Where to Import from Japan/Hong Kong

[basementjack]

I get a lot of questions on another forum asking where to get the Epson EMP-TW700 from.

Here are some places I've found...

ebay sellers:
time2envy (Where I bought mine)
dieswiththemosttoys

importers:
www.pricejapan.com
www.hivizone.com

Please note that neither I nor HomeTheaterShack endorse any of these places, and there is some risk to importing a product from another region.

In case you're not aware of whats up with all this...
Epson sells a great projector in the united states: the pro cinema 810 - but they sell it for $2999
The same model is sold in other counties for around $1500.

Review wise, Amongst LCD projecotrs, you have the Sanyo Z5 $1300- very sharp, not so bright and then you have the Panasonic AX100 $1800 - very bright, not so sharp. Enter the epson - brighter than the panasonic in real world tests, Very sharp, excellent build quality.
Amongst these 3 you can see that the Epson would be really attractive at say around $2000. At $1600 it's too good to pass up.

[RollsRoyce]

Also be advised that products with a "worldwide" warranty instead of an explicit "US" warranty normally need to be shipped to another country such as Japan for service...

[basementjack]

I've seen multiple posts from users who've contacted Epson regarding projectors sourced from Hong Kong and the word on the street is that epson USA will honor the warranty.

However, it should be pointed out that it will not be the same warranty...

Epson USA offers overnight replacement if your PJ dies in the first 2 years.
If you buy one from hong kong, you'll be sending it in to epson usa.

of course you always have the option of paying for service - epson has authorized service centers all across the united states - I found one 10 miles from where I live.

I know this isn't for everyone, but for me, it was.
Buying from someone off ebay with 8000+ feedback and a 7 day defect return policy, backed by paypal's $2000 protection seemed safe enough for me, and I'm now enjoying the new projector...

[MACCA350]

I've been seriously thinking of buying the Mits HC5000 1080p projector from Price Japan for AU$3,495 inc shipping, it retails here for AU$7999(best price I could find locally is AU$6,999). All in all, a saving of AU$3,500-4,500 or get two for the price of one

A few guys in Aus have done this with great results

cheers

[basementjack]

MACCA350 wrote:

All in all, a saving of AU$3,500-4,500 or get two for the price of one

Thats a great point - when the price of an import approaches half the price of the same product in your country - warrany support is nearly a non-issue.

There was a post from someone who bought from pricejapan, and had a problem with the projector.
He had to pay for round trip shipping to japan from the US.

All in all it cost him about $300 USD to fix his brand new projector.
his case is rare (most projectors work fine out of the box)
but even with those circumstances, he still saved $2000 USD off retail...

[SnooP Duggy DuG]

RollsRoyce wrote:

Also be advised that products with a "worldwide" warranty instead of an explicit "US" warranty normally need to be shipped to another country such as Japan for service...

Two Epson reps have told me Epson USA will honor it bu repairing it under warranty HERE....

[RollsRoyce]

SnooP Duggy DuG wrote:

Two Epson reps have told me Epson USA will honor it bu repairing it under warranty HERE....

If true, that's great! And highly unusual for "gray market" electronics, as well...

[basementjack]

I've also heard that epson "may honor' the warranty, but I made my buying decision with the understanding that I might need to fork over 300-500 to get it fixed.

I was on the phone with Epson North america today, and they were very cool - but until someone actually gets serivce on one of these, we'll never know for sure, and even then, if they get an influx of projectors from Japan or Hong Kong, it might push them into being a bit more strict...

[SnooP Duggy DuG]

which is one reason I'm teetering on whether to get the 700 or get the 400 direct.

[basementjack]

I don't think you can go wrong with the 400.

Costco sells them, and they have a terrific return policy - I think I'd start with them and see how it goes.

Also Target.com sells them, and if you have a target credit card you probably get 10% off coupons from them in the mail all the time - so that makes the 400 $1350.

the difference between the two is lens throw range, contrast and brightness.
you either need the lens throw or not so thats no big deal.

Brightness is not an issue if you're in a dark room - and it's important to note that to get the brightness out of the 700, you've got to be in dynamic picture mode, with the lens at full wide angle. Most users will use theater black most of the time...

that leaves contrast, and while it's neat to be at 10:000:1, remember thats with the iris so thats full off/on contrast. In scene contrast is probably closer to 1500:1 - and I doubt that would be much different on the 400.

[SnooP Duggy DuG]

basementjack wrote:

I don't think you can go wrong with the 400.

Costco sells them, and they have a terrific return policy - I think I'd start with them and see how it goes.

Also Target.com sells them, and if you have a target credit card you probably get 10% off coupons from them in the mail all the time - so that makes the 400 $1350.

the difference between the two is lens throw range, contrast and brightness.
you either need the lens throw or not so thats no big deal.

Brightness is not an issue if you're in a dark room - and it's important to note that to get the brightness out of the 700, you've got to be in dynamic picture mode, with the lens at full wide angle. Most users will use theater black most of the time...

that leaves contrast, and while it's neat to be at 10:000:1, remember thats with the iris so thats full off/on contrast. In scene contrast is probably closer to 1500:1 - and I doubt that would be much different on the 400.

BJ,
u know of anyone who's compared the 400 and 700 side by side? (know I asked this at AVS)

Basically the 400 and 700 will be pretty similar if I have a 12-14' throw in a LR setting (somewhat controlled lighting). I'll need lens shift because the screen will be near ceiling and only down to 34" off the floor...

[basementjack]

I have not seen the 400 directly compared to the 700/810.

Projectorreviews.com has a review of the 400, and a review of last years 600/800
He's got listed on his website that the 810/700 is in for review so it should only be another week and we'll have a credible source.

Theres an australian site that did a side by side of the Sany Z5, the Epson 700 and the Panasonic 100.

I stopped at Sams club the other day and they had the Epson moviemate 30/33 thing, and a sharp XGA DLP, but not the 400.


I really think the 2 projectors should be pretty close. The 700 uses a different bulb, so they aren't exact, but looking at the specs, the 400 still has the cinema filter, and the great epson warranty.

[mechman]

I bought my Mitsu HC3000 on ebay from a Japan importer. I also had trouble with a flickering problem. Called the USA Mitsu Support number and they fixed my problem. I did have to send it to the Service Center in CA, but that's a different story.

mech

[norpus]

I have bought a pj and two lamps from price japan so far
No problems, ships to you door in well under a week
I have a spare lamp coming for my JVC HD1 as we speak from them (<AU$300 and I haven't even got my pj yet!)

[basementjack]

Update: My Epson EMP-TW700 has a bit of a mis-convergence issue - being somewhat of a perfectionist, I thought I'd call and see if it was something they considered a defect.

We went so far as to exchange emails/pictures of the issue, etc...

The last email I got said yep it's a problem and call them for a replacement.

Being an honest person, I made sure they understood it was in imported one, and at that point they refused to service it in any way - no option for me to ship it in to them, no option for me to pay for service, just a plain refusal to help me in any way, beyond giving me the number for customer service at 562-276-1311.

Customer service looked up my records via my phone number and immediately said - oh you have a european one (I don't this one is from the Japanese market).

So anyhow thats been my experience with epson so far.

I guess I can't be upset with them - I paid just over half the price of a new Epson 810 from the US, so I'm really still very far ahead financially. I knew this would be a possibility when I bought it. (I don't blame the people I bought it from - they were pretty forthcoming about it as well)

On top of all that, the convergence issue I have is really pretty minor - I've lived with it for a month and could easily live with it for another year or two until 1080p projectors get brighter and cheaper.


I am a little depressed that Epson isn't standing behind the product - it seems silly that a huge corporation would have issues servicing it's own product...

So my advice is, I still think the Epson EMP-TW700 is a good projector, and would still reccomend it.
However I think it would make sense to get it from someone like price japan, who can help you send it back if theres an issue.

[mechman]

Jack,

Call their European Customer Support number. They'd probably fix it for you. When I had issues with my Mitsu, they didn't want to deal with me here in the US. They caved when I told them that I bought it from an importer in California.

Worse comes to worse you'd have to ship it someplace overseas. They should pay for shipping back.

mech

[basementjack]

Thanks Mech,

I sent an email to them along with my product code to see if they could verify it came from them (I don't think it did)

Next stop after that will be to try and learn enough japanese to make my way throught the epson Japan website and see if I can ask them about it.

Once I can get some ownership of which market it came from, I should be able to get it fixed (Though it might not be worth it if I have to pay $200+ shipping...)

[Instal]

I purchased a electric screen and cables from Eastporters and was happy with the service and price. (My first post so you will have to excuse the no link)