John Heiter Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 I'm hosting a Level I RO class at my club in a couple months and one of the requirements for the class is that we provide the instructor with a projector that he can hook his laptop to. Apparently the class now uses power point slides. Back when I took it the first time we just used an overhead projector so I've never had to come by a digital projector before. Anyone have any ideas for possible rental sources of electronics like this? Thanks, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed K Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 John; Check your email. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 You can look in Yellow pages but be ready last time I did it was $500 No kidding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Your best bet is to see if a club member can borrow one from work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Hi John, If you were in my area, I would loan you one. I run a video rental company and renting projectors is what we do. I suggest you try Wagner Media in TX. They are really cheap (their week rates are about the same as most folks day rates). They also specialize in renting to anyone, anywhere so they are reasonable on the shipping rates too. http://www.wagnerdirect.com/rental/default...11252&CRT_ID=10 I recommend the EIKI LC-XB25 projector from their inventory. It has enough light output, is easy to operate and is small and light. -- Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 At least one of the RMIs will still do overheads if necessary. I am not sure if there is any full motion video or improved content in the power point presentations or not though. At the cost of rentals for these blasted things USPSA had best look into getting a couple to send along or the call for seminars will fall off precipitously. Relying upon someone "borrowing one from work" is haphazard and might just get that person in hot water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Kevin is on the money about the liability thing. These little sucka’s cost big bucks (5k+ for the little good ones and 70-90k+ for the big boys that can handle a large auditorium). I am talking about professional projectors here, not the pocket portabLes with minimal features like the Epson and InFocus ones All rental places require proof of insurance, credit card, or security deposit. Some will sell coverage for the rental duration. If you take one from a major corporation, or institution without full clearance from on high, the liability will be replacement cost at the minimum and possibly criminal prosecution and loss of job for the involved parties. Not worth it. Like I said earlier, I will loan to local parties occasionally, but do require liability coverage, or at least our deductible being covered in the event of a loss, or damage. BTW, any PowerPoint presentation can be converted into transparencies although JPEG quality will sometimes be compromised. The best solution for trainers of this sort is to travel with a set of 35mm slides of the PowerPoint presentation because who doesn’t have an old slide projector kicking around somehwere? The conversion is pretty cheap especially compared to the cost of of even a cheap projector purchase. The only real upside of PowerPoint for this type of training usage is the ability to edit the presentation on a whim. That’s why it is the only medium used in professional presentation arenas anymore. That doesn’t make it the best choice for low end training junkets though. National Geographic uses PowerPoint prfereably now, but still options 35mm slides if you are hosting one of their presenters. Sedro Wooley should follow that lead IMHO. -- Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 I agree George. Until they start putting in some content that would actually benefit from video projection (like full motion video or graphical animations) then moving to powerpoint is a lot of hassle for no gain. "Decent" projectors suitable for small rooms can be had for under $2k but one bad bump and it is time for a new bulb. At that point in time you get to learn that the bulbs for these darn things are almost the cost of the projector. The little InFocus projectors are pretty decent and if you can purchase off state or federal contracts they can be had under $1800. They are easy to travel with (but I would never check it...carry on only). Personally, I would love to see some video make it into the Level 1 seminar. It really could benefit from it. Especially some "Hosercam" footage from the RO point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 (edited) If you need video, just haul a VHS and DVD copy of it with you. Most clubs with a permanent clubhouse have a TV with VCR, or DVD player. you don’t need a 6-8 foot wide image to watch a well produced video segment in a classroom setting. The projector build issue is an interesting one along with the low quality of the LCD valve manufacture quality in the low end units. Purity issues (pure white and solid color fielding) can lay the cheapies low way earlier than lamps will kill the pocketbook. Even if you take the lamp out and pack it in foam, the damn things get outa‘ wack easily unless they travel in proper shock absorbing road cases. The professional series of LCD projectors are a bit more robust and have more features and extended image quality capabilities (high contrast ratios, better chroma rendition, SXGA resolution, changeable lenses, multiple input formats, etc..). The cost is proportional to the features and construction quality in a big way. The more expensive ones really are built better. The low end ones are no better than a Bic lighter from our standpoint. There is also an outfit called Rentex that rents PC’s and presentation accessories like LCD projectors on the cheap and they ship nationwide. http://www.rentex.com/ -- Regards, Edited March 18, 2005 by George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 You can look in Yellow pages but be ready last time I did it was $500 No kidding <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Damnation! That rental price (plus the purchase prices quoted later on down the page) is outrageous! Last year about this time my company bought 5 NEC VT47 projectors (1500 lumens, nothing spectacular in features, but they get the job done) for $995 each, and that's the individual "I only want one" price. They sell for $895 on CDW now. Viewsonic's got something right now (PJ502) on CDW (1600 lumens) for $699. And as to durability, the NEC's we bought get used in elementary school classrooms for afterschool enrichment programs, get carried and used every day, and get knocked around by prying little fingers. Plus the Cardinal Rule of any projector is never, EVER, just unplug the unit without letting it cycle down, lest you break and have to replace a hot bulb unit. I've seen the rug yanked out from under these several times (I cringe every time) and each one of them bears it like a trooper! And the cycle-down time on the VT47 is a paltry 30 seconds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 You might want to give your local community college a call. Tell them about the class and the size and they might would semi-host it for you and I'm sure they have the equipment you will need. It could give them some numbers in continuing ed, and cost them nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Btw, one of our forum RMI's has asked me if he can use certain segments (no, not the kilt one) of my nationals video in classes and I agreed, so I suspect USPSA is heading towards motion content before long. How many people are in this class? If it's not 15+, a big TV/monitor will work to get the point across to a small audience. Just make sure everybody showers that morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Good suggestion Jon. Unless, of course, your local community college is attached to a very anti-gun educational system. The fact that most RMI's carry a gun (even though most of them use inert guns in one way or another) into the room for demonstration purposes is enough to make them lose interest very rapidly. Bill: Set your projectors up against a pro-grade machine and you will quickly realize why the pro machines cost what they do. Yes, a Yugo will get to to work (most of the time) but it just isn't the same as riding to work in a Lexus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 BTW, Bill, here is a link to the rental price page of my video rental company. http://www.conceptusedgear.com/rentalgear.php We are not that expensive ratewise in our market. We don’t stock the micro-portable projectors as we don’t service that niche. As you should realize, one persons “outrageous price“ is anothers “that’s not a bad price at all”. It all depends on what you are doing with a projector. We rent some for a couple thousand a day and that’s not a bad price for what they do and considering what they cost to buy and maintain. -- Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heiter Posted March 18, 2005 Author Share Posted March 18, 2005 Thanks to everyone, especially Ed, for your suggestions on this. I have to agree with Kimel on the need for USPSA to pony up for some of these things. It's hard enough to find a club in this area with enough enclosed floor space to host a class since most of the clubs that I frequent have some berms and a storage shed for their props and that's about it. We're still going to have to come up with tables and chairs for everyone. I'm absolutely in favor of taking advantage of technology to improve the quality of the classes but it does put a strain on things when you ask the club to provide half the technology (the expensive easily breakable half). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 ...Bill: Set your projectors up against a pro-grade machine and you will quickly realize why the pro machines cost what they do. Yes, a Yugo will get to to work (most of the time) but it just isn't the same as riding to work in a Lexus. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If all you're doing is presenting powerpoint slides to a RO school, you don't need the Lexus. $400 a day for a warp-drive XGA projector for a 2-day RO school? Sure, you can do it. It just seems to me that for another $100, USPSA/whoever can BUY a perfectly adequate SVGA projector which will more than do for its intended use and be done with it. Question: where are the computers for the RO classes coming from? USPSA, or are they the RMI's own machines? Of course, if you can get someone to give you use of a projector for free, that's the best solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 From what I understand they are the RMI's personal machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 USPSA has a projector (I don't know if USPSA had two, though). I don't know if the projector is shared between USPSA and NROI. We used the USPSA projector for our RO class this past weekend. The intructor told me USPSA is wanting to buy move...as funds make it possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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