Starting with my case, I plan to make it out of birch plywood. I have used birch plywood in the past, instead of mdf because, IMO it looks a lot better than painted MDF at the end of the project. Additionally I have found that It is considerably stronger than MDF, and vibrates less (hopefully less noise). Any issues using this as a building substraid instead of MDF? ~$60

Second the lamp, in the interest of keeping it simple, I am just going to purchase a lamp kit from lighting unlimited. It looks like they have two kits. Whats the difference between the kits? Well other than about $65? Also, is there any ETA on those fancy reflector bowls? ~75 to ~$150

For the LCD, there seems to be a lot of material. For my first projector, I intend to make a 15". Experienced people, this question is for you, if you could post a link to a store and monitor you would buy today, that would save me oodles of trouble. Thanks for any help on this. ~$200 to ~$300

Finally, The lens kit. When is the ETA on the basic lens kit? How is the quality assurance testing going? Will they be in stock in time for me to give this to myself for x-mas? ~$85

As for the screen, It looks like I just plan on getting a nice ceiling mounted screen. ~$350

All told I'll be spending about $900. Does that sound about right? Am I going overboad? Should I try to economize more?

One final thing... Being an oldster, it seems if I dont put lots of these up people think Im angry in this format of communication, so I just throw them in for good measure.

Hello, DoktorGreg.

$60 for your enclosure material sounds pretty steep. I used all 1/2" Birch Plywood for mine and it only cost me around $30 at Home Depot. That was for a couple of 2' x 4' boards, which is plenty for the enclosure and any scrap you may need. It's strong and light and seems to work pretty well. The only drawback I could see was that there was some slight breakage in the veneer when cutting against the grain.

that's an expensive screen. i'm assuming you didn't like the idea of building your own from the blackout cloth available here on lumenlab? otherwise everything else sounds about correct,, and i think brain said the lenses would be here in about 2 weeks (best case scenario), so i would guess you should be fine for xmas.

Even if you go with MDF, I think I used half of a 4x8 sheet of MDF to build my first pj. 4x8 MDF cost $18. Birch would be best though for weight and look.

As for the Lamp and ballast, if you want the brightest and most correct color temp, go with the electronic ballast (3 lbs) and Ushio lamp from lumenlab. The M59 and M135 magnetic core ballasts are VERY heavy (about 15-20 lbs) and I don't reccommend them to anyone who is going to hang them. Eballast and Ushio: $168 shipped.

for about 180-200 you can get a refurbished BenQ at there refurb shop. Or for the same price, check your local Circuit City. Look for Open Box deals or if you see one of there displays are dim like the back light is going out, ask a manager to buy it at condition 2 or 3 (used to work for CC in TV's even ).

Ceiling mounted screen? Like a roll down? I did a roll down, it cost me all of $40 from lumenlab store and then just a bit of work.

Finally, it's good to know you aren't mad :P
-Jeremy

Brain's out of the eballasts, right? Or am I just missing them on the Lumenlab Store page?

scratch the 2 week estimate, seems the guys screwed up the current sample as well... so probably another week on top of current setback... i think xmas might still be doable though.

I'm trying to make a guess too at how much my project will cost . . . do these numbers look about right? Maybe this list will help other people too . . . am I missing anything?

Cost Item
$40 EYE LAMP M400SX/BT28/HOR "EYE"
$10 1008 Mogul Base HID Socket
$99 Electronic Ballast
$63.00 1 Projection lens triplet, 2 Fresnel lenses, focal lengths: ~220mm, ~320mm
$200 1 15" LCD Panel
$22 Norpro Mixing Bowl
$15 1 Piece of tempered glasss (maybe uv filtered)
$15 1 120mm Fan
$5 1 piece 1"-2" x 5" .125" aluminum strip for lamp base bracket
$1 Several small pices of aluminum flashing
$25 Various electrical: switches, wiring
$40 Enclosure material: wood, metal, mdf etc.
$1 Fasteners
$5 Air conditioner filter cloth

$541 Total

Optional other things to buy:
$150 AVerMedia TVBox 9
$50 Blackout cloth
$741 Total with Additional inputs

$22 seems high for the Norpro. Are you including shipping? Also if I spent the money for the electronic ballast, I would spend the extra money for the Ushio(or Venture) pulse strike bulbs.

I tried to include the exact prices including shipping on everything it was easy.

Oops, you're right on the bulb, I meant to include a better one if using the eballast.
I've been searching around and I can't figure out what's better, the Venture or the Ushio?

So I found out I really do need an electric ballast. Everyone who gets one reports more vivid color, increased brightness, operation, lower weight, increased bulb life, etc. The lists goes on.

Are there any more eballasts for sale at the Lumenlab Store right now anyway? I can't find them, maybe I'm just missing them. Any word on if more might be coming?

Brainchild is getting in some samples from a new potential distributor. The best place for the status of stuff will be the new "Lumenlab News" forum.

I believe that both bulbs perform similarly, but I would choose the Ushio because of the excellent customer service/speedy shipping that you will recieve from Lumenlab.

Figuring out what components to use in my pj is really addictive!

I have a hard time choosing mediocre components when they better ones are only a little more.

Ex.
- Pro Lense kit vs Standard - $130 more
but . . . for that $130 you get zoom so you don't have to have the pj in the middle of your living room.
- Electric vs Non-electric ballast - $125 vs 80 (afer shipping)
but . . . for that $55 you get lower energy consumption, quiter, etc.
- 17" vs 15" lcd - $50 more on www.justdeals.com recently
better resolution, and might as well if I'm getting the pro lense kit (but the box will be more complicated, and I'm defintely going to need good directions)

Anything else to add to this list of things that'll cost a little more but provide a noticable improvement?

Ahh welcome to the conundrum.

To be honest, the 15" PJ has the biggest bang for your buck. If you survive building one you will want better: Longer throw, brighter light, better equipment. 15" panels are very cheap especially if you bargain shop. Building a 15" would give you the experience you need to start on your 'magna opus'.

All right, you've convinced me brain. I do wanna get my project rolling.
I think I'll start off trying to do it as budget as possible . . . then maybe sell it or use it in a second room. So a budget 15" off ebay, m135 ballast, standard lenses, etc.

The Ushio is quite a bit brighter than the Eye. So I'd go with that one.

Brain is right though, I'd go with the standard 15" and build experience. I've built (almost) two projectors now. I can't go for the pro lens though because you have to have an elongated room to get the same huge picture that I've grown to love. So, I don't mind the projector being in the middle of the room.

My question now is ... what electronic ballast is it that the store is out of? Is there one in particular that is better than others? Anyone got any links?