Question Do deals on projectors and screens come up frequently from RS?

[dashfield]

I'm planning my new home cinema and planning on getting a BenQ W2700 projector with 120' Optoma DS-9120MGA pull down screen and Sanus ceiling mount.

Richer Sounds are running are running a few offers on these at the moment:
- £100 RS voucher when buying the projector
- 10% off projector screens when bought with projector
- 20% off ceiling mounts when bought with projector.

I've spoken to the store and they're happy to combine these offers, so instead of the projector, screen and mount costing £1738, it comes to £1595. Not a huge saving, but I'm not going to knock £143.

But here's my question, do deals like this come up all the time? This is the first time I've seriously looked into buying a projector so I have no experience if these deals are normal or if I should make the most of them while they're around? Might there be better deals around black friday for example?

I realise no-one has a crystal ball, especially at the moment, but I was just wondering what your views are if you've been in the projector market for a while? To be honest I was planning on buying the kit towards the end of the year, maybe beginning of next year and my room won't be ready for a few months. So ideally I'd rather wait, but equally I don't want to miss a good deal.

 

[kenshingintoki]

You can negotiate a deal with them normally but I'd say generally say for projection buying advice:

1. Projectors hold their value extremely well until a newer model is announced. Therefore buying a high end projector at the start of its lifespan or at the end is a good choice, but the middle part doesn't have price drops we see in most display technologies (e.g. the TV price cycle doesn't apply to projection, a 2 year old JVC projector will still be worth near RRP aslong as a sucessor hasn't been announced, similarly applications to Epson).

2. Screens never lose their value as new. Your best bet if you want value, is a second hand screen. Sadly, this is a waiting game as good deals take a while come up. Especially if you're after a scope, acoustically transparent or ALR screen as these are niche, custom made at times and extremely expensive. Its also normally customised to the screen size you need. So when they do become available for a half decent price, they're snapped up with 2-3 potential buyers.

Basically, projectors do go on sale but you have to time it very well.
Expect to nearly always lose money on your screen if you're buying it new.

I think buying projectors first hand is much better due to the inclusion of warranty if you're spending big money. I think buying screen's second hand is a great decision but waiting for a good deal is hard.

 

[dashfield]

Thanks for your thoughts. The deal at the moment is that you get a £100 RS voucher when you buy the projector and i would use this on the screen. So the 106' Sapphire pull down screen is normally £249, but with 10% off it's £225 and then with the £100 voucher it's £125.

This seems like a good price for a decent new screen, but then I'm paying full price for the projector, so I guess the total would work out the same if in the future the projector had a discount and the screen didn't.

Any ideas how far the BenQ W2700 is in its lifecycle? Or should I be considering a different model in that price bracket (£1400)? I can't really afford to spend any more so would need to be similar price.

 

[NapoleonGuitarSolo]

Did you get the DS 9120MGA screen? I'm interested in this screen, but can't see if it supports ceiling hang, in addition to ceiling mount?

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[dashfield]

No sorry, I bought a 106” Sapphire screen in the end, which incidentally does have ceiling mount and that’s how I’ve used it. I don’t really have any comparison but I’m really happy with the screen.