Need projector for group presentations

We give career exploration workshops to high school students using powerpoint and videos.  We also give presentations to various adult groups, Rotary,parent groups etc. Usually there is someone in the group who can bring a projector for us to use on a wall, screen or smart board but being somewhat challenged technically we have difficulty setting up everything correctly with no time using different equipment every time.  Does anyone know of a resource for a donation of a refurbished projector or a non profit discount program.  Thank you.

Where are you located??

In New City, Rockland County New York

While I cannot provide a list of entities that might donate, I can offer some advice with regard to projectors in general.

One important item to consider is the bulb life expectancy, and the price of the replacement bulbs. For a typical $800 projector, it is not the least bit uncommon for the bulb to cost $300 to replace. Bulb life is typically measured in HOURS. Depending on your usage, it might not be uncommon to replace the bulb once a year.

Once people factor this in, they sometimes come to the conclusion that a $1000 projector winds up being "cheaper" than an $800 projector if the replacement bulbs are less expensive.

3M provides projectors as donations as part of their product donation service

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/CommunityAffairs/CommunityGiving/US/Apply/proddontate

How do you get an invotation ID?

Try your local Community Foundation or similar grant organization.

Does one need to match specific projectors to specific computers?  We have a Toshiba A100 series laptop, and are also beginning the projector search, for use with PowerPoint.  Recommendations?

You want to know the screen resolutions the laptop can generate on the external video connector, to match to what the projector can accept or scale to.  We had a very old projector that would only accept 640x480 from the computer, none of the current laptops could go that low of resolution, so the projector was not usable on any modern hardware.  The projectors have gotten smarter and can accept a broader range now and can even scale down resolutions, so this should not be as big of an issue as 10 years ago, but could still show up if you get a donated projector.  And as usual remember the cost of a replacement lamp which can be from $125.00 to $500.00 so a donated projector with 2000 hours on the lamp will cost you a replacement lamp to get started.

If you purchase a projector, really try to work with a local vendor who may have a spare machine if yours breaks, can help with training and troubleshooting, and can be accommodating if you need to borrow a projector when you over book your projector.   Some of those services can be worth more than the couple of dollars you save buying on line.

Dave

I would agree with buying a new projector; the bulb is pretty much the worth of the unit, and with the cheaper projectors out there now it's not worth it to buy a used one. I have always found great success with inFocus; I've used at least 3 of them at prior jobs or clients and they've always performed admirably. Their IN2102 starts at $550 and is 2500 lumens, which should be enough for your purposes (I don't know how bright the spaces you operate in are). Check them out at www.infocus.com and see what you think- they have an education section, so it's quite possible that as a nonprofit you may qualify for some sort of discount.