First Time Buyer: AE300 Looking Likely...

[MonkeyJug]

i'm about to buy this projector, i can get it for about £750.

before actually committing myself to it, i wonder if anyone knows of a place that is selling it for a cheaper price. the site i'm getting it from doesn't do a dead pixel check and i'm curious if this is an issue i should be worried about...

any buying advice welcome, but mainly i'm looking for info regarding the cheapest possible price and where to buy - TIA, guys...

edit: i'll be using it mainly for watching dvds and playing winning eleven 8. also, i was thinking about just simply painting the wall white and projecting straight onto that... is this reasonable?

[phillfyspoon]

just sold my ae300 and let me say this is a great little machine the picture will not disapoint, it wowed me everytime i turned it on. I would not recommend a wall i done that for a while and then bought a white blackout blind from b&q for £60 and the difference is huge. Winning eleven 8 top man i love that game

[JonMace]

Give it a couple of weeks when there is plenty of stock of the 700s the 500s will drop

[MonkeyJug]

i'm really tempted to just jump in and buy the ae300 for £750, but i'm trying to force myself to wait! :op

is the ae500 much better than the ae300?

how much do you reckon the ae500 price will come down to? what about by christmas?

sorry for the hassle, i really don't know much about the whole projector scene, but i'm dying to be a part of it!

[KraGorn]

With regards the DPC: at least a couple of sponsors of this forum argue that DPCs are no guarantee you'll not experience problems as dead/stuck pixels can occur after a period of use.

OTOH, the majority of members here I expect would say a DPC is worthwhile. Clearly you'll guarantee that on delivery the panels are perfect but that say nothing what the sitatuation will be in a week or month's time.

Ultimately it's up to you whether the price you'll save buying from somewhere that doesn't offer a DPC is worth the 'risk'. I've never seen any statistics about the frequency of brand new LCD projectors with faulty panels so it's hard to know the degree of that risk.


As for the AE300/AE500 decision, I agree with Jon, wait a few weeks to see how the price of the 500 moves as the 700 comes on stream. If you look back on here at the time the 500 came out you'll see the general consensus about how much better it was over the 300, that may help you decide .. though the usual advice of "get a demo" is the best idea, but I know isn't always practical.