DVD player
I found no problems with the built in DVD player. It seemed to perform every bit as well as the two DVD players I use, a Sanyo and a Bravo D2 (with DVI interface). The DVD player outputs digital to the rest of the MovieTime, which is ideal, in terms of one-for-one pixel matching, which you normally don't get with a typical DVD player (only a few have digital outputs). So the DVD player, overall, is a real plus. The DVD player also handles a wide range of music and image formats besides DVD and Audio CD, here's the list: MP3, WMA, JPEG, VCD, DVD, DVD-R,DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, Audio CD, CD-R, CD-RW. That should keep you happy.
Projector Lamp Life
The MovieTime offers typical lamp life. 2000 hours is the rating for full power, or you can switch the projector into Economy mode, where the image is a little dimmer, but lamp life is 3000 hours. For those with screens smaller than 100" diagonal, you should find the MovieTime DV10 projector to be plenty bright in Economy mode. In fact, if you end up with Optoma's 92" Grayfox screen, which they are currently (9/05) offering for free, and which has a very high gain of 1.8, the only time you would want full power is if you have a significant amount of light on in the room. (Football fans, rejoice!
Projector Brightness and Practical Screen Size
I already mentioned this in the Image Quality section. But, there's more. At full power, and lights off, the MovieTime had the "horsepower" to fill my 128" screen which as a gain of 1.3. In other words, the MovieTime has plenty of brightness, that rivals most home theater projectors, including those costing several times as much. On smaller screens - 80 inch to 92" diagonal, you really can handle some lights on, especially on TV (movies are always tougher - as they tend to have some really dark scenes, that will wash out with any home theater projector, if there's even modest room lighting hitting the screen. The 92 inch Grayfox, makes a great screen choice for both movies or HDTV, especially sports. (Brightness rolls off rapidly to the sides with this screen, but it also rejects much of the lighting hitting it from the side.
Projector Fan Noise
I found the MovieTime to be noisier than expected. The specs say that the projector noise levels are 28 db in full power and 27 in low (economy) mode. I'll accept the low power spec, but believe they are very optimistic at full power. From a practical standpoint, the projector was very audible when powered up in full power, before you start watching. Still, I didn't notice it at all, except on extremely quiet scenes, in full power mode, and that with the projector sitting just about 3 feet from my ears.
Again, this is an all-in-one solution, and I think even in full power mode, more than acceptable. In low power, which many users will find perfect for movies, no problem at all. And, if you are watching football (I'm just thrilled that football season is back - go Penn State), or other sports, you won't care at all.
Calibrating The Projector
Out of the box, image quality is very good. With 6 modes to choose from (one is user savable settings), its not hard to find the right setting for what you are watching. Still, I always recommend getting a good calibration disk like the Avia Disk, to fine tune color and contrast. If that's not your thing (it's requires about an hour of your life), you still will find the performance excellent. I did find that with calibration, several of the test images (the Chrysler Building at dusk) improved, and I was able to see more stars in those great night sky scenes from Star Wars, and Independence Day (there were plenty of stars without calibration).
