I guess I am spoiled. Four years for a CRT would be abysmal. If you figure $2,000 purchase cost, that is $500 a year + lamps. Thats another $600+. So we are at an operating cost of $650 per year!!!! I do not consider that good for any display. I had about 7000 to 9000 hours on it. Again, I have a CRT in my spare bedroom that is 24 years old and still works great.
The second matter is that the problem seems to be with most LCD technologies, not just Panasonic. But since I have no experience with the others I can not condemn all manufacturers of LCD's.
If plasma and LCD flat panel TV's failed after four years, everyone and their mother would be up in arms. Not sure why you feel four years is acceptable for a projector?
I priced a JVC DILA and it is more than double the price of an LCD or DLP. Not sure what to do at this point. LED seems to be up and coming but I do not want to wait.
Just really bummed at this point because my wife and I love the big screen.
I think the unfortunate fact of the matter is that nothing is built to last anymore. Everything has built-in obsolescence, or is just designed to get you past the warranty period before you have to buy something new because your last thing died. I could go on about this for ages but I am preaching to the choir. Unfortunately, I think we both know nothing will ever beat CRT for being bulletproof and long-lasting.
Of the "new" displays I know about around town, I have seen
almost all plasmas fail in 2 to 4 years, at least at my altitude, and LCD HDTVs have honestly not been around quite long enough to determine their longevity at this point. That said, I have an LCD computer monitor that is in its 7th year, so that to me is great.
When you said 9000 hours, all I could think is "wow, that is awesome. You actually really did get your use out of that thing." Sad but true. I only got about 4500 hours out of the Sharp, and less than 2000 out of the Optoma (we're talking 3rd failure there, after the last warranty repair it was time to ditch that thing). I guess I am a younger generation and so I am used to stuff crapping out on me earlier. My tools do it too, but my grandpa is still using the same table saw he used in Morocco at the end of WWII and it is still a champion.
Also, though you paid $2k plus bulbs, the technology moves
so fast that that PJ was probably worth less than $500 the day before it died on you, so it is hard to figure operating costs correctly, though I know we talked about that operating costs with depreciation stuff in my one business class...
I think we are few years out from LED tech permeating the HT market. I would take a look into some budget 1080p projectors I guess, which can be had in the sub-1k region, or even cheaper are some pretty decent 720p PJs. The JVCs starting at $4k certainly would upset you much more if they die in 4 years...
