The Epson 1080UB was my first “digital” projector, having had two CRT projectors previously. When I bought the 1080UB it had only just been released, initially shown at the September 2007 CEDIA expo and then re-announced at CES 2008. Unlike my CRT projectors which were bought used, this was a brand new unit and I was an early adopter. Quebec Acoustic had a great price: $2895 + GST – $200 mail in rebate.
The unit arrived in early January 2008. While it did take me a day to go from unboxing to a temporary setup, I was still thrilled by the purchase. Today there are so many high definition options out there, and viewing has become split between personal devices (phones, laptops) and larger displays (TVs) that there are many good choices at lots of different price points. Way back in 2008, cost, resolution, colour accuracy, fan noise, and ease of use were all dimensions you were trading off.
In the early days of owning the 1080UB I ran through a bunch of tweaks. First up was colour measurement, then colour calibration, and while there wasn’t any convergence I could change, I did go deep into deciding if mine was good enough or not. I also built a DIY ceiling mount and was able to take advantage of the long throw distance this projector supported – placing it above my 2nd row of seating and adding to the theater experience.
After many years of enjoyment, I replaced the OEM lamp with a generic one. I have no regrets doing this, as it got me a few more years enjoyment. I didn’t keep close track, but I believe that rarely pre-lamp swap the projector would turn off the lamp and run the fans in high mode. One consideration with these projectors is keeping them cool, and this means you have fans and airflow. You also want to avoid any dust getting inside the light path, but the light path is also what gets hot.
The manual covers air filter cleaning (or replacement). It seems Epson has long discontinued the replacement part – which is unfortunate. I did from time to time remove the filter and clean it (using a vacuum). Doing so did seem to help any shut-down (heat related?) problems, at least in the early days.
When it had problems, it was a simple enough matter to turn the projector off using the power switch on the back, wait 30 seconds and power it back on. We’d then resume watching for an hour or more afterwards. Again, cleaning the filter seemed to help reduce occurrences. I wonder if the filter just needs a deeper cleaning or replacement. The other high possibilities are a fan problem, or a temperature sensor.
Over time, the shut-downs became more frequent and the upgrade urge started to itch. Earlier this year I made the leap to a new (well, refurbished) upgrade and bought the Epson Pro Cinema 4050. Our theater is our primary viewing setup, so while I love to tinker with things – keeping the system easy to use and trouble free is important.
It was time to find this projector a new home. While it was having problems, it still has some good life in it and someone willing to tinker with it may get a lot of enjoyment from it. Off to Kijiji I went.
The used market for projectors is pretty weak, as I mentioned there are many great choices out there for new things – also many people don’t really care about quality and as long as it’s bright and big that’s good enough. I priced it 100x cheaper than it was new, it still took a week before someone was brave enough to take a risk on it.
The person who took it off my hands seemed like the right match. Someone wanting to try out big screen projection and doing so on a budget. I do hope this works well for them. When I set it up to check the bulb usage (1024hr) and reset it from ceiling mount to table mount, it powered up just fine – ran for a while without issues – and gave me a great image.
Hi Roo. I am eagerly optimistic that this “new to me” and well-loved projector, will serve as a good introduction to projection. Best case: a few hours of careful dismantling, cleaning and checking of fans with possible replacement, putting it all back together without any spare parts(!!) and it gives me at least a little while to assess not only whether a projector is the way we want to go, but also the latitude to play with viewing distances and screen size and whatever else a test drive should be. Worst case? I learn a little bit about projectors and at an incredibly low price. I will keep you posted on progress which I hope to undertake in the coming week. The links specific to the 1080UB will be helpful in that endeavour. Thanks again! Mark p.s: maybe this will last long enough that I will inherit your 4050!!