What's a good entry level projector?

chris24680 · 04-01-2009, 3:46 PM

It's my birthday soon and I have £200 - £300 ($400 - $600) to spend on a projector for myself. Its my first ever time buying a projector so I don't know much about them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:I'm in the UK

kbfern · 04-01-2009, 3:56 PM

Are you in the Uk (£) or somewhere else ($),if uk and you have £200-£300 you won't get anything worth having new.

About the cheapest available new in the UK would be an Optoma HD700x at around £400,anything less is not worth getting.

Darkstar_surfer · 04-01-2009, 5:55 PM

As was mentioned earlier there are no new home PJ's worth considering under £400. Although you may pick up a very good second hand one for that price. A bit of help about your room dimensions and watching preference would help, games or films and size. Also if you can push it to £400 then if your room works

But don't be put off the second hand option although do be careful where you buy from, here is normally fine as most sellers care.

scumball · 04-01-2009, 8:47 PM

For that budget I would look for a second hand Panasonic AE500-AE900 (720p HD ready LCD projectors).

Without knowing your room details etc. they can be found for that sort of money with high(ish) hours and can be placed in a lot more varied positions in relation to the screen than DLP PJs. Other old goodies are the Sanyo Z3-Z4 and Hitachi TX100-200.

chris24680 · 04-01-2009, 9:21 PM

I really can't go any higher then £300, but I don't have any problem buying second hand. The room is about 9 foot high, 4x6 meters maybe a bit bigger and I'm using a PS3 hopefully if i can get one with a HDMI port through that. I'll be using the projector for movies and games. My uncle is a IT tech at a university so ill try buying one of him.

kbfern · 04-01-2009, 9:33 PM

Be carefull buying projectors from university or business use as they are not ideal for home cinema use.

They don't usually have hdmi,are generally too bright,and not usually 16:9 output but 4:3.

As sudgested earlier a Sanyo Z3/4 or Panny AE700/900 would be a better bet.

richard napier · 05-01-2009, 12:48 PM

I've brought an Infocus X6 (31) from Misco for 206 pounds - rather basic pj
but the results are great

for the cost of an LCD 20" ! Viewing screen @ 2.5m wide and watching Jurrassic Park

It made my friends jump at some scenes

- something that never happened on normal tv screen size !

dwhite · 05-01-2009, 1:51 PM

Also do you already have some kind of amp for the audio side of things. Just getting a projector will give you a big image but no sound.

richard napier · 05-01-2009, 2:55 PM

Yes -I just plug in from my laptop earphone socket to my hi fi - & place speakers either side of screen - then ready to roll !

chris24680 · 05-01-2009, 5:37 PM

How about this. It seem O.K.

kbfern · 05-01-2009, 6:59 PM

This is a data type projector too bright 4:3 display in my opinion not suitable for home cinema.

As stated before, new your cheapest option is a Optoma HD700x or second hand Sanyo/Panny etc.

Of course you can buy what you like