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Home Theatre Projectors, Dell, InFocus and Sanyo
ssassen writes "Hardware Analysis is gearing up towards the holiday season with an indepth comparison of three popular home theatre projectors; the perfect gift for under the Christmas tree. They decipher the marketing mumbo-jumbo you'll be faced with and explain all that you need to know prior to buying a home theatre projector."
Once I had a room to dedicate to home theater I started looking for an affordable upgrade to the 32" TV I had been watching on.
I bought an Infocus X1 a few months ago and have been amazed. It's nearly identical to the Screenplay 4800 reviewed in the article (some software/settings tweaks and extra cables for your few hundred bucks extra for the 4800).
I bought the X1 after seeing glowing reviews on AVS Forums. There are a number of good entry level choices in the projector market now. I did make sure I bought from a place with no restocking fees, as I was worried about rainbows (X1 has a 2x color wheel and some fraction of people seem to be sensitive to them, it's a potential problem with any low end DLP)... I can see rainbows if I try, but they haven't bothered any of the 15 or so people who've watched movies on my X1.
Once I got it home & set up, I was amazed... You have to have some level of light control in your viewing area, but it's such a huge difference... I've seen only 2 movies in the theater since I got the projector... I'm projecting a ~90" diagonal 16:9 screen (note the X1/4800 is natively 4:3, but scales fine to 16:9). DVDs are spectacular, 4 player split screen Gamecube is a lot of fun (vs. squinting at your little corner of the 32" tv).
Not sure why anyone spends the $$ on a big screen CRT/FPTV/RPTV anymore. I've already converted two coworkers to projectors (an X1 & a Z1).
Now, if anyone has an easy DIY screen I can get rid of this bed sheet nailed to the ceiling in my basement....
I had the interesting experience of working for a company back in 2001 that closed and couldn't pay me for the vacation that I'd accrued, so the office manager/CFO and I made a deal where I'd write off the time in exchange for the company video projector. It was probably the best deal that I'd made working with them.
I use a Philips Proscreen 4100, which is an older 800x600 projector that puts out 300 ANSI Lumens. It's not nearly as bright as modern projectors (coming in at 1000+ Lumens), but the 4000 hour lamp is nice.
I'll never go back to a TV. Even if my projector breaks and I am forced to replace it outright, I'll buy the $1500 projector again. The furniture savings, the space savings, and the ability to have a room not centered around a glass TV, but still able to become a multimedia room with 100" of screen with the pull of a retractable screen far outweighs having a fixed TV. I can take it wherever I go, and it'll fit in the trunk of my friend's Mazda Miata. I can show up to 200" diagonal picture from a computer, composite, or S-Video source on any wall suitable.
For versatility, picture size, and general niftiness, I don't think that you can beat a video projector.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
What are your bulb costs? I looked at doing this a year or so ago, but ended up with a rear projection TV - the bulb costs just seemed too high.
...It's the cost of the freakin' bulbs that'll kill ya. 500 for 2000 hours? You'd better be watchin' some pretty top-drawer p0rn to make it worth your while.
Or even better, do that, then invite six of the local needy kids around for Christmas dinner. With the proviso that after dinner they stand around your armchair, shouting 'Boom!', 'Bang!' and 'Woosh!' whenever a particularly loud explosion comes on screen - you won't even miss your surround sound speakers.