Home > Consumer Reviews > Optoma HD65 720p DLP Home Theater Projector

I just bought this projector for watching movie and playing games.
I wanted a HD projector under 1000$

here's my review:

Pros:
-Colors are great and accurate. Skin tones looks natural.
-Contrast is very good.
-I'm seeing details in the dark areas.
-Almost silent projector. (fan is very quiet even in Bright mode).
-The image is really bright (1600 lumens)
-Image looks uniform (a bit of noise in the black levels but you can barely see it).
-All the inputs that you need (1 HDMI, 1 Component, 1VGA, 1Svideo, 1,Composite).



Cons:
-The back light in the remote control is way to bright. It burn my eyes every time I'm using it. (not really helpful when you are trying to adjust the colors and contrast.
-No saturation control when using HDMI input.
-Zoom is really small ( you really need to know exactly how far from the screen to put it because you don't have that much room).

Other thoughts:
I would recommend using a gray matte surface screen if you're watching movies. I'm currently having a gray matte screen (elite silver max 16:9). However if you want to play games get matte white surface screen, its brighter.

Also I heard some peoples complaining about rainbow effect, but I haven't seen any.

Conclusion: If you are looking for a good 720P projector for watching movie and playing games its definitely a good projector to consider. The picture is great.
For under 1000$ you can't really go wrong.

I'm giving 5 stars because it does what I wanted with a good quality.

Sim

I am not an expert but I was set on buying the HD70 based on all the rave reviews and then read that Optoma had superseded it with the HD65 (1600 lumens) and the HD71 (2400 lumens) and the HD70 was nolonger in production. I went for the HD65 as I was after a great home theatre projector at an affordable price (and the HD71 wasn't as easily availble yet). I have not been disappointed and can't tell the difference with the high priced Sony and Infocus units I use for work. All the features of the HD70 (including the near silent fan) and almost twice the lumens for a couple of hundred bucks extra and the unit is surprisingly small and light. Setting it up was a doddle and soon realised that any image quality problems were associated with the DVD quality rather than the projector capabilty. With this neat unit I am now tempted to move to HDMI cabling (if I can find a half decent HDMI multizone DVD player) and a proper screen. Currently I run the video leads through the projector and the sound leads through my surround sound system. Getting the extra lumens helps for day use at kids parties, but the HD71 maybe even more worthwhile if you can afford it. Why wouldn't you get the latest model with the speed this technology sector is changing?

Before purchasing this projector I compared it to other models including other Optoma models. It met my needs - component video for now and hdmi for the future. I previously had a MovieTime 10 so I've gotten used to the big screen especially for watching movies as I enjoy watching my large collection on the big screen with digital sound.

Now a little over one month later I turn on the projector, Super Bowl Sunday of all nights, and the projector dies with the red lamp light on. I had checked it the previous Monday and it was at approximately 80 hours after 1 months use and was below the estimate life of the bulb.

This is my second Optoma brand projector and the second one to die on me. The first projector (MovieTime 10) was replaced and then exactly when the warranty expired, the color wheel shattered destroying the replacement projector.

I have submitted on the Optoma support site a request for trouble-shooting to solve the problem. I will update this review when I have more information. But, if this one dies like my last one I will never, ever buy an Optoma brand projector again.

I have been running an Infocus X3 for the past three years and recently it started to have problems. I decided to use this as an opportunity to upgrade to a new projector. I wanted a native 1080p projector so I started researching all the models that are available. The price is steep on these projectors, but I figured it was worth the cost for a great image. Here is my setup. I have a dedicated 20'x24' room that I use just as a Movie/Game room. Oh yeah, I have 10' ceilings. I have a built in shelf built into the wall that allows me to ceiling mount my projector exactly 24' from the screen. I keep this room dark like a cave when watching movies or playing video games. I don't like ambient light during movies and that is what a lot of movie theaters do now. Since my projected screen was so large with the Infocus I couldn't afford a real screen. I tested a lot of paint surfaces and found that a good flat bright white painted surface produced a stunning picture for my Infocus X3. When I had my Infocus mounted I had a projected image of just under 12' wide. I have an Xbox 360 with HD-DVD add on drive for games and HD-DVD movies and a Panasonic DMP-BD55 for my Blu Ray movies being fed to my projector. Ok, so I was looking at the 1080p projectors and my father-in-law just recently bought this little tiny projector called an Optoma HD65. I had never heard of this model and so when I saw it hanging from his ceiling I thought it was too small to be taken as a serious projector. So he showed me his new toy and put in "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (Blu Ray) in and I was instantly impressed with this little box. Since I was in the market for a new projector and thought that I had to spend between $2000 - $3000 for what wanted I had never considered a 720P projector. I started looking at the reviews for the Optoma HD65 and it started looking better. Amazon had it for less than $900. I didn't have a Blu Ray at the time, but by buying this instead of the expensive 1080p I was able to buy it as well. I figure three years would be average for a projector before needing to upgrade. I think the 1080p projectors will be more affordable by then. Anyway, I ordered the ceiling mount for the Optoma HD65 from someone on Ebay for like $27.00. I recommend this mount. It is perfect. When I mounted the projector in my room I started getting nervous because the projected image was HUGE!!! I didn't think it was going to fit. I was able to scale it down and it fits perfect in my room. It projects a bigger image than my Infocus X3 was capable of. My image from 24' back is a whopping 15' wide!!! It is very crisp and the colors just pop out. I have a DVE calibration HD-DVD that I was going to use to calibrate, but the colors out of the box were spot on for me. I may run the calibration one day, but right now I couldn't be more pleased. Keep in mind that the only reason I can get such a big image is because it is placed so far back and I have 10' ceilings. I favor DLP projectors over LCD, but since this is a DLP projector placement is an issue because of the lens throw. DLP projectors make good ceiling mounted projectors and the lens needs to be centered on the screen since there is no lens shift with the Optoma HD65. If placement is not an issue for you then I highly recommend this projector. It fit my needs perfectly.

I bought this projector to replace an Infocus IN72. The 720p resolution makes a big difference in picture quality and the contrast ratio is very good. Black looks very black. The projector is much quicker to turn on and turn off than my previous one. When turning the projector off, a countdown is shown on the screen and the fan runs very fast, but once the timer reaches 0 the projector is off (completely off, not stuck in a cooling state for 5 minutes). You can start the projector again instantly if you need.

I only see 2 real drawbacks with this unit, it lacks a DVI or M-1 connector so all laptop connections are analog (VGA). Secondly the menus don't offer as much information as other models. The serial number, firmware and model numbers are unavailable in the menus. Some of the menus are difficult to navigate.

Overall I'm happy with the projector, the image is very crisp and clean.