BenQ PB6200 DLP Video Projector
By: BenQ Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 12
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 On: 2008-05-16
Weve had this projector just under 3 years, and have had no problems with it. The only thing is that we have it down, so we dont use the remote but the actual buttons on the machine. I find that sometimes we have to re-adjust the focus, etc because we bump it. The focus gets bumped easily when putting the lens cover off and on.
As for the bulb, it just flashed a message up saying weve used over 1980 hours, so I guess its time to re-order a new one (though i think weve had it on economy, so it should last a while longer). We have a regular bedroom tv we use for general showing, or for the kids cartoons, etc- because the bulbs are so expensive, we generally dont use the projector for everyday watching. And as were all at work, the tv isnt on all day either. Im thinking there must have been a bad batch of bulbs for those of you who had problems- ours has worked great.
On: 2006-12-19
We have had this projector for two years and we have had no problems with it. We are on our second bulb. We use the projector as our daily tv so someone always has it on. We started looking for replacement bulbs when the first bulb neared 3000 hours. When the new bulb arrived, we decided not to change the bulb because it still looked great. Finally, after almost 9000 hours, we changed the bulb although it was still working. Our new bulb is at almost 2500 hours and it is working fine. We always view on economy and with the HD cable box, the image is amazing! Regular digital requires dim light - were projecting onto the wall. Our only complaint is the lack of input/output ports. If there were more, this would be our dream projector.
On: 2006-12-18
We have had this projector for two years and we have had no problems with it. We are on our second bulb. We use the projector as our daily tv so someone always has it on. We started looking for replacement bulbs when the first bulb neared 3000 hours. When the new bulb arrived, we decided not to change the bulb because it still looked great. Finally, after almost 9000 hours, we changed the bulb although it was still working. Our new bulb is at almost 2500 hours and it is working fine. We always view on economy and with the HD cable box, the image is amazing! Regular digital requires dim light - were projecting onto the wall. Our only complaint is the lack of input/output ports. If there were more, this would be our dream projector.
On: 2005-07-21
Ive owned my projector since September 2004 and havent experienced any problems with it yet. I have about 2200 hours logged on the bulb so far and the brightness hasnt gone down from what I can tell. It projects well onto a white wall, but I wanted a more movie-like experience so I built a 90 inch screen to project it onto. Like one of the other reviewers, when I go to turn off the projector it sometimes acts like I hit the button twice, but since Im trying to turn it off anyways I dont care. Never had the problem of accidentally turning it off before. The remote is quite thin so it is hard to hit the buttons to accidentally turn it off. Overall I am quite happy with it. I have taken it around to my friends houses for the superbowl and other events since my place is too small for a large gathering and its a quick setup. The picture quality is still quite good in normal lighting so I dont have to close the blinds every time I want to watch TV. Id recommend this projector to anyone on a budget. For the price it cant be beat.
On: 2005-07-20
Ive owned my projector since September 2004 and havent experienced any problems with it yet. I have about 2200 hours logged on the bulb so far and the brightness hasnt gone down from what I can tell. It projects well onto a white wall, but I wanted a more movie-like experience so I built a 90 inch screen to project it onto. Like one of the other reviewers, when I go to turn off the projector it sometimes acts like I hit the button twice, but since Im trying to turn it off anyways I dont care. Never had the problem of accidentally turning it off before. The remote is quite thin so it is hard to hit the buttons to accidentally turn it off. Overall I am quite happy with it. I have taken it around to my friends houses for the superbowl and other events since my place is too small for a large gathering and its a quick setup. The picture quality is still quite good in normal lighting so I dont have to close the blinds every time I want to watch TV. Id recommend this projector to anyone on a budget. For the price it cant be beat.
 On: 2005-04-23
Word of Warning. I purchased a BenQ projector and had it for a month before it started to fail and turn itself off. I sent it to BenQ for repair and have not recieved it back. That was over two months ago. I phone them every couple of days and get only lip service, they keep saying it is coming. So before you purchase a BenQ product think about the possibility of it getting repaired...or should I say never seeing it again.
You have been warned!
On: 2005-04-05
Have been able to use mine for about 40 hours. After that it failed to respond to any input from any source. Contacted Benq and they said there was nothing they could do but send it in for repair since they have been having problems with these units. Sent it in and got it back. It worked once during a test preparation for a presentation but once again failed to acknowledge any input when turned on the next day during the actual presentation. Contacted Benq and they said I could have it repaired (wasnt repaired last time) or receive a refurbished unit (someone elses problem). So am working on my third round,maybe Ill be LUCKY this time. It will be my last Benq product. I can not recommend the product or company.
On: 2005-04-04
Have been able to use mine for about 40 hours. After that it failed to respond to any input from any source. Contacted Benq and they said there was nothing they could do but send it in for repair since they have been having problems with these units. Sent it in and got it back. It worked once during a test preparation for a presentation but once again failed to acknowledge any input when turned on the next day during the actual presentation. Contacted Benq and they said I could have it repaired (wasnt repaired last time) or receive a refurbished unit (someone elses problem). So am working on my third round,maybe Ill be LUCKY this time. It will be my last Benq product. I can not recommend the product or company.
 On: 2005-04-01
Ive had this projector setup since Oct 04 and use it as a daily TV. I currently have it projected on to a blank wall, which works just fine. I have logged over 1000 hrs on the unit and it is still working great. It does not work well in a brightly lit room, but with only low watt accent lights it seems to be just fine. I have it setup with my computer and use a HDTV OTA card and the image blows me away. I use a DVD player on the s-video and it seems to run fine, although the only way to get the crisp HD is to use the XGA port. The only time Ive really noticed anything on it and this is pretty small, but on a really dark movie and say theres a light post or car light driving by... if you look away at that point youll see a rainbow tracer as you look away in the shape of that white light. Oh and Analog cable seems to be a little grainy and is really noticeable on cartoons like the Simpsons. But with High Def or digital cable you should be just fine. I would recomend if you can find one at a reasonable price to buy a ceiling mount. I just bought one and installed it last week and the native off-axis angle is set to be ceiling mounted so no need to keystone. The remote is a small credit card size with bubble buttons. The source button went out on me after 4 months, but there is a option in the menu to have auto-searching on the source so you dont have to change it manually. The PIP option is kind of cool with 9 different positionings for it and two different sizes small and medium. And on a 6 x 6 wall the small is hard to see. Lets see what else, oh the fan noise is very quiet. The spin up of the xbox DVDs are louder. I chose this one over the 6100 because of the native resolution. 1024 x 768 (max 85hz) on the 6200 vs the 800x600 on the 6100. I have played Halo2, Halflife2, Rise of Nations, watched DVDs from Futurama - AVP, use it as a daily TV - hosting a great Superbowl party. This is a must have in my book. Hope this helped as a review...
On: 2005-03-31
Ive had this projector setup since Oct 04 and use it as a daily TV. I currently have it projected on to a blank wall, which works just fine. I have logged over 1000 hrs on the unit and it is still working great. It does not work well in a brightly lit room, but with only low watt accent lights it seems to be just fine. I have it setup with my computer and use a HDTV OTA card and the image blows me away. I use a DVD player on the s-video and it seems to run fine, although the only way to get the crisp HD is to use the XGA port. The only time Ive really noticed anything on it and this is pretty small, but on a really dark movie and say theres a light post or car light driving by... if you look away at that point youll see a rainbow tracer as you look away in the shape of that white light. Oh and Analog cable seems to be a little grainy and is really noticeable on cartoons like the Simpsons. But with High Def or digital cable you should be just fine. I would recomend if you can find one at a reasonable price to buy a ceiling mount. I just bought one and installed it last week and the native off-axis angle is set to be ceiling mounted so no need to keystone. The remote is a small credit card size with bubble buttons. The source button went out on me after 4 months, but there is a option in the menu to have auto-searching on the source so you dont have to change it manually. The PIP option is kind of cool with 9 different positionings for it and two different sizes small and medium. And on a 6 x 6 wall the small is hard to see. Lets see what else, oh the fan noise is very quiet. The spin up of the xbox DVDs are louder. I chose this one over the 6100 because of the native resolution. 1024 x 768 (max 85hz) on the 6200 vs the 800x600 on the 6100. I have played Halo2, Halflife2, Rise of Nations, watched DVDs from Futurama - AVP, use it as a daily TV - hosting a great Superbowl party. This is a must have in my book. Hope this helped as a review...
 On: 2005-03-31
Rebate and recent flickering problems aside, this model is good for my DVD viewing. The projector works best with an additional component to RGB cable and a progressive scan DVD player. S-Video is too blurry for the 70-inch wide spread Im using. After a year of use (~400 hours), it exhibited intermittent flickering in Cinema Mode and then began spreading to my other modes. BenQ quickly sent a refurbished replacement.
THE REBATE PROBLEM
I bought the projector at the end of March 2004 and promptly sent the rebate form to them within the week. In the week of August 16-20, 2004, I received a postcard that stated "Unfortunately, we could not honor your request because of the following reason: Unfortunately, the serial number you submitted is invalid or invalid due to special pricing." I contacted the online retailer where I bought the projector, and they promptly got me in touch with someone at BenQ. That person responded, and throughout the next two months, we exchanged a few e-mails. The BenQ official said that the lamps were backordered and there had been problems with their rebate handler. I received my free projector lamp the second week of November (8 months after my rebate had been sent).
THE FLICKERING PROBLEM
After a year of use (~400 hours), the projector had an intermittent flickering that worsened the longer it was left on. The flickering was noticeable at the top of the image as well as the top and bottom left areas. In laypersons terms, the flickering appeared as if someone was rapidly turning the brightness up and down in those spots on the screen. I troubleshooted the problem with the default blue screen display and discovered that switching from Cinema mode to Economy mode would make the problem disappear. When switching back to Cinema mode, the flickering would return after a few minutes. The problem then spread to Economy mode a few days later. I had the projector plugged into an APC surge and power filter throughout this process.
REMOTE CONTROL PROBLEM
Now, the power button on the remote control sometimes acts as if it has been pressed twice and turns the projector off without waiting for the second press confirmation.
REFURBISHED PROJECTOR CLARIFICATIONS
Contrary to the review published here, according to one BenQ official I e-mailed, *all* replacements are refurbished and the warranty for the refurbished replacement is only as long as the warranty for the original projector. The "hot swap" process involved BenQ mailing a Word document to me (accidentally including all their tracked changes to the document), my printing and filling out the form as well as including my credit card information, and faxing it back to them. The credit card information is required because BenQ charges $1795 (the MSRP) to your card until you return your original one. This process also required me to print out a mailing label from a Web site for the return box. Return postage was handled by BenQ. When I received the replacement projector, I noticed some differences from my original one. Although the box and packaging was sealed the same as my original projector packaging, the projector menu indicated that the bulb had been used for over 19 hours. The remote control also had some food and/or debris on it while the back of its casing had been pried open with a tool that left marks (even the protective plastic had been peeled off its face). The replacement projector also makes a noticeably louder high-pitched squeal when on than my original one, and I had to clean off several smudges and fingerprints from the front lens. So far, it is working good, but its used and the warranty is less than my original. BenQ should have made this information available upfront for buyers and prospective buyers.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
BenQs customer service was average to good. They lacked following up with e-mails that I sent requiring me to forward my previous messages and indicate how long it has been since the original (I waited one to four weeks between messages.) There is also a bit of a disconnect between support and their promotional materials. The Qxchange service (i.e., the hot swap process) was not defined on BenQs Web site--I had to look at other sites (and this review) to determine what it meant. I then e-mailed the BenQ officials I had been in contact with and they cleared up the matter. When I called their returns department, the person I spoke to did not even know what the word "Qxchange" meant. BenQs Web site uses an outdated and non-user friendly Web form to contact the companys departments. No carbon-copy is sent to a person filling out the form, so users have no record of when they submit a request.
On: 2005-03-28
The picture from this projector is good for its price range, but the bulb failed after 300 hours. Other reviewers have experienced this, so it sounds like the lamp rarely lasts the advertised 2000 hours. At $350 for a replacement lamp, it makes this a poor choice for a budget projector.
On: 2005-03-27
The picture from this projector is good for its price range, but the bulb failed after 300 hours. Other reviewers have experienced this, so it sounds like the lamp rarely lasts the advertised 2000 hours. At $350 for a replacement lamp, it makes this a poor choice for a budget projector.
 On: 2004-10-04
Quite happy with with the quality of the picture. My bulb lasted 370 hours. Disappointing for an item that claims a bulb life of 2000-3000 hours! Tech support is fairly open about the nature (...): bulbs start to grow dim at about 300 hours, dying well before their box specs; replacement lamps average (...). Someday some bright soul on the internet will find a way to replace the mercury vapor bulb within the lamp for a few dollars, rather than the whole lamp for a few hundred, but until then I would urge buyers to avoid this knockoff of the higher-quality, name-brand DLP projectors. Alas, I have learned the hard way that you get what you pay for.
On: 2004-09-19
We purchased a BenQ PB 6100. If the overall quality of the projector is fine, such is not the case of the lamp which blew up in less than 6 weeks!!! and worse BenQ does NOT honor their international guarantee and the support center does not respond to the emails for exchanging the lamp (priced 400$!). Overall a very poor support. My last Boxlight lamp is still running after 4 years. This was my first BenQ but surely the last. A strong suggestion, Dont buy BenQ.
On: 2004-09-18
We purchased a BenQ PB 6100. If the overall quality of the projector is fine, such is not the case of the lamp which blew up in less than 6 weeks!!! and worse BenQ does NOT honor their international guarantee and the support center does not respond to the emails for exchanging the lamp (priced 400$!). Overall a very poor support. My last Boxlight lamp is still running after 4 years. This was my first BenQ but surely the last. A strong suggestion, Dont buy BenQ.
On: 2004-07-15
For people who want the extra size view without the weight or price of the alternatives . . .Picture quality - XGA is beautiful; most people should be very pleased. Daylight and other light sources outside of the projector do affect the viewability of the picture, but it is not extreme. Dark parts of movies or games may be harder to see during the day. Different settings - economic, presentation, vivid, video may improve the picture. During dark hours, no problems exist, even in economic mode. My main reason for going this route for my home theater was to tie the unit in with my computer. I previously installed a tv tuner card and a DVD burner in my home-assembled computer. Since most projectors, including the Benq, have a vga input port (the 6200 even comes with the cable), the connection couldnt be simpler. I also use a 4-input switchbox to handle my VHS player, XBox and anything else that comes along (for example, a regular DVD player, a tv, my sons Gamecube etc.) I set my computer to 1280x1024 which the Benq can handle, compressing it to 1024x768. Tips - 1) Placement If you own your home, you could work a ceiling mount. I used a very reasonably priced étagère. 2) Screen I cant comment on how good a white wall works, because mine isnt white. I made my own 4:3 ratio screen from 1x2 douglas fir and 2 yds of 54" wide blackout cloth (from a regular fabric store). Many people on the internet offer advice on how to do it. Mine is quite light. I used two plastic anchors and extra long screws to hold the bottom edge of the top of the frame on the wall. Since many alternatives for a screen drive up the price of an economical "luxury" system, they were not for me. 3) Bulb (Lamp) With a lifespan of 2000-3000 hours and the price of a replacement currently running at $400, I am picky about when I plan to use the projector tv - only for special events (when I get an HDTV tuner card for the computer, I might feel differently) . . . Video games - often . . . Movies - virtually every time . . . Computer/internet - occasionally When any of these sources are well done, one is interested on any size screen. 4) Sound The Benq only handles the video signal. Im using my computer sound card, which can handle 5.1 sound. With my quality 5.1 speakers, Im in home theater heaven. Which brings to my last item, where I could use a tip. 5) Wires With the Benq projector I have a power cord, a vga cable, an s-video cable, and a composite video cable. Add to that all the cables for the aforementioned items, and you have cable jungle - guaranteed not to please any woman that I know. I plan to handle part of it with throw rugs. As for the rest . . . help! Lastly, I need to mention two things. First, Benq is coming out soon with a replacement for the 6200 with the latest DLP chip from Texas Instruments. Second, the 6200 keeps track of how many hours that it has been used, which you can monitor from its menu program. It will warn as the hours limit approaches and actually refuse to start at 3000 hours, until you replace the lamp.
On: 2004-06-22
I did a fair amount of research prior to the purchase of this DLP projector and found nothing to sway my decision to make this purchase. Generally you can find BenQ offering some kind of special, in the last couple of months theyve offered a free lamp (retail cost about 4 hundered) and at the time of my purchase they had a two hundered dollar rebate. By a good margin, you get far more for youre money in this unit than in any other that I could find to compare, including the 1/3 cheaper version PB6100 that has a 800x600 resolution.After unboxing the unit, I set it up to test on a couple milk crates and shot the image on my wall at about 85" wide. Plugged in to my PC my native desktop of 1600x1200 had to be reduced down to 1024x768 before I could switch the VGA cable over. Checking the image closely I looked for flaws such as blank patches, rainbows, or any other types of problems that would cause a reduction in enjoyment of the picture. I found that the pixels are way more pronounced fully zoomed in from the unit than if I were to just move the projector back to get a bigger picture. I also noticed that the whites and blacks were displaying very nicely considering I was shooting on a semi tan color wall (no screen). Bulb life is rated at 2000 hours, but from what ive read, if the unit is set in economy mode it will extend the life about 1000 hours. Under heavy usage of 8 hours a day or so, that would equate to approximately an entire year of use. Average use of about 2-4 hours a day would extend bulb life to over 2 years. Though I havent seen it project over 85" yet (my plans are a 110" screen), the projector is rated to shoot a 300" screen. Feel free to compare any of those numbers to a plasma or projection big screen of any kind. DLP projectors yeild the most bang-for-the-buck available. I was able to play a video game at 1280x1024 85hz on it and it performed flawlessly. DVD movies are just incredible, I cant wait to get it hooked up in the living room.
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