Newf, were they refurbs from Epson?

I have heard if you ask for a replacement you may get a factory restored unit back.

I can say that the 3 units I have hands on experience with all had slight picture differences due to the 3LCD pixel alignment. It adds softness to the image and is typical of all 3LCD projectors afaik. Never had the other issues.

These differences were only really visible at 1' from the screen, and I had to point out the issue before it was even noticed. From the seating position it wasn't noticable.

Fred, if you can, I suggest buying at a brick and mortar so you can swap out to a new boxed unit in the unlikely event with whatever you buy. I will say that the 8350 was a massively successful projector and sold tons of units. Its not unreasonable that there were issues along the way in some units. Whenever I read about a user that swaps out a unit more than once (or several) my questions shift away from the units themselves. I think once you are bitten with a lemon, they all will have some imperfection that drives that user nuts.