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DIY High-Quality XGA Projector for ~$300
ranrub writes "Tom's Hardware Guide posted a guide to building your own XGA LCD projector from parts costing under $300. Major components are an overhead projector and a used 15" LCD screen. They even have a movie of the whole project on site! It's quite bigger and noisier than a standard projector, but most of our living rooms look like electronic junkyards anyway, don't they?"
Normal multimedia projectors are a LOT cheaper now and are quieter, smaller and likely accept a broader range of inputs. Mine can accept component video even at HD resolutions (it is downscaled to native though), RGB, newer ones accept DVI.
You can get a decent XGA projector for around $1000 now.
While overhead projectors have cheaper bulbs, IIRC, those bulbs die a lot quicker too. Some multimedia projectors have bulbs that go as many as 5000 hours, making the operational cost only around a dime per hour.
Doing this project at the $300 price point, first off, requires you to be able to get this equipment cheaply.
So, realistically, you would be better off just looking around for an older, used projector in the first place.
Not only would you be able to get it nearly a cheaply, but you'd also have an actual projector, not some wired-together mess. Extra inputs, proper bulbs, etc.
Fine for a project (assuming you have an LCD just lying around that you can destroy) if you want to build one yourself, but certainly not practical for those just looking to save some money.
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who gives a fuck
I meta-mod all positive moderation Unfair, because it's abuse of the system.