Z4, PTAE900 or HS50? (Yes again...)

DavidPeat · 21-10-2005, 6:17 PM

Hi

£1800 to spend to replace my blown PTAE100.

Any recommendations? LCD preferred and the smaller the better for WAF (it will be ceiling mounted.)

I am swaying towards the Panny but think the 1 year warranty and service reputation a bit off putting.

The HS50 has good reviews?

The Z4 a bit of a let down or is it?

HELP

Cheers
David

mikeaitch · 21-10-2005, 6:33 PM

HS60 due soon, with10,000:1 contrast ratio or more

sainthalo · 21-10-2005, 8:42 PM

Add the TW600 and TX200 to your list

Zag · 22-10-2005, 10:04 AM

Been away for a few weeks, good to get back to the forums and see the usual projector wranglings going on.

Also glad to see Squibbly finally take the plunge on a Z4 as well

Z4 or PTAE900 seems to be the million dollar question at the moment. Of course there are other options like the HS50,TW600 & TX200 but narrowing it down for my set-up and eyes I think it will have to be either the Z4 or 900. Based on all the current reviews and user impressions its not an easy choice. Wait for the HS60? Another option I suppose, screen door could be an issue, contrast (on/off) will be good but the price will likely be another £500 on top of the D5 equipped LCD models. Not sure I'm willing to pay that and I have reservations with Sony customer support.

Rather concerned as well that there are a number of reviews stating that the Z4 or PTAE900 are only very incremental improvements on the previous models with some people even going so far as saying that they can't see any difference at all. Not what I want to hear.. perhaps I should of bagged one of those bargain priced Z3s???

Front runner at the moment for me I think is the Z4. I want the PJ primarily for movies but also the XBOX 360 so I reckon the extra sharpness of the Z4 will be better for High Definition game playing. Also my screen, gain of 1.4 will benefit from the better contrast of the Z4 plus the auto shutdown/ lens cover is a great feature which will be of benefit to my ceiling mounted install.

Some reports mention the Z4 DI is not transparent in operation will have to demo a Z4 and see if this is an issue or not.

Will be pulling the trigger soon on either the Z4 or PTAE900.

Looking forward to saying farewell to rainbows and hello to HD gaming.

Zag

DEANO-B · 22-10-2005, 10:23 AM

After the hassle I've had with my Panny 700 I would only look at the Z4 or Epson as both have good 3 years warranty. Also don't let the contrast ratio hype cloud your judgement, as all reviews/initial forum impressions are stating there is hardly any difference between the new D5 panel crop and the last D4 panel PJs, and thats in a demo enviroment with lights off, and looking for flaws in PQ!

manhar · 22-10-2005, 11:24 AM

Never go near a Panasonic!
With the bad service reputation of Panasonic you gotta be brave to buy it.
Go for the Z4 instead.

Unless of course Panasonic comes forward with an apology on this forum and promises a better service!

Anim · 22-10-2005, 12:50 PM

You could look at my comparrison too (see sig)

Anim

DavidPeat · 22-10-2005, 5:45 PM

Thanks for clearing that up for me guys!

Now I've got even more on the short list - I might just leave it to fate and show my wife a picture of each one and let her choose

Although the 3 year fix on-site or repair Epson warranty looks like it could be worth its weight in gold.

Anyway, on a slightly different note, I just got back from Sevenoaks where I demoed the Infocus Screenplay 5700. I had thought I should be considering DLPs as well at that price range but have to say that the old rainbows struck. Watched The Incredibles and was blown away but when they put Gladiator on, everytime I switched my focus from one part of the screen to another, a big green/blue/yellow flash - especially on light parts of the image. Not actually what I was expecting after reading descriptions of rainbow, My wife saw it as well.

DavidPeat · 22-10-2005, 9:01 PM

Well I've put them through the Wife Aesthetic Acceptance Test and only the Epson, Sanyo and Panasonic got through to the final...

I'm tempted to drop the Panasonic just because of the stingy 1 yr RTB warranty as I'm pretty sure that performance wise these will all blow my old PTAE100 out of the water.

I may be verging towards the Sanyo simply because I haven't managed to find much in the way of a review for the Epson yet, unless someone can point me to one.

Just got to decide where to buy it from next :-)

P.S. I thought there used to be a thread listing recommended (online?) retailers... Anyone know where it went?

manhar · 22-10-2005, 9:08 PM

Yup Anyone got a review for epson?

n0s · 23-10-2005, 10:01 AM

www.avbuzz.com

manhar · 23-10-2005, 11:20 AM

That link is Chinese ! Cant find an option to switch to English

DavidPeat · 23-10-2005, 12:42 PM

Try this:

http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/20...w600/index.htm

DavidPeat · 23-10-2005, 9:07 PM

Well I've taken the plunge and gone for the Sanyo PLV-Z4.

I have to say it was a close one between it and the AE900 but the 3 year warranty just tipped the balance along with the reviews on avbuzz hinting towards slightly sharper images on the Z4 and quiet running noise. As I said before, I am sure any of these new breed will be a big step up from the old 100.

pringtef · 24-10-2005, 2:38 PM

Let us know how you get on mate, I'm still in purchase limbo!

DavidPeat · 26-10-2005, 8:48 AM

My Z4 morning arrived yesterday (thanks Ivojo) and while I haven't been able to set it up properly yet (waiting for the ceiling mount) I did whip an s-video lead out from the player and set it up on a coffe table for a quick look.

Remember I only have my old PTAE100 for comparison and have not seen the other new breeds but all I can say is - WOW!

Huge improvement in picture quality - no visible panel structure and much, much reduced screen door, but then that was to be expected.

Very bright picture, in fact, too bright on the more powerful presets in my darkened room (only 2.8m from screen) but I did try some of these with the lights on and they produce a very watchable picture.

It is very quiet (as good as silent compared to my old 100, especially when it was on high lamp power).

I think straight out the box in a dark room, it is a toss up between Creative Cinema and Pure Cinema modes (Creative gives a slightly punchier image) but I'm looking forward to trying some of ROnes tweaks (at this point my wife rolled her eyes and retired to bed

)

I like the lens shift - didn't have to use keystone at all. And I liked the automatic lens cover - quite cool.

Have to say that I didn't notice the auto iris function operating but then it maybe only works in the brighter modes?

Downsides so far? IT'S FREAKIN' HUGE - maybe not that important but compared to the tinsy winsy AE100 in the middle of my ceiling it may take a bit of getting used to.

Also, maybe a strange gripe but compared to the AE100 there are ZILLIONS of parameters to tweak. I think it might be harder to just set it up and leave it (there wasn't really much choice on the AE100) - I can foresee much remote control twiddling and wife rolling her eyes to come.

But the most important point is I'm glad to have my big screen back - was beginning to miss it. I can start to get through the backlog of DVDs now

GagHalfrunt · 26-10-2005, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidPeat

Downsides so far? IT'S FREAKIN' HUGE - maybe not that important but compared to the tinsy winsy AE100 in the middle of my ceiling it may take a bit of getting used to.

Heh

Put a CRT Projector up on your ceiling and then you'll realise that a Z4 is tiny.

calibos · 26-10-2005, 1:14 PM

My Ae900 arrived this morning too but theres new windows going in starting today so the screen mounted over the window is off and the gear rack which is also sited under the window has been moved with all the gear disconnected. Wont get a chance to check it out till the weekend at the earliest. TBH I wish Komplett hadn't been so darned efficient in getting the PJ to me so quickly! Its killing me not being able to try the PJ out now that its sitting here. Can't even test it on a bare wall as I've stripped all the wallpaper and the walls are blotchy and multicoloured so can't really test for dead, pixels, convergance,FPN, VB etc. About the only thing I could check is if the PJ is DOA.

Arrgghh, Wanna check out my new PJ!

Anim · 26-10-2005, 1:43 PM

Quote:

Can't even test it on a bare wall as I've stripped all the wallpaper

Use the fridge door!

AVmaster · 26-10-2005, 7:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anim

Use the fridge door!

Quality

I agree with the comments about exaggerated contrast ratio too as some manufacturers measure them differently to make the figures look good, but the high brightness of my new Panasonic PT-AE900 makes it perfect for those not so dark evenings.