Hello Monkeychops
Apologies if the thread has veered a little off topic - this does tend to happen I'm afraid!!
I'm a great believer in buying somewhere in the middle of dirt cheap and high-end which is I suppose where the Panny sits. I think when putting things together on a budget it's worth trying to get a good idea of where it is best to spend your money. In my case, I've gone with a 720p with the intention of upgrading to 1080p in a couple of years. However, now that I own it, and having seen HD material running on it, I feel that it's unlikely that I'll replace it until it starts falling apart on me. The old adage of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' is a good rule of thumb. In my case, this whole project started out as something for way into the future. At the point at which I was going to go ahead, 1080p resolution would be standard, a winner would have emerged in the format war, and the new sound formats would be well embedded with loads of compatible amps available, plus HDMI would have settled on a specification and all HDMI equipment would function perfectly together.
Obviously things have happened quicker than expected for me as I just couldn't wait for 2 or 3 years. As it happens, I've managed to make the new setup work with my 3.5 year old surround system - so no speaker / amp costs there. In fact, as I've said before in this thread, to upgrade this side of things, I could be looking at say £500 for something that the 'experts' would describe as half decent, but why bother when my current set up already seems fine? Plus, if I go the HD-DVD route, and continue to output to my current system through optical, then the HD-DVD player will convert it automatically to maximum bitrate DTS - so it will be like a free upgrade!!
Back to what I said above "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", and working to a budget. What we are all basically after is a 'seamless' experience - with nothing to distract us from the pleasure of viewing. As far as sound goes, well, we've been listening to excellent sound for years now, it's not rocket science. The move from mono or stereo sound to proper Dolby or DTS Digital surround is huge, and I think that any subsequent upgrade is going to be marginal. As an example, I have 6.1 surround sound, but whether this is really any better than 5.1 I'm never sure. I'd say if you have even a moderate 5.1 set up then this will be fine for you. In all honesty, it is the picture performance that has been the most elusive over the years. CRT's obviously don't go above 36", and I personally don't believe that either plasma or LCD offer a 'seamless' experience - with either technology there are too many distracting picture issues for it to be truly satisfying. Hence, this is why the pj has been such a revelation, giving a picture of such size and beauty. And it is at these really large sizes that I think again that the limitations of DVD start to prevent the experience once again from being seamless - and why I am seriously stepping up to HD-DVD shortly.
Basically, I'd advise anybody starting from scratch on a budget to research all they can to find the projector that fits their needs best. There really is no substitute for arming yourself with lots of knowledge, of the products, the connections you'll require, the limitations of your environment etc etc. Never rely on a salesman to answer your questions for you, by the time you come to buy you should know more about this stuff than he does. If surround sound is required, there is no harm in picking up an all in one DVD surround system for a couple of hundred quid and then you have the DVD and the surround sound covered (just make sure it has an optical or coaxial input so that if you were to upgrade to HD-DVD in the future, you could still use the surround system with it, and also that it has an appropriate output to connect it to the pj). Also, a screen may give better performance, but like I say, I and many others are projecting onto a wall or a home made screen and we're not lying when we say that if done properly, the results are excellent!! I watch without ever thinking that the picture is even slightly compromised - if it is, I'm best off not knowing about it and saving myself the cost of a proper screen!!
Whilst it's easy to keep upping the budget and convincing yourself that you need better and better equipment, perhaps being told that "if you buy this or that projector, you'll definitely want to upgrade your sound system too", the truth is I reckon that it's possible to put together a very fine system for not much over a grand. Grab yourself a pj and a home cinema system and you're more or less sorted!!
Apologies if the thread has veered a little off topic - this does tend to happen I'm afraid!!
I'm a great believer in buying somewhere in the middle of dirt cheap and high-end which is I suppose where the Panny sits. I think when putting things together on a budget it's worth trying to get a good idea of where it is best to spend your money. In my case, I've gone with a 720p with the intention of upgrading to 1080p in a couple of years. However, now that I own it, and having seen HD material running on it, I feel that it's unlikely that I'll replace it until it starts falling apart on me. The old adage of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' is a good rule of thumb. In my case, this whole project started out as something for way into the future. At the point at which I was going to go ahead, 1080p resolution would be standard, a winner would have emerged in the format war, and the new sound formats would be well embedded with loads of compatible amps available, plus HDMI would have settled on a specification and all HDMI equipment would function perfectly together.
Obviously things have happened quicker than expected for me as I just couldn't wait for 2 or 3 years. As it happens, I've managed to make the new setup work with my 3.5 year old surround system - so no speaker / amp costs there. In fact, as I've said before in this thread, to upgrade this side of things, I could be looking at say £500 for something that the 'experts' would describe as half decent, but why bother when my current set up already seems fine? Plus, if I go the HD-DVD route, and continue to output to my current system through optical, then the HD-DVD player will convert it automatically to maximum bitrate DTS - so it will be like a free upgrade!!
Back to what I said above "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", and working to a budget. What we are all basically after is a 'seamless' experience - with nothing to distract us from the pleasure of viewing. As far as sound goes, well, we've been listening to excellent sound for years now, it's not rocket science. The move from mono or stereo sound to proper Dolby or DTS Digital surround is huge, and I think that any subsequent upgrade is going to be marginal. As an example, I have 6.1 surround sound, but whether this is really any better than 5.1 I'm never sure. I'd say if you have even a moderate 5.1 set up then this will be fine for you. In all honesty, it is the picture performance that has been the most elusive over the years. CRT's obviously don't go above 36", and I personally don't believe that either plasma or LCD offer a 'seamless' experience - with either technology there are too many distracting picture issues for it to be truly satisfying. Hence, this is why the pj has been such a revelation, giving a picture of such size and beauty. And it is at these really large sizes that I think again that the limitations of DVD start to prevent the experience once again from being seamless - and why I am seriously stepping up to HD-DVD shortly.
Basically, I'd advise anybody starting from scratch on a budget to research all they can to find the projector that fits their needs best. There really is no substitute for arming yourself with lots of knowledge, of the products, the connections you'll require, the limitations of your environment etc etc. Never rely on a salesman to answer your questions for you, by the time you come to buy you should know more about this stuff than he does. If surround sound is required, there is no harm in picking up an all in one DVD surround system for a couple of hundred quid and then you have the DVD and the surround sound covered (just make sure it has an optical or coaxial input so that if you were to upgrade to HD-DVD in the future, you could still use the surround system with it, and also that it has an appropriate output to connect it to the pj). Also, a screen may give better performance, but like I say, I and many others are projecting onto a wall or a home made screen and we're not lying when we say that if done properly, the results are excellent!! I watch without ever thinking that the picture is even slightly compromised - if it is, I'm best off not knowing about it and saving myself the cost of a proper screen!!
Whilst it's easy to keep upping the budget and convincing yourself that you need better and better equipment, perhaps being told that "if you buy this or that projector, you'll definitely want to upgrade your sound system too", the truth is I reckon that it's possible to put together a very fine system for not much over a grand. Grab yourself a pj and a home cinema system and you're more or less sorted!!