Projector rental cost??

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kiwifidget

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#303664 26-Feb-2023 18:55

Hi, for a while now the genealogy group I belong too has toyed with the idea of buying a new projector.

But now the venue where we hold our 9-10 monthly 2-hour meetings per year, has installed their own new one.

We pay $30/meeting for the room, and the venue owners intend to charge us another $30/meeting if we use the projector.

I know the projector is an Epson 1080p type, that uses a lamp.

The one occasion I connected to it, my laptop detected it as a PJ series (I think).

I do not know the actual model on account of it being ceiling mounted and my eyes not having built in telescopes.

I did a search for Epson lamps and the prices seemed to vary around $300.

At their price we would be paying for a new lamp every year.

I don't know how long lamps would last, but for our usage of 20 hours per year, does $300 seem reasonable?

Would we be better off buying our own?

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gzt

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#3042328 26-Feb-2023 19:27

Depends on your needs. There are super cheap led projectors around random NZ example

https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/tech.inc-mini-projector/R2772793.html

Handle9

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#3042335 26-Feb-2023 20:06

For $300 a year pay the money and get on with life.

The venue is making money on the deal but they get to deal with maintaining the projector and dealing with technical issues. You get the benefit but none of the hassle.

kiwifidget

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#3042336 26-Feb-2023 20:25

Handle9: For $300 a year pay the money and get on with life.

The venue is making money on the deal but they get to deal with maintaining the projector and dealing with technical issues. You get the benefit but none of the hassle.

"get on with life" is a bit harsh.

The genealogy club is a non-profit, membership costs $20/yr, and all I am trying to do is ascertain that their money is not being spent unwisely.

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Jase2985

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#3042348 26-Feb-2023 21:04

find a different hall that doesnt charger extra for a projector or byo projector?

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3042357 26-Feb-2023 21:35

$30 for 2h seems pretty cheap for the room. $30 / 2h seems pretty pricey for the projector. This implies that they expect the annualised costs to be about the same (or a lot of people to not use the projector).

I'd hazard a guess at replacing the lamp annually and the projector 5-yearly. Figure $300 and $2K, for $3500/5y. More if it's a particularly $$$$ projector for a very large screen, not a typical 10-20 person room.

Obviously that's more than you're paying for the projector, but not much more. However, I'd expect anyone (commercially) renting out a 'business meeting room' like that to want pretty heavy occupancy - probably 500-1k hours per year? That's more like $10k per year for projector hire, which is kinda ridiculous. It's a different matter if it's a community hall where the projector gets used twice a month - recouping the capital investment will be much harder, but the lamp probably won't need changing until the projector does too.

Really, though, it seems like your option is basically to walk.

Handle9

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#3042517 27-Feb-2023 01:06

SomeoneSomewhere:
$30 for 2h seems pretty cheap for the room. $30 / 2h seems pretty pricey for the projector. This implies that they expect the annualised costs to be about the same (or a lot of people to not use the projector).

I'd hazard a guess at replacing the lamp annually and the projector 5-yearly. Figure $300 and $2K, for $3500/5y. More if it's a particularly $$$$ projector for a very large screen, not a typical 10-20 person room.

Obviously that's more than you're paying for the projector, but not much more. However, I'd expect anyone (commercially) renting out a 'business meeting room' like that to want pretty heavy occupancy - probably 500-1k hours per year? That's more like $10k per year for projector hire, which is kinda ridiculous. It's a different matter if it's a community hall where the projector gets used twice a month - recouping the capital investment will be much harder, but the lamp probably won't need changing until the projector does too.

Really, though, it seems like your option is basically to walk.

What it costs the venue to provide the projector is almost entirely irrelevant. What matters is what it would cost OPs organisation to buy one, maintain one and replace it when it gets damaged/stolen/lost.