Panasonic AE500

[steevs]

Hey all,

looking for some advice, I have about £2500 to spend on the above projecter with extras.

I was wondering how long the lamp life is and could someone point me in the direction of somewhere to buy replacements?

Also, how do you think the movie experience on this projecter would compare with a Panasonic viera 42 plasma, I could probably stretch the couple of hundred pound more I would need for this.

Thanks

Steve

[phillfyspoon]

The lamp life is upto 5000h if the bulb is set to low which makes no difference to high in a dark viewing area. (3000h on high). Im not sure where to buy bulbs but they are around £280-300. This projector vs a plasma 42" is no contest the projector will kick it's ass. Just make sure you have a decent dvd player (decent being £300+) connected via component or DVI do not use s-video or composite aka phono.

[theritz]

Just make sure you know that a projector needs decent light control - if you intend day-time viewing, the image from a projector will be fairly washed out. There really is no substitute for watching movies 7 - 8ft wide though...........

Sean.

[Ekko Star]

Nice PJ and lovely Plasma, I should know I have them both

If it's predominantly for movies then go PJ route. You can't beat 100" home cinema screen. But for all round usage then the Viera is probably the better bet.

[steevs]

Thanks for the info, i'll also be wanting to connect my pc to it, how is the image quality through that?

[Ekko Star]

Res on the PJ is better than the Viera.

But you need light controlled conditions for a PJ. If your planning extensive PC usage and you don't have a darkened room, then PJ may not be the right choice. Also being summer and longer light hours, PJ tends to get used less and later on in evenings.

I think you need to define your primary usage before you can decide which path to go down, as one is not exactly a substitute for the other.

[steevs]

Yep, I think I need to think about this a little more, thanks for the advice.
I suppose the logical explanation would be to buy both I suppose

[Ekko Star]

Both will give you immense pleasure and great sense of ownership.

The PJ will give you the best bang for buck AV experience you are ever likely to achieve. For what you pay and what you get the PJ is categorically better and you will never look back...or at least watch DVD's in a different way

[pantages]

You could buy two 500's for your budget. Various Internet dealers offer it for around £1200. Try 'Let's Go Digital', they include a free 60" Da-Lite screen for less than £1200 including carriage. For that money and given a good source, the 500 is an awesome performer.

[Fjorko]

Originally Posted by phillfyspoon

The lamp life is upto 5000h if the bulb is set to low which makes no difference to high in a dark viewing area.

I was wondering, the manual says that the projector has an onscreen warning message at the time the lamp needs replacing (at around 2000hrs on HI mode ).

Will it recognise that it is running in LOW mode and then only warn you for replacement at the 5000hr mark ( theoretically ) ?

Cheers

[theritz]

The Panasonic's firmware converts low-lamp hours into hi-lamp hours value - it'll still tell you when you've hit 2000hrs in Hi-Lamp "time" it's just that it'll take you 5000 hrs to get there....


S.

[Fjorko]

Understood !

Can anyone suggest a UK supplier for the lamp as requested by Steevs ?
Im sure loads of us out there have this excelent budget PJ and will possibly purchase a lamp before considering a replacement (upgrade?) PJ.
Ive spent some time on the Internet and apart from somewhere in Japan could not find a UK source.
Is the lamp the same as on the AE300 ?
Any ideas chaps ?