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Thread ID: 116673	2011-03-15 08:31:00	Bad setup or just misguided - Big spend for nothing?	The Error Guy (14052)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1186291	2011-03-15 08:31:00	Recently our school completely renovated and upgraded our boarding house. A very much welcome change and there are countless improvements however one thing that severely irks me is the way in which they have set up the main "TV room" if you like. The school has bought the most expensive projector I have seen and used personally. I'd say in excess of 8k however its a presentation projector designed for dark rooms and proper projection surfaces. Not an off white wall in a room with rows of windows on both sides. Result is a rather poor picture. 2ndly: Choice of inputs, the projector has 2 digital (DVI + HDMI), 2 VGA, a RJ46 network port, S-Video and composite video. The connections they have wired are, Composite, RJ46, VGA. This projector is an HD widescreen projector. you can imagine how great the DVD player and standard def freeview picture looks on it (very very s***) 3rd, sound. They picked out a 6:1 surround speaker system i'd say close to 1k worth. They then hook it up with a 3.5mm or standard stereo inputs. whats the point of surround and qualiy speakers when you cram 2 channels into a system expecting 6? Overall the system seems a shambles. On top of the pile for DVD players head units etc they have set up an A/V changer for the 3 video inputs. If they had got an HDMI DVD player and freeview box they could have run the two HDMI cables to the surround unit which has a built in DVD/TV switcher with an HDMI out so if you wanted to play a dvd you'd get surround + quality picture. Instead we get messy cables + terrible sound. The use of just 2x HDMI cables would have been much much neater compared to the 12 or so component A/V Cables I could rectify the problem aside for the fact the guys who installed the projector weren't told to put an HDMI cable in so now It seems we are stuck with over 10k worth of equipment with $500 quality. Now, is this just me being very picky or does anyone else see this as a waste of money which could have been a very good setup? Personally I feel it could have been better had proper consulting taken place. It seems that some things were done very much on the cheap or without proper knowledge. Maybe I am complaining to much. The biggest let down I feel was not running the HDMI from the projector to the wall outlets. if that had happened the system would be largely future proofed and also fixable. Ah well, the rest of the house looks pretty great though. (i'll post pics soon however the uploads fail)	The Error Guy (14052)
1186292	2011-03-15 09:40:00	Sounds like some morons set it up. Sneak in there and fix up what you can, if possible.	ubergeek85 (131)
1186293	2011-03-15 17:31:00	Well, if it was up to me it'd be a budget tv and without any secondary audio system. Someone's being very generous with the money. But whose money is it?	Paul.Cov (425)
1186294	2011-03-15 18:45:00	Can't really fix anything, cables are channeled behind ceiling GIB so unless that comes down... School borrowed 1.5 mil to do the house up, I thought a 50" or bigger TV would have been far better choice. Cheaper, easy running costs and a far far nicer picture. Projectors are useless for TV viewing. Seriously Misguided planning </RANT>	The Error Guy (14052)
1186295	2011-03-15 19:35:00	Firstly very misguided and also bad set up. Did someone from the school go and buy the equipment and get someone to install it ? Or did the school get someone from outside the school to choose and buy the equipment ? Whoever did it did not do their research and you have ended up with a poorly set up system. or the school has been taken for a ride over what they really needed. By the way what is 6:1 surround sound ?	wmoore (6009)
1186296	2011-03-15 19:42:00	our damn lucky they even put something into be watched, a lot of places would expect you to have your won TV	gary67 (56)
1186297	2011-03-15 20:45:00	Sounds as though these items may have been specified by a committee. From my experience with teachers and Boards of trustees, neither can be relied upon to know what they're doing all the time. No matter where the funding is coming from, and if the amounts are budgeted or not, the property manager needs to be held accountable. :2cents:	WalOne (4202)
1186298	2011-03-15 21:19:00	My school wasted a couple of million or something on redoing the library. It turned into the biggest waste of space ever. The books got shifted off into two other rooms, and the biggest space got computers shoved in it, all r1 all in ones. They're used for basic teaching and all that but nothing spectacular. And not much library oriented stuff goes on. Alot of flash games though. But the thing that really pissed me off was the idea to put in 2 or 3 smart boards in a 'meeting section'. They ran them about 20k each with projectors for each of them, they're all in one room, noone knows how to use them, the system admin has to install the software on laptops but they have to be built onto the network (he doesn't touch pc's if they're unnetworked) and people have drawn on them in pencil and pen a few times. So yeah, it just seems schools like wasting money. Thankfully, I'm done with it.	8ftmetalhaed (14526)
1186299	2011-03-16 06:12:00	I Appreciate that we are lucky to have these resources. I'm just so disappointed to see them "wasted" as such. Could have been a very acceptable system. Yes, I would guess it was a board choice. "lets buy an expensive projector because it has a big screen it WILL be better..." School bought it and got some sparkies/cable installers to run the cabling off to a stupid place RIGHT next to a doorway. I see people sprinting around it (surround head unit etc) and think I couldn't give two s**** if someone screws it (6-1 is a form of surround setup, 6 speakers Left, right, center, rear right, rear left and a sub for bass) Pics of setup (PS sorry about bad focus, forgot that my camera was set to manual focus not auto :p) www.imagef1.net.nz www.imagef1.net.nz www.imagef1.net.nz www.imagef1.net.nz	The Error Guy (14052)
1186300	2011-03-16 06:20:00	I Appreciate that we are lucky to have these resources. I'm just so disappointed to see them "wasted" as such. Could have been a very acceptable system. Yes, I would guess it was a board choice. "lets buy an expensive projector because it has a big screen it WILL be better..." School bought it and got some sparkies/cable installers to run the cabling off to a stupid place RIGHT next to a doorway. I see people sprinting around it (surround head unit etc) and think I couldn't give two s**** if someone screws it (6-1 is a form of surround setup, 6 speakers Left, right, center, rear right, rear left and a sub for bass) Pics of setup (PS sorry about bad focus, forgot that my camera was set to manual focus not auto :p) www.imagef1.net.nz www.imagef1.net.nz www.imagef1.net.nz www.imagef1.net.nz links don't work	plod (107)
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