Sanyo Z4 To Sony Pearl - Much Better ?

madgames · 04-12-2006, 9:47 AM

As title states i have a few month old Sanyo Z4 bought to watch the occasional movie.
We now find we watch this for everything, 360 , DVDs, HD Mediabox the lot 95% of my viewing is on this now.
Im asking the question and calling on you experts to say whether i will benefit much from the upgrade to a Sony peal. Theres nothing wrong with the Sanyo but you knwo what its like you always strive for the next best thing.
I have a VP50 scaler as well so hopeing that can help with the quality too.
Also theres a guy with very good feedback selling pearls for £2799 on Ebay. He is ISF certified too. Do you think this is a good price and would you recommend the upgrade ?
I live in the sticks so viewing one is not easy

Any thoughts, advice very much appreciated

Thank You

Ivojo · 04-12-2006, 10:40 AM

If you're going to be using the Pearl for most of your viewing then keep in mind the lamp prices are a little on the high side.

madgames · 04-12-2006, 10:44 AM

Cheers Ken , yeah it will be used for all of our vieweing , it was choice of this of one of those new PF9 50" panasonic plasmas, i just personally like the Projectors now.
What sort of money is a bulb and how long do you rekon itll last before it needs changing ?

Avi · 04-12-2006, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivojo

If you're going to be using the Pearl for most of your viewing then keep in mind the lamp prices are a little on the high side.

Buy from the US if Euro pricing to too high. Worst case inc VAT, Duty, Insured delivery etc is around £275 or about half the price some advertise it for in the UK

http://www.aboutprojectors.com/Sony-LMP-H200-lamp.html

AVI

madgames · 04-12-2006, 11:06 AM

Yeah good idea, thanks for that
wheres the best price to get a pearl then ?
Anyone sell for less than that guy on Ebay ?

mainaman · 04-12-2006, 11:28 AM

I noticed a store,selling it for less than 1700 pounds and shipping overseas.No idea how much exactly will be added after VAT,tax and shipping,but it may come at less than 2500.I am personally waiting to see the UK pricing of the 1080p Epson.It may be the first full HD projector for under two grand.

madgames · 04-12-2006, 11:31 AM

wow
really ?
Wheres that ?
My dad has a house in USA and goes there all the time so if there was ever a problem with it he could take it back on one of his trips

mainaman · 04-12-2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madgames

wow
really ?
Wheres that ?
My dad has a house in USA and goes there all the time so if there was ever a problem with it he could take it back on one of his trips

Check this http://www.wilddigital.com/product.a...l=PriceGrabber

madgames · 04-12-2006, 11:39 AM

Thanks ill check it out

tfboy · 04-12-2006, 11:51 AM

Regarding importing a pearl, you can save a few quid, but is it really worth it if anything goes wrong ? It may be OK if you have your father who can bring it back to the States, but bearing in mind it's a relatively heavy PJ (for non CRT) and you don't want to keep moving it around the place. The main issue with them is misconvergence. I have my red which is 1 pixel too low. I'm still deciding whether to live with it or try and get it sorted / replaced. Of course, if you have it at a local-ish dealer (I notice you said you live in the sticks!) a two-hour round trip to get it fixed is certainly worth some money in terms of peace of mind IMHO.

As for your original question, I went from a VPL-HS50 (3LCD Sony PJ) to the Pearl. I don't have any HD material yet, although I have downloaded a few WM9HD clips off the net. I run mine via HDMI through a PC so the PC is effectively scaling the picture.

The result is a big step up from the HS50. The total lack of screendoor effect and very good blacks means it was worth it for me. And even with SD material, if you have a good scaler, it looks very good. Of course, it's not as sharp as an HD picture, but very smooth and film-like. If I walk up to the screen, I don't notice any horrible aliasing or pixel structure. It's certainly not "digital looking". When I finally get HD (BD or HD DVD), it will only get better.

Think of it this way, even when watching SD, it's like being at your local cinema with a slightly soft focus. If you like that kind of picture, you're sure to like the pearl

mainaman · 04-12-2006, 12:10 PM

On a side note somebody from London just sold Toshiba HD-XA1 with 10 movies for 375 pounds in the classifieds

.I could buy it,because i was there since the appearance of the trade,but i didnt and now i am hitting the wall with my head

I am stuck with the backlit-less remote of my HD-A1!I also saw some similar deals for a brand new one(without the movies,of course) and getting it from USA is cheaper still.Looks like the the XBOX360 add-on is not so big a bargain now.If somebody put his Pearl for 2000,Christmas is here.

madgames · 04-12-2006, 12:32 PM

Yea thanks for the advice i will probably source one uk as i have read the reviews and as you said i cant be bothered with any hassle , alot of them seem to have misconvergence problems so will buy UK me thinks,
Wheres best place in uk then ?

Avi · 04-12-2006, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madgames

Yea thanks for the advice i will probably source one uk as i have read the reviews and as you said i cant be bothered with any hassle , alot of them seem to have misconvergence problems so will buy UK me thinks,
Wheres best place in uk then ?

I import regularly but I would not import a Pearl. The potential for issue outweighs the fiscal gain IMO. The Euro units also have 3 year warranty. I would import the lamp given the huge price dif.

Several UK places have been mentioned as good for sevice by AVF members - PJhifi.com, Stoneaudio.com, Flatdeal.com to name a few.

AVI