this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2026
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Wanted: "Dumb" projector for home use (piefed.social)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by cabbage@piefed.social to c/buyitforlife@slrpnk.net
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Until recently I had an old projector inherented from a university to use for movie nights, but after a rather expensive bulb change the picture started flickering and it is now pretty much unusabe. So I am looking for a new one.

Things I want:

  • HDMI or DisplayPort
  • A standardized bulb of sorts, if possible - changing the bulb in my old projector was very specific and therefore expensive
  • Reasonable brightness - I want to project across the room onto a white wall
  • Somewhat silent - we have the projector behind us watching movies, so it's good if it's not very loud.
  • Available in Europe
  • Affordable

Things I do not want:

  • Smart functionality or any form of spyware

It doesn't need to be super compact, but a smaller form factor is of course an advantage. Most importantly I just want a no-nonsense projector that does the job, is as repairable as possible if something breaks, and ideally doesn't cost a fortune.

If there's a projector that's reliable enough that it can safely be bought second hand that would be great.

Edit: I would ideally not pay much more than €600, and I am not very picky when it comes to picture quality - I just want to watch some movies now and then without having to buy a piece of trash with Android on it. I want a projector because I don't want a TV in my living room, not because I want a full-blown cinema experience at home. I'm sorry I didn't make this clear right away!

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[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Have you looked at laser projectors? No bulb should be great.

[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

LED projectors FTW

[–] cravl@slrpnk.net 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The color brightness improvement over DLP is night and day difference.

[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, my old projector was a 1080 DLP and I was totally blown away going to a 4K LED projector. Mine isn't even a high end one either.

[–] cabbage@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Laser sounds ideal, but all the ones I can find are either very expensive or very cheap and shipping with Android TV. I might end up getting something created for displaying powerpoint presentations in office settings, as the consumer market seems to be perfectly divided between products for rich cinephiles and cheap trash.