Guys I have been into home cinema a long time but never had the money or room for a projector. I got the opportunity to take the office Sony CX3 home to do a presentation for next week.

Aye Right !!

Hooked it up to my DVD player and HCPC within minutes of opening my front door.

Well what can I say, Its a data LCD!!, it's an LCD!!, It's 4:3!!. But I am absolutely astonished at the quality of the image. I have seen more expensive projectors in demo's which were great but when you have one in your house albeit one that is suposidly totally mismatched for Home Cinema and fire it up.......I am amazed. This little projector is awesome, noisy but awesome. I use the term loosely 'cos there are a hell of a lot of perfectionists out there. My jaw has been hitting the floor ever since I powered R1 Jurassic Park and The Mummy. How can a data LCD projector produce such stunning results?

If this is what this can do what about the new Sim2's or the latest Sony 11 LCD. It would blow me away.

To be honest I will never slag off another LCD projector, yes the blacks weren't perfect but they were pretty damn good, I just loved it. For the sum of £2000 you can't lose can you?

This business is all about fun and I am having so much of it when I shouldn't be. Others will mock and always want the latest and be prepared to pay top dollar, that's fine. But if I am in the market for a reasonably cheap projector that will make me smile from ear to ear, then I probably will not buy this one as it is more for office but I will not disregard LCD at £2k-£3k again.

All options will be looked at.

God I had some fun tonight.

Got American Pie 2 The Fast and Furious and Jeepers Creepers for the weekend. Hope I don't overheat the bulb cos it'll never be off !!

Regards

Could not agree more with everything you say!

A couple of months back I started a new job and immediately brought home a 4:3 Sanyo data projector and was absolutely blown away. I'm still using it now, projecting on to a king size bed sheet in widescreen mode, 9ft wide!!!

The easiest way to describe how "good" it is in "real" terms, as opposed to "technical" terms is by the fact that everyone who comes round is absolutely gob-smacked. Sitting in front of a 9 ft wide screen from about 8 ft away with wicked sound is soooo much better than the cinema.

I too have been umming and arring about which PJ to buy, and discounted 4:3 and low cost LCD. Until now. So there is light spill above and below the screen. You don't really see it.

Cheap fun is really fun!

[The Boogerman]

I managed to borrow a CX2 off a friend a couple of weekends ago. This was my first taste of projected DVD's and I can echo everything you said. Yes it wasn't perfect, but the reward of a huge image really adds so much to films that any shortcomings are not important.

[Orbital]

What a breath of fresh air this post is I think some people can get buried in the technicalities of home cinema and they forget what it is we are all doing it for, ENJOYMENT!

Welcome to the world of projectors and I hope you enjoy it for a long time to come

All the best

Dave

Here here!

Best not to get burried in tech specs. Just enjoy large

[LV426]

Hear Hear (sic) again!!!

There are too many folk here who express opinions and make decisions based on technical theory. CRTs are better than LCDs because (technical reason). DTS is better than DD5.1 because (technical reason). PAL is better than NTSC because (technical reason).

That's not to say that an understanding of the technical factors isn't useful in short-listing what equipment to preview, but the reality is that it is your SUBJECTIVE, non-technical, experience that counts above all else.

And, as you say, watching a data grade LCD projector at 8 foot wide on a stretched white sheet is SUBJECTIVELY going to excite you more than the best state of the art 32" widescreen TV. It will probably cost less, and take up a lot less space when it's not in use.

Enjoy.