Home Theatre Projectors

[jordak]

Thought I might stop spending money on my toys and do something that the whole family can enjoy so I it's time to get the Home Theatre set up.

I know my wife would love one of those new fandangled electric irons that you dont have heat up on the fire but hey xmas isn't that far away is it.

I'm sweet as far as the audio side of things go but it's time to ditch the old rear projection TV for a projector / screen.

In short I'm looking for advice on what the minimum I have to spend to get a projector and screen that won't leave me thinking that I should have spent that little bit more to get the right set up.

Any help from those of you that have been there and done that would be great.

Cheers

[tmac450]

I went with Panasonic.

I found it to be the best value projector, and outperformed many of the more expensive brands.

The globes last for at least 3,000 hours and when I got ours, it had the brightest image by far. Also, it was the best performing projector with the lights on. It has a huge adjustment range, even an image positioning joystick on the front. It accepts HDMI and has a shutter feature to save the globe without turning it off.

One tip though, don't just follow the manual and mount the projector at their recommended distance (it is wrong). Fit the screen first, then test the projector distance before you mount it.

[mbjunior99]

Have a look at this thread. It may help:

http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/index.ph...hl=home+theater

[XR06T]

there are many very good 720p projectors now available for less than 2k, the epson tw 700 (lcd0 and mitsu hc1100 (dlp) are a couple.

the site to check out is dtvforums.info.

there is a wealth of info over there and they will be able to help you out

ps there are many horror stories with the panasonic ax's.......

[Flukey]

Depends on yout budget mate.

If you can spend up to say $3K, the Mitsubishi 3100 is good value.

If you could spend $6K, go the Mitsubishi HC5000. I just bought one and its a ripper. 1080P too.

Make sure you get a good screen - it makes all the difference.

Luke

[Guest newl]

Have had a Hitachi PJTX100 for a few years now and had zero issues with it though as of late it hasn't been getting much use. It's a good bang for your buck non-data projector. It far outweighed the equivalent Sony offering in price and picture quality.

Another thing to consider too is the extended warranty and whether or not it covers bulbs. Ours does so was well worth the small increase in price to purchase it.

Edited 22/06/07 03:02 AM by newl

[jordak]

All good info guys, appreciate it

[ZAP]

Why buy a projector ?

I have a projector and hardley ever use it as our TV is big enough to watch everything. While it is nice to have a "home theater", you can get a big MOFO plasma for similar money as a good projector/screen and get heaps more use out of it.

[tmac450]

  ZAP_F6 said:

Why buy a projector ?

I have a projector and hardley ever use it as our TV is big enough to watch everything. While it is nice to have a "home theater", you can get a big MOFO plasma for similar money as a good projector/screen and get heaps more use out of it.

We use nothing but our projector. It's the TV that doesn't get used. I haven't seen too many 100" plasmas, and certainly nothing close to the price of our set-up.

[Flukey]

  ZAP_F6 said:

Why buy a projector ?

I have a projector and hardley ever use it as our TV is big enough to watch everything. While it is nice to have a "home theater", you can get a big MOFO plasma for similar money as a good projector/screen and get heaps more use out of it.

Dont agree.

My projector and screen cost me under $7K with a screen size of 95".

I hardly ever watch anything on my "tiny" 42" plasma now.

A Tv cant give you the cinema experience yet