Optoma Projectors and DLP defect white pixels

I purchased an optoma ES520 DLP projector and after all the regular backplane and lamp based issues I finally started getting white pixels on my screen. This is a problem that keeps getting worse day after day until you change the DLP chip in the projector.

The big issue is

1 – Optoma will ask for $500 for the replacement part (when the projector itself was close to that price)

2 – The DLP chip will most likely not be in stock

3 – Even though the chip is made by Texas Instruments, no one will give you the TI part number for you to procure the chip from outside.

What I finally did was, that I disassembled the projector myself till I got to the DLP (Believe me, you should not start doing this yourself, please believe me). Then I noted down the part number. And then I ordered the DLP chip from China. If you ask me nice, I will tell you reliable people who can give you a chip that worked for me.

Next, after the DLP chip arrived in a week or two, I put the projector back together, but it had some new issues related to lines on the image etc. I correctly figured I had not put the projector back properly and I took it to the Optoma service people to stitch it back. They charged me ~$70 just to put some screws back on which probably took them 10 minutes and zero expertise, kept it with themselves for 2 weeks for “testing” and then gave me back a working projector.

I will add another part of the story wherein a second projector I bought later, the HD20 also gave me DLP problems and Optoma MEA refused to support me as it was only under Optoma US warranty. The parts were again $500 or so and not available. I am trying to open this projector now to get the part number of the chip. Optoma has been extremely unhelpful to me through all of these crises in spite of writing to every single email id that I could get hold of and speaking to Optoma US support for hours (from Dubai) and writing a 100 emails to them.

Compare this to Amazon, who sent me a replacement kindle without even asking for the old kindle back, just cause I explained the problem to them in detail and I really thought I should be eligible for warranty on a product that failed for no fault of mine.

And if you’re wondering why I bought the projector from the US, its only because the price difference is about 100%. I know the logic and marketing behind all these systems, but it is utter nonsense and a very unethical ploy and very poor support from Optoma for these warranties.

Is it just Apple or is this AMERICA at large going ridiculous

Apple now refuses to honour warranties on their MACs because of second hand smoke and smoke residue being a bio-hazard for their technicians…. maybe this can be one reason to base your buying decisions on in the coming future….

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/22/apple_allegedly_voids_smokers_warranties/

 

Live streaming TV online

Details on installing Sopcast or TVU will also be added sooner or later to the site…. till then…

I am now making my link entries on a new tab on this website called  Live TV links.

This is a new page which will hold updated links (when possible for live transmissions on the web of the sports I like to watch.

Playing with my SmartPhone

I have had a Dopod 818 Pro for some time now, maybe 9 months or so, and the experience has been average with a lot of good stuff fighting for supremacy with a lot of performance issues. Anyway, that’s not what I’m making this post about. My original phone looked like this:

It is a phone originally made by HTC (HTC Prophet), and sold under many different names like the Dopod 818 pro, i-mate JAMin, Dopod 830 etc. More details on the same can be found in the link wiki here

And one of the new phones from the same company, HTC, is the HTC touch incorporating Windows Mobile 6 and TouchFLO, which basically makes these Windows based phones operate a lot like the iPhone. The positive side is that these phones have a lot many features that the iPhone does not have yet, like OUTLOOK and Hotmail sync and 3.5G browsing which can make a huge difference for a lot of people.

What I have been able to do, using some guides from the wiki earlier linked, as well as brilliant threads on how to upgrade the firmware and software on your existing Windows based smartphones here and here, is to convert my old phone into the latest, newest technology. Anyone attempting, please note that they should go to the WIKI first and find out exactly what model they are using. Of course, one is responsible for their own actions and the results thereof. Finally, my old phone behaves exactly like the video below. Whew, WOW. And I am adding some more brilliant apps to it now. Like Yahoo Go! 2.0

Though the Video is made by someone else, Check it out:

Animated GIF images

I’m a little fascinated by animated GIF images. I had a far-off colleague make me a fantastic animated GIF signature while I was at IBM. Of course, with all such things, not only do you need good skill technically, but also a good imagination. This guy was an ace… wonder if there is any way to take a GIF image and split open the parts it has… I am sure it does… just gave me an idea… haha… to do some reverse engineering….

This is what it used to look like:

And this is the new userbar I just made today for my unofficial mail ids:

Network signal receptiveness of Mobile phones

I think all of us would agree that some cellphones seem to be better able to adapt to low signal areas than others. Still, I don’t see this as a criteria for rating when cellphones are reviewed. It’s really strange, cos there’s really no one who does not face a low signal area ever. If nothing else, when you’re driving out of your city/state, this capacity of your phone will determine when you move out of network coverage.

If anyone visiting this page knows of a resource that rightly even closely hints on the “Network receptiveness” of a mobile phone, please let me know. At least for me, it would be a big factor in deciding which phone to go for. More importantly, a manufacturer who gives a higher weightage to the task the phone was originally supposed to do should be rewarded for it.

Maybe I can make a website for this and make my million dollars off that? Who’d do the testing for me? Vote-mechanisms?

Tips:

1 – A cellular repeater can be bought for a residence or a vehicle, and though I have never used one, it seems like they should do the trick.

2 – A weak network signal makes a cellphone work harder, consuming more battery and emitting more radiations

Edit on 19th January 2008,

In my own world of testing and experiences, Sony Ericsson phones seem to have much better signal response in low signal areas that both the dopod 818 pro and the Nokia N80. My brother has the W850i and my wife just got the Z750i and they both seemed to get better reception in our low network coverage residence in Bur Dubai. Hence, for now:

Sony Ericsson > HTC & Nokia

Generic statements for now, but will try to add data as I experience it. Inputs are welcome!