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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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[-] cabbage@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

Makes sense! I have noticed there's a huge difference in lumen, and wondering if 700 a lumen projector is good for anything. I guess if it has high contrast in a dark room on a good screen it can still look fantastic.

For me though I need it to remain somewhat portable as I move between different countries relatively often, and I also just want something that disappears as much as possible when not used, hence my preference for projectors over TVs in the first place.

this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2026
90 points (98.9% liked)

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