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Author Topic: PlusRite Lamps - Anyone used them? Gavin Lewarne Master Film Handler Posts: 278 From: Plymouth, UK Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-05-2014 06:05 PM                     Marcel, read the PM I just sent you for your answer.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-05-2014 07:08 PM                        That name, "PlusRite" just sort of shouts cheapness. When I was in the music business it was an unwritten rule that if a product brand name had anything to do with music, that was a giveaway that the product was cheap. Brand names like Audition, Soundesign, Audition, Audiovox, Voice of Music....cheap stuff. If a company had a nonmusical name, that meant you were more likely to get quality. Toshiba, Marantz, Pioneer, Cerwin Vega, Sansui, Harman Kardon, etc. Of course there were occasional exceptions... such as Panasonic was always good quality stuff. I don't know if this same theory applies in projection equipment but it's interesting nonetheless.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-05-2014 08:43 PM                     You're doing what I would do. Gather data and make sure that your professional opinion goes on record. That's the best you can do... :| As an aside... Whatever happened to Superior Quartz Products? I used to buy them quite a bit. I know the company is still in business but haven't heard from them in the cinema department in quite a while.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-06-2014 01:20 AM                     Went on the PlusRite (China) site and it's interesting that the catalog numbering closely follows USHIO .. like the PDXL-6500B for the USHIO DXL-65BA ... with the same amount of lumens and warranty hours.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 11-06-2014 05:18 AM                     quote: Gavin Lewarne Marcel, read the PM I just sent you for your answer. Gavin, thanks! I tried to send you a PM back but I'm not sure if it ever got there though, as I got an 550 SMTP error. Unfortunately, I forgot to save the error message, but I guess it can be easily replicated. quote: Mike Blakesley That name, "PlusRite" just sort of shouts cheapness. I agree, it sounds like a cheap miracle cleaning agent pitched by some hyperactive sales guy on your local TV shopping channel. Then again, our "Western" conception of "cheap sounding" is hard to compare to what Asians think of it. For example, LG, a somewhat respectable electronics manufacturer from South Korea is the shorthand for "Lucky Goldstar". (You may remember Goldstar TV sets, VHS tapes and other media.)  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-06-2014 06:17 AM                     It can only work the way that dcinex buys these lamps for very little money, without any warranty, or only per-lamp-exchange policy at best. Then sell them to their customers for 'somewhat' less than USHIO, OSRAM, PHILIPS so the deal becomes attractive. Their considerable earnings then have to cover all further warranty issues that may arise, and of course they need to offer the same warranty services as USHIO, OSRAM, PHILIPS. After all, these companies do the same. A considerable amount from their higher prices goes into securing occurring warranty claims. Just that their failure score is probably better. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-07-2014 02:52 AM                     Also, wondering if these PlusRite bulbs are rebranded bulbs that didn't meet QA standards of the major manufacturers, thus they bought the rejected items.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-07-2014 06:38 AM                     I don't think so. China has a booming cinema industry. Bad enough for them that they have to buy expensive DCI gear - but quite a few manufacturers like Barco and Christie already have factories in china. When it comes to consumables, they certainly want to produce these bulbs themselves. There are also a couple of unusual cinema audio processors available from chinese manufacturers. It's really a huge market, and they try to avoid buying products on the international price level and pay in US$ or €. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 11-07-2014 08:18 AM                     I remember taking a tour of the former ORC factory in California where they had employees salvaging parts on bulbs that did not meet factory spec……machined parts and xenon gas where the major expense items.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-09-2014 03:31 PM                     Machining the solid tungsten is expensive. Takes diamond tipped cutters to be able to do it. You have to factor in the expense of the cutters into the cost of making the lamps. Mark  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 05-05-2016 05:43 PM                 It has been 543 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 05-05-2016 05:43 PM                        Wonder if anyone here has real-life, experienced opinion about these bulbs since this thread started. Reading through the posts, I see nothing but opinions, cautions and doubt, based on nothing I can see as being based in reality. I get that Ushio is popular here and, for reasons I can support from personal experience, Osrams are not so much so. I've used the Plusrite bulbs for the past 2 years, totaling 4 sets, and though I haven't put any kind of scientific measurement on them, they appear to work at least as well as the more-expensive Ushios I previously used. Matter of fact, where my 6.5kW Ushios almost never made warranty in my 32B, the Plusrite bulbs I've used to date have easily done so, and without the flicker and multiple striking issues I had with the Ushios at their end-of-life cycles. In comparing 4k Ushio vs Plusrite, anecdotally, I don't notice any difference, other than cost. Both have easily made warranty and light dropoff appears to be comparable. I really do get the fact that, once people become sold on a brand, it's nearly impossible to shake them away. I'm not necessarily a fan of Plusrite... yet... but I don't find the near-universal cautionary posts here to be rooted in any kind of practical experience... at least not that anyone has said to this point. So... my experience has been pretty good, and I've saved quite a bit of money. The company ships quickly and has stated their warranty and damage resolution policies in writing. I've got a set of Ushios in the booth, but don't yet see any particular reason to put them in, as opposed to the Plusrites.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-05-2016 06:40 PM                        No idea on the Plusrite lamps, but I will say that Osrams have always given me good service in film projectors (as has Ushio) in the 2-3k sizes. I don't really have an opinion on D-cinema lamps, since almost everyone I know seems to buy Christie lamps (which seem to work fine and hit warranty hours without flickering or significant dimming). LTI lamps were always a disaster for me with 35mm, but I don't know anyone who is still buying those.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-05-2016 11:29 PM                     The Osram bulbs we were supplied with for use in the Hateful Eight 70mm systems a few months ago were simply awful. I've never seen such a flickerfest, and yes it was all machines (Christie SLC, Strong Highlight II and Cinemeccannica). Every year it's the same thing I hear "oh we've fixed the exploding problems" and "oh we've fixed the flickering issues" and "oh we've fixed the ignition problems". Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Anyone running Osrams should try ANY other bulb (probably even including a PlusRite) to see what they are missing. I've not seen a good performing Osram since the 90s and I've never had to outright FIGHT a company so much to get them to honor a warranty either. Disclaimer, I have Christie SLCs in my screening room and run film regularly with noticeably higher brightness. I am not confusing the statement above with "film flicker vs. digital flicker".  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 05-05-2016 11:32 PM                        Interesting. I had uniformly terrible service from Osram. Granted, because of the experience, I tended to avoid them. The few times they landed in my booth, they did not serve well. Superior Quartz was pretty good. Their 7kW bulbs were built like bulldozers. Not sure why they felt the need to do that. Christies were good in my Big Sky lamphouses... both 4 & 7kW sizes.  |  IP: Logged

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