BenQ W6000 1080p DLP Projector

We have owned an Optoma 1080p for two years before purchasing the W6000. We project on a gray wall with a screen size larger than 120 inches, ceiling mount. We use it for watching movies and playing PS3 games. The BenQ blows the Optoma away with crisp brightness yet no rainbows or loss of blacks (gotta love dlp). Also virtually no aliasing. There is considerable set-up time if you are really picky about colors and contrast - but at least you have the choice. The fan noise was unnoticeable especially compared to the Optoma...I was afraid it wasn't working correctly at first. Much cooler, much quieter, better picture = worth the price.Additional note: We have become a house divided...I like the Benq handling of motion, but my 28 year old son does not. We both agree that it is crisper, brighter and quieter than the Optoma but we are going to begin looking for a different projector that we both can love.Resolved! The motion problems were a result of a setting on the PS3. For games the motion was normal but for movies it was strange...not blurry, but odd. We changed a setting on the PS3 from 24 frames to 60 Hz(?)and now everyone agrees that this projector is perfect.

I have had about 10 different projectors in my home so in many ways I know what to look for and how they compare against each other. This model has very poor OTB color calibration and even once calibrated with some basic tools it still didn't look as good as my HC4000 with the factory settings. The smell of burning plastic all the time for the first 100 hours was finally too much and I finally sent it back for a full refund. Is it bright? Yes. Is the contrast good? Yes.Does it blow off heat big time and make noise? Yes. Is it a pain to calibrate? Yes. In the end is it all worth it? Nope. The picture on my W1200 was far superior to the W6000 and it can be had for $899 these days online. Maybe this PJ was great in 2009 but there are several better choices out today. Thought I would love this thing but I was sorely disappointed.

Great picture, super bright. At 1100 hours, the bulb would shut off immediately after startup. Tech support advised me to remove and reinstall the bulb which I did and it worked problem free until 1700 hours when the problem repeated. Called tech support and they told me the bulb was at the end of it's life so it's not to be unexpected to have these issues. I of course feel like a $300 bulb should last for every second of the 2000 hours it's rated at. They also advised that the temp sensor could be going out as well. Unplugged the unit for a week, plugged it back in and it worked for another hundred hours and now at 1800 hours the bulb finally went out completely. Sending it in this week for analysis. ****UPDATE**** Bulb completely failed bought a new bulb with housing ($300) and installed. The new bulb ran for 120 hours before it failed again. Had the projector and bulb professionally analyzed by a local company with 35 years experience and the results were that no problems could be detected with the projector but there was (another) bulb failure during their testing and it's worthy of note that this was a BENQ bulb, not a cheap aftermarket bulb. When you purchase a bulb online from Amazon, you get a 90 day warranty after which BENQ offers an extended 6 month / 500 hour warranty. I will send in the bulb to BENQ for their analysis and see what happens.*******UPDATE*********** BENQ determined that nothing was wrong with the bulb and refused to replace it in spite of the warranty. They insist that the problem is with the projector in spite of the findings of the local company I had look at it. Shipping the projector insured to BENQ would have been a $200 affair (1 way, not return shipping) so I gave it away and will never buy another BENQ product again.

I purchased the Benq W6000 from Amazon after previously owning a Benq PE8700+ (which was sold with my old house and I think I paid $3700 for it years ago). I set up this new home theater with two front BIC 15-inch woofer speakers RTR1530's - and they are big but just $109 each;, Polk Audio Monitor 50 side units for $102.50 each free ship, and I used older BIC's that I had rebuilt with 12inch woofers for my rear speakers. My subwoofer from Amazon is the BIC F12 475 Watt front firing powered subwoofer for $182.99 free ship. I hooked all this to the Onkyo TXNR808 AV Receiver(also purchased from Amazon) and I have DIRECTV and a Blue Ray from Onkyo/Amazon--very good quality at just $128)Overall, I'd say this DIY home theater is great for the total price I paid. My last item purchased from Amazon was the 150 Inch Elite Screens matte white manual pulldown screen...WOW! The projector is beautiful, and puts out an great picture regardless of HDMI feed. I had no major color correcting to do, as out of the box this unit performs brilliantly, with good blacks and spectacular colors. I also bought the $39.99 projector mount from VideoSecu via Amazon, which is a bit flimsy in some areas but still OK as it will hold the W6000 projector safely.Years ago, I would have needed $15K to do all this with such a quality projector. If you saw the 150 inch picture, I feel you would agree. I also see no rainbows, something other complain about with DLP projectors. I have this all setup in a 12'7" wide by 24' dedicated area in my cellar and I'm using 95 inch long curtains alomg the sides.The Onkyo AVR is one of the 2010 models with 1.4a and great sounds from 135 watts per channel. Don't let the low Onkyo price ($679) make you think that maybe a different $1,500 to $2,000 mid level model would be better. Just check Home Theater Magazine and you'll see this Onkyo AV receiver receives top billing, especially for the price. I've always been a Sony receiver purchaser, but with this Onkyo I am well pleased. UPDATE: 2012/2013 HDMI Failure--see separate review)The front BIC 15-inch speakers are big as I said, but for those who haven't fallen for these skinny, small multi-woofer units that cost 20x more, try one of the "old style" speakers out and you'll be surprised what less money buys these days. The bass is outstanding, and replaced my old 15-inch woofer Optimus (Radio Shack) speakers that went with my old PE8700 theater.I'm using my older (but still fine) Optimus front channel to complete the system. This review is here to hopefully be helpful to those who want an outstanding home theater on a budget.I am not a professional home theater installer, but I know a good value overall when I see and hear it. Many will spend 10 times as much overall on their systems, but when someone sees this picture and sound, they are VERY IMPRESSED.Don't hesitate on the W6000 if you're in this market. Finally, some said the W6000 is loud but it is not to my ears.UPDATE: 1-20-14: Benq still works fine but one HDMI input failed about eight months ago. I purchased a new Mitsubishi DLP model with 3D.UPDATE: Onkyo 808 7.2 Receiver: Bad news, two HDMI's failed and one is "so-so" - not usable. Replaced with Yamaha 7.2 model 773WA --- will give update when I run it.