The lamps that I have used to replace the burned out one: I got a lamp that was rebuilt. I was suspicious that that may have been the problem. I purchased a new lamp and it still did the same thing. I did notice couple of things: 1)This problem only began occurring when I replaced the burned out lamp. 2) The new lamp I replaced it with, I have the feeling after examining it that it may have been a rebuilt one as it is very similar to the one that was actually rebuilt and different than the new ones that I have bought in the past. Couple of questions: 1) I wondered about the ballast. Is it connected with the bulb casing or is this part on another part of the projector? Can this be replaced easily and if so what is the cost? (yeah, long question) 2) I bought the projector new 4 years ago. I am on the 3rd bulb for it or 4th if you count the two I am switching back and forth between. What is the life expectancy on the projector? I guess if I tried a new bulb in that I knew was new for sure that would answer the bulb scenario. Any other thoughts? Thanks so much!

Okay, I think I chose the right projector from the list but it probably doesn't matter much. Anyways, I just bought my first projector and its got the 1080i HD capability. It comes with this a cable that has component inputs on one end, and a VGA input on the other. I know that the projector has no component inputs and that the VGA port doubles as the component input, but I'm a little confused as to how to plug in say an xBox to the projector. I know that i can just plug that cable into an HD Cable box and I'm set to go. However, the Xbox needs to be plugged into RGB component inputs right? So I don't really know how to get my XBox on a projector in glorious HD. What are my options right now? Do I have to buy a different type of cable, or is there a quick fix/adapter I can buy. Any help would be great. Thanks.

I purchased a projector for the same reason as you ( and a couple others) I wanted to run my Nintendo Wii (only 480p in that case) and also my xbox 360. I purchased a Sharp xr-10x, and it comes with a cable to run component cables (R/G/B) into the 15pin d-sub (sp?) inputs on the back of the pj. I'm no expert, but we play the 360 in 1080i, and man, "Gears of War" brings a tear to your eye at 110 inches diagonal in High Def:) (The projector sits about 11 feet back from the wall. Depending on your space, if it sits about 5 feet back, the max picture is about 60 inch. If you have 38 feet, the picture is maxed at 30 feet diagonal) Something else to consider, I haven't checked into this a lot, but if I run the high def setup, the pj won't play the sound with it's internal speaker like it does with just the Red/Yellow/White composite. This is odd, BUT I simply use a cheap Wal-mart 70 watt surround sound speaker system which is plenty loud for me, and my brother in law (who has the xr-10xl) uses his home stereo. Unless you are a hardcore audiophile, either of these solutions work very well, and are much better than the built in audio (which is still good for what it is) Most importantly! To save you the possible problem I am having (see my other post) If at all possible, try to buy a pj from somewhere where there is a warranty of some sort on the lamp! I was on a budget like you, and I'm pretty sure my lamp blew after only 4 months and 400 hrs. (The xr-10x(l) warranty is a hefty 3 years, with 2 years express repair, but it only covers the bulb for 90 days) I'd hate to see you put all your money into a pj, and then have a surprise $300 lamp replacement expense 4 months down the road, So I cannot stress this enough! Hope everything goes well, and you enjoy your new pj!