Adam's Theater

[Adam]

Are you over or under watering?

Well, if I knew that...

I don't know, man. The instructions say to water once (or twice if it's hot and dry) a day. I do that. I really doubt that I'm over watering, but I try to wet the ground without soaking it. The seed pods are "Guaranteed to grow*". I have yet to read the "*" note, but I'm guessing that the guarantee is contingent on someone being a master gardener. That said, I expected seeds planted in individual containers with Miracle-Gro soil and fertilizer to at least sprout. Out of the nine pods that I planted, I think that there were seven or eight varieties of seeds (some were duplicates), so it seems like something should have happened. I'm going to give them as long as I can, but I have to review them within 30 days of receipt, and they were supposed to germinate in five to 10 days (I planted them 16 days ago).

 

[psbfan9]

Well, if I knew that...

I don't know, man. The instructions say to water once (or twice if it's hot and dry) a day. I do that. I really doubt that I'm over watering, but I try to wet the ground without soaking it. The seed pods are "Guaranteed to grow*". I have yet to read the "*" note, but I'm guessing that the guarantee is contingent on someone being a master gardener. That said, I expected seeds planted in individual containers with Miracle-Gro soil and fertilizer to at least sprout. Out of the nine pods that I planted, I think that there were seven or eight varieties of seeds (some were duplicates), so it seems like something should have happened. I'm going to give them as long as I can, but I have to review them within 30 days of receipt, and they were supposed to germinate in five to 10 days (I planted them 16 days ago).

HaHa. Point taken.

When you water, especially in dry sandy conditions, you need to consider that more than half the water will run off. I have sandy, rocky soil here, so after I water, If I moved a 1/4 inch of soil it would be dry. So I have to amend the soil with compost. But with these being in pods having their own soil that should not be an issue for you. But once you water, move a 1/4 inch or so of the top soil away and see if it's still dry.
Also, it seems you're getting started late in the season for your zone, 9?, you should planted in late winter early spring.
I hate to say it, but you may have to....read the instructions.

 

[Adam]

I hate to say it, but you may have to....read the instructions.

I read the instructions. Thoroughly.

I know it's late, but I got them last month. They are from the Vine program, so I have to review them within 30 days...hence, the need to plant them right away. I was going to save more for next year, but the box says to be sure to plant them this season...so I wasn't confident that the seeds would make it to next year. For all I know, they were giving away last year's stock of them to begin with.

 

[Adam]

I will soon be getting one of these. It's my first one, and I suspect that I'll be asking for advice.

 

[fuzz092888]

Sweet, any idea what you're doing for a screen?

 

[Adam]

Sweet, any idea what you're doing for a screen?

Nope. I'm fortunate that I've getting a chance to try one, but I don't know how much I want to invest in getting it set up because it's only 720P.

 

[fuzz092888]

Nope. I'm fortunate that I've getting a chance to try one, but I don't know how much I want to invest in getting it set up because it's only 720P.

I was actually thinking the same thing when I clicked on the link to it. You might be able to get away with a wall, so long as it's white and blemish free. When I set my Dad up with a PJ at the bowling alley we ended up with a piece of sheetrock painted white and with a 1X2 wood border painted black. Looks pretty good, far better than it has any right to. You might do something like that if you don't have a wall handy.

The good thing is that it's nice and bright. You'll probably be getting 1800-2000ish lumens after calibration and if you use it in eco mode.

 

[Adam]

I'm leaning towards starting a thread to get some advice on what folks look for in a review of a projector. Even if it isn't a good choice for me, I want to be able to help others decide if it's good for them.

One nice thing is that it can work as a rear projection unit. So, if I decide to do Halloween this year, I can project an image onto my front windows from inside the house. I just have to look into what to use as a "screen" in that case.

 

[fuzz092888]

I would just take at a look at one of the reviews from these guys. This is pretty much my go to place for PJ reviews. An almost overwhelming amount of info on the PJs they review. It's a good place to get an idea of what to provide.

http://www.projectorreviews.com

 

[Rickster71]

One nice thing is that it can work as a rear projection unit. So, if I decide to do Halloween this year, I can project an image onto my front windows from inside the house.

Look forward to your review.

Will you be using the picture of you from last year?
You know, the one of you in your underwear with a hollowed out pumpkin on your head?

 

[TheWarrior]

Dude, if you want to go projection just save for a bit longer and get a higher-end Epson. I think they cap out around $3500 retail which means you could find it for even less. There's no point in a bigger screen when you end up longing for the better picture quality on your HDTV!

 

[Adam]

Thanks, Warrior. I'm actually not all that interested in going with a projector, but I have the opportunity to try one out...so I figured why not?

 

[fuzz092888]

Thanks, Warrior. I'm actually not all that interested in going with a projector, but I have the opportunity to try one out...so I figured why not?

The idea seeing a 5 foot long 2.5 foot in diameter..........banana in his house both scares and excites Adam. Plus it may attract some large monkey to come knocking

 

[TheWarrior]

Ah, copy that! Guess I didn't read that part. I haven't been around the forums in a while.

Freebies? Yes please!

 

[Adam]

I finally got the Epson unpacked and hooked up this morning. This seems to be a business projector marketed towards home theater. Yikes, that fan is LOUD. Do you all with projectors have the same issue?

The speaker is surprisingly good, though. Well, I expected it to be utterly worthless, so perhaps that doesn't say much , but I do think that it sounds pretty good. It also has some nice video options (like, reversing the image and/or flipping it upside down, to allow you to mount it upside down and use it as a rear projector). I'll have to play around with it a bit more once it gets darker out.

 

[fuzz092888]

I finally got the Epson unpacked and hooked up this morning. This seems to be a business projector marketed towards home theater. Yikes, that fan is LOUD. Do you all with projectors have the same issue?

The speaker is surprisingly good, though. Well, I expected it to be utterly worthless, so perhaps that doesn't say much , but I do think that it sounds pretty good. It also has some nice video options (like, reversing the image and/or flipping it upside down, to allow you to mount it upside down and use it as a rear projector). I'll have to play around with it a bit more once it gets darker out.

On cheaper projectors it's a real issue, which is why most people mount them from the ceiling and behind the main LP is possible. It probably has a high altitude mode, which would make the fan even faster and louder Although, some claim that using the high altitude mode helps make the lamp last longer, at the expense of the fan of course.

 

[Adam]

Do you know the price point at which they stop sounding like a jet engine? I can stand it for short-term evaluation of a product, but I definitely would not want to use this on a regular basis. The noise is one thing - the space heater effect is another. Holy cow, this thing pumps out a lot of hot air. I'd think that it would be brighter given how hot that lamp gets.

That said, the picture is pretty nice. So far, I've only tried it projecting onto the wall in my kitchen. It's one of the untextured walls in my house, but the color is definitely not white (I've done a number of my Amazon reviews with things on my kitchen table, and you can see the color of the walls), and it still looks pretty good. I haven't calibrated it with a disc, yet, and I think that I could adjust the color and tint to help offset that.

Going in, I assumed that 720 would look like absolute junk compared to my 1080 TV, especially since the point of the projector is to go bigger. I haven't projected an image much larger than my TV, yet, but it actually still looks really good. Sure, I'm projecting it onto a semi-flat surface with eggshell paint on it (so, there's definitely some "noise" in the image), but the resolution looks good. Perhaps a real screen would fix this, but at least on that wall, it definitely needs low ambient light to be any good.

Again, I think that this is more of a business projector being marketed for home use. I was thinking that before I got it, and when it showed up with a carrying case...it kind of helped solidify that thought in my head.

 

[fuzz092888]

Do you know the price point at which they stop sounding like a jet engine? I can stand it for short-term evaluation of a product, but I definitely would not want to use this on a regular basis. The noise is one thing - the space heater effect is another. Holy cow, this thing pumps out a lot of hot air. I'd think that it would be brighter given how hot that lamp gets.

Some of the one's around the price point of the PJ you got are quieter if they were always supposed to be HT PJ's, but usually once you hit $1000 on up it gets much better, especially if they were made for HT from the get go. That's something I wasn't prepared for either. PJ's pump out a ton of heat even on eco mode.

That said, the picture is pretty nice. So far, I've only tried it projecting onto the wall in my kitchen. It's one of the untextured walls in my house, but the color is definitely not white (I've done a number of my Amazon reviews with things on my kitchen table, and you can see the color of the walls), and it still looks pretty good. I haven't calibrated it with a disc, yet, and I think that I could adjust the color and tint to help offset that.

Going in, I assumed that 720 would look like absolute junk compared to my 1080 TV, especially since the point of the projector is to go bigger. I haven't projected an image much larger than my TV, yet, but it actually still looks really good. Sure, I'm projecting it onto a semi-flat surface with eggshell paint on it (so, there's definitely some "noise" in the image), but the resolution looks good. Perhaps a real screen would fix this, but at least on that wall, it definitely needs low ambient light to be any good.

Again, I think that this is more of a business projector being marketed for home use. I was thinking that before I got it, and when it showed up with a carrying case...it kind of helped solidify that thought in my head.

I think most people would be surprised how much they enjoy a larger screen, even with the lower resolution. I've watched sporting events on mine and those are broadcast in 720P, plus I've rewatched the old Star Wars movies (despecialized editions) which are in 720P and they've looked great at a screen size of approximately 86". I would guess that a real screen would yield a picture you could definitely be happy with, even with the lower resolution.

From what you've said, it sounds a lot like the PJ I got my Dad for the bowling alley bar. A business PJ marketed for home use. Our "screen" we used for that is just a piece of sheetrock with white paint, and a 1X2 wood border painted black. Picture looks better than it has any reason to and it's high enough in the air the fan noise isn't an issue. If you kind of like it, it may be worth looking into down the road. A real HT PJ that is. I know I love mine, and even if it isn't an every day device, they're loads of fun for a movie night, a big game, and definitely for video games/computer games.

 

[Adam]

My Sony BDP-S3100 is a real nice player, but it's freezing up when I try to play MKV files with DTS-HD MA audio tracks. I looked briefly online, and it appears to be a known issue with Sony players. Dang. I was really looking forward to some glorious 7.1 audio. I can stream it from PS3 Media Server, but navigation is easier if I have the files on a USB connected to the Sony.

My HomeWorX HW-150PVR can also play MKV files, but I haven't figured out how to play 7.1 from it (if it's even possible).

 

[fuzz092888]

I got a real nice Oppo that's for sale for sale for sale