are now being tailored for home use. Their products use the DLP technology (Digital Light Producing) and the latest Texas Instruments chip. This baby is smaller than a typewriter (about 5 by 10 by 12) and weighs only six pounds. The bulb will last for up to FOUR THOUSAND hours and is relatively cheap to replace. The brightness and contrast specs are actually better than my two year old six thousand dollar Sharp XV-9000 projector. It has lower resolution than some higher priced machines, but still enough punch to make any DVD look great for picture sizes up to nine feet. It even has a small speaker and amp built in so you don't need to hook up a sound system, which is especially handy if you want to carry it out anywhere. It has a zoom lens that allows you to adjust picture size and a handy remote control that provides all the choices for any adjustments you need.
Right out of the box, and without making any adjustments, the picture on "Annie Get Your Gun" (an exceptional DVD!) looked beautiful. I hyped the brightness, color, and contrast a bit and was even more pleased. Truly, this projector is just unbelievable and it is a thrill to share this review of its great performance with you.
You don't even need a screen to enjoy the picture, as it will work on a white wall or even a sheet. A cheap screen will be better, however. Anyone with at least a five foot throw distance can enjoy this baby in a darkened room. I had mine about fifteen feet from the screen for an eight foot picture. Even with light on in the room, the picture can be enjoyed.
This projector was introduced at $1,600.00 and was recently lowered in price because a newer model is coming out next year...BUT the new model will not include the fine Faroudja processor that is built into the unit. This processor is great at cleaning up imperfections in video. Jagged edges, video noise, and more will be smoothed out.
As usual, I did much research into this and compared other models and read countless reviews to find the best bang for the buck right now. There are a few other models that average a couple hundred more and will probably give similar performance, but I don't think any other machine will come close for this price.
So, if a big beautiful video experience is what you have been waiting for....go get one and enjoy! Just hook up your cable box or an inexpensive DVD player and you are in business. BOTTOM LINE: People who are going out and buying those huge rear projection TV's that are heavy and take up a lot of room paid from two to three thousand dollars and sometimes much more. You can have a picture double their size, that will have no "burn in" problems, take up no space, and almost certainly will have a superior picture....for a third of the price. The projector also has a THREE year warranty.
I think Santa Claus came early this year...because it feels like Xmas here today!
best to all,
Sam
Rating:
Summary: Good Projector
Review: I am writing this, because i made my decision mainly over the others opinions and i will be very happy if i can help others with their decision. I am not an expert but i can tell you that i am very hapy with the result. My wife was very pesimistic about the idea of buying a projector but now she is also accept that result is impressive. This is my first projector and i don't think i need an upgrade for a while. I'am using it mainly for dvd. I have a 100" screen. Colours and contrast are very good but there are minor problems with dark scenes. If you want to use X1 during the day you have to have a light control because this is not a projector you can use it in a bright environment. Seting up X1 is easy. Component video is deffinitely giving the best result but s video is also not bad. For component video you have to use a special adaptor and it was difficult to find when ý bought the X1. If you can not find it you can use a VGA to 5BNC cable (like me). It can accept progressive signals but you should decide whether your source or the procector's video processing is better. X1 has a Faroudja video processing and it is very good. I know the rainbow isue is a problem with DLP projectors (Specialy projectors with 2X color wheel like X1). But i am at the lucky side. I have more than 300 hours on the lamp and neither me nor My wife or any of my friends see any rainbows yet. I think, if you don't see the rainbows you can not go wrong with this projector. Result is perfect for the price. I think this was the best 950$ i spend for my home theatre. PS: you can find lots of useful information about X1 at http://members.shaw.ca/technut/x1faq (unofficial X1 FQA page)
Rating:
Summary: Good value for money
Review: I bought the X1 a few weeks ago and have had the opportunity to spend some time playing with it. I have to say, it's great value for money. The picture quality is good and the contrast/brightness is acceptable even in a relatively bright room. I though I would have had to seal all the windows in the living room to be able to watch a movie, but that's not necessarily true. Also, the fan is fairly quiet and the built-in speaker is good when on the move. Overall, I am very satisfied with it both at home and when making presentations. The only two negatives are the following. First, if you start thinking about the "rainbow effect" too much, you will see it everywhere (although in a very mild form), and that's a bit distractive. My suggestion is: don't look for it! Second, I have had trouble setting up the picture at home to be perfectly rectangular. I still have to spend some more time trying to fix this problem, but at the moment it's a bit of a hassle to fit the picture perfectly onto the screen.
Rating:
Summary: The X1 really shines projecting DVD's.
Review: I bought the X1 as a business projector as well as home viewing of DVD's.
On the DVD front, this unit really really shines. I used my laptop and connected via the included vesa cable, selected the Film preset, and projected about a 70 inch diagonal image on a glass-beaded projection screen. The images were well saturated and gorgeous, as good as any movie screen.
I took the sound from my laptop headphones out jack and attached them to some Sony powered speakers and got great sound.
You will not be dissappointed with the DVD video quality of this unit, not for a moment.
People talk about seeing weird effects with the DLP processor. If you really try to analyze the heck out of the image, you might notice a little bit of slowness in the ability of the processor to keep up with fast moving images (like a person jogging across the screen). But basically, if you relax and go with the flow, you won't notice anything about the DLP image except how fantastic it looks.
Try watching "Under the Tuscan Sun" with this baby and you'll know what I mean. My girlfirend and I can't imagine what it used to be like watching movies on a normal (ie. 32 inch) tv screen. Once you've gone 70 inch diagonal (and greater, if you have room for a larger screen), you can't imagine watching video on those 40 or 50 inch little pooper screens.
As for business presentations, definitely pick another preset like Presentation. The presentation quality is good but not amazing. Probably better off with a non-DLP unit if presentations are your main bag.
Anyways, don't think a second about it. Get the X1 and never watch a DVD on a puny screen again.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!! X1 Best Bang for $$$$
Review: I have been enjoying the Infocus X1 for about a year now. Everyone enjoys it. I use ALL of the input modes. Here is a list of uses so far. :-} - NTSC Composite from VCR
- NTSC S-Video for standard Comcast Cable service
- HDTV 1080i from Comcast Cable service. Needed special cable that converts Y/Pr/Pb to RGB. Even though it needs to use image compression to change res. from 1920x1080 to 800x600 the projector displays a supurb image.
- SVGA 1024x768 compressed for most computer stuff but is still sharp and clear
- My favorate! Counter-Strike! VGA 800x600! Players are lifesize!
- LotR Two Towers Special Addition is amazing! Save your money! If you plan on paying more than $1000 for a TV or Plasma. Buy an X1 instead! -Egbet the Destroyer
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Value, but more on the way
Review: I have logged about 350 hours on my X1 and am still impressed by what I see. I thought that DVDs looked amazing with s-video in, but Hi-Def is even more incredible, almost 3 dimensional. Slight rainbows from the 2x color wheel may or may not bother you. I am a broadcast professional and highly critical of image quality, and although I notice them, they are not a deal breaker, and seem to diminish the more I watch. If I were buying today, I'd give serious consideration to the newly announced Screenplay 4805. Although it looks like the X1, it is "enhanced" in many ways. For another $600 you get DVI in with HDCP (trust me, your gonna want this when HD-DVD hits the market), a 25% brigher bulb (the X1 when set-up for video without the white wheel segment, is less than 500 lumens), a default calibrated set-up for video out of the box, and a 16x9 image panel instead of 4:3. Instead of 800x600, it's 854x480. This means no vertical scaling on DVD material down to 800x450 (should be much sharper and should be markedly sharper using DVI for input from the new DVD players. Basically we're talking about digital pixel for pixel imaging right from the DVD) and no gray bars on the top and bottom when viewing 16x9 material. As a further home theatre bonus, they've added a 12v screen trigger for electronic pull-down screens. Of course, it's got the proven Faroudja DCDi processor as well. The X1 rocks and is cheap, but if you primarily want to view movies, check out the 4805 which should ship sometime this spring.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Value, but more on the way
Review: I have logged about 350 hours on my X1 and am still impressed by what I see. I thought that DVDs looked amazing with s-video in, but Hi-Def is even more incredible, almost 3 dimensional. Slight rainbows from the 2x color wheel may or may not bother you. I am a broadcast professional and highly critical of image quality, and although I notice them, they are not a deal breaker, and seem to diminish the more I watch. If I were buying today, I'd give serious consideration to the newly announced Screenplay 4805. Although it looks like the X1, it is "enhanced" in many ways. For another $600 you get DVI in with HDCP (trust me, your gonna want this when HD-DVD hits the market), a 25% brigher bulb (the X1 when set-up for video without the white wheel segment, is less than 500 lumens), a default calibrated set-up for video out of the box, and a 16x9 image panel instead of 4:3. Instead of 800x600, it's 854x480. This means no vertical scaling on DVD material down to 800x450 (should be much sharper and should be markedly sharper using DVI for input from the new DVD players. Basically we're talking about digital pixel for pixel imaging right from the DVD) and no gray bars on the top and bottom when viewing 16x9 material. As a further home theatre bonus, they've added a 12v screen trigger for electronic pull-down screens. Of course, it's got the proven Faroudja DCDi processor as well. The X1 rocks and is cheap, but if you primarily want to view movies, check out the 4805 which should ship sometime this spring.
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