What to buy?

[woogaz]

Hi guys.
recently bought a house and in the process of renovating it, hopefully will be done by the end of next month. was thinking instead of big ass tv getting a projector, i have the room and clear wall space to shoot on to, just dont know where to start.
i'm budgeting £1k for it. any ideas where to start? im rarely home in the day hours and would only be used for an hour or 2 tops in the evenings maybe a movie every now and again. so any advice would be welcome.

thanks

[Sunshinewelly]

most people with projectors also have a large screen TV as well.

you could feasibly get a cheap plasma 42 inch Tv for £450 and spend £500 on a good 720p projector with another £100 for a screen

[kbfern]

Is that £1k for projector alone or to include screen etc.

£1k to spend on a pj gives you quite a bit of scope as there are quite a few in and below your budget as long as you only want a 720p projector.

There are a few 1080p machines starting to appear below £1k (Infocus X10 around £900)

However you may only need a 720p pj depending on what size screen you want,how close you intend to sit from the screen and what are you going to watch on your pj.

Is it hd material, skyhd= 720p, bluray & hddvd=up to 1080p,games = mainly 720p.

720p pj's below your budget are.

Planar PD7010 around £499 was over £1k a year ago.
Infocus IN78 around £700
Optoma HD75 around £700
Optoma HD65 around £450
The above are all DLP projectors and you have to find out if rainbow effect is a problem for you before you buy,so get a demo.

Sanyo Z5 around £650,new model out soon
Panasonic AX200 around £700 but a new AX300 out soon probably £900ish.

There is a lot more info you need to bone up on to make a good informed choice,but then thats half the fun of buying init

[woogaz]

thanks for the replys, bit of a novice with this sort of stuff but what is rainbow eye?
my mate has one set up in his house and ive had no problems off that, his is a 720p
i got skyHD at the moment and will be looking to get that transfered when i move in, im not a huge gamer fan to be honest will be mainly films and tv.

as for distance, its around the 20ft mark wall to wall which would be possible and i have a huge space on the wall, i was looking to paint it white anyway.

which ones out of the model below do you recommend is the best?

[kbfern]

If your mate has a 720p pj are you saying its a dlp or lcd.

DLP pj's have a colour wheel with red green blue segments that rotate at speed.The more segments and the faster the speed the better in reducing/eliminating what is known as the "Rainbow effect".

You may occasionally see brief flashes of red/green/blue on the screen,some people do and many others don't.The only way of knowing is a demo,if your friends pj is a dlp and you didn't see rainbows dont worry.

If rainbow is an issue for you buy an lcd projector as they don't have the rainbow problem.

Both technologies have their plus and minus points,dlp's minuses are possible rainbows/slightly less easy to position pj as it does not have lens shift and smaller zoom ratio.

LCD minus points, "screendoor effect(do a search) lower brightness and less choice in pj's around your price.

See how much of a can of worms you are opening here

[Anim]

DLP will give a more 3d feel to the picture under the 1K mark compared to any LCD at this price.

I have a DLP projector and I do see rainbows (my girlfriend does too) when we look for them but for some reason I only see them when trying to induce them. If I am watching a film I hardly ever see them rarely one a movie, on areas where black and white are dominant on the screen.

LCD projectors have superior placement features like "Lens Shift" and greater zoom range. If placement is an issue then LCD can be a good choice.

Anyway,

Heres one method that may help....

Go here
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/reviews/
Select DLP Projectors from the drop down list and sort results by Review Date

Look at the rating and the year, 2007 models which originally cost £2K can be had for <£750 this year.

Do the same for LCD Projectors and DILA Projectors if you like.

Then look on the Classifieds here at AVForums, Sponsor Links, Ebay and Google

Cheers
Anim