Sanyo PLVz2 Vs Screenplay 5700

dr no

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Any help from anyone would be appreciated.

I am planning to buy aprojector but unsure whether to go for an entry level LCD plvz2 or a mid range DLP screenplay 5700.

If anyone has experienced these is there any noticeable differences to these to warrant doubling of the cost??

In terms of future proofing is it worth to buy cheaper and wait till DLPs are better established in terms of costs and technology?

Or is right time to dive in now with the screenplay 5700?

Anyone with any ideas?:confused:
 
I can't give you any real experiences between LCD vs DLP, but I can give you a start in general, and others will surely jump on fairly quickly.

DLP's are a newer technology and hence they haven't matured yet, that means price will continue to go down and technology will become better.

While LCD is on their mature stage now, however, they will also become better, as manufacturers see the scope of increasing markets for home theater and the relative cheap production costs for LCD pj's.

In terms of future proofing on either technology, well no one offers future proof pj's, as the current panels are 720p and obviously everyone is hoping to have 1080p panels, but it is only a guess when that is gonna arrive.

Here is a good thread on 720p vs 1080p - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=380241&highlight=JVC

JVC's D-ILA/ LCOS pj is the only one offering a whoopings Native QXGA (2048x1536) --3.2 million pixels at 4:3 mode or (1920x1080) 2.1 mega-pixels in 16:9 mode and Sony's Qualia also (1920x1080) 2.1 mega-pixels in 16:9 mode , from what I'm aware off.

There are guesses that in the LCD camp, it might come already on the next pj's, since only the previous generation was 540p's and it jumped now to 720p. But again, its just a guess and i reckon the producers want to cash in on 720p before introducing next step.

Many people on the avsforum (US) really agrees that you get what you pay for, and I guess they mean that the differences are really huge as you move up on the price ladder.

Z2 as you will have found out by searching here, has loads of great owner reviews, and the price is just amazing.

The 5700 is quite new and can be had for 3000pounds from e.g.
http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=2452&aid=50002
http://www.projectors.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=11
Got many wows from AVS.

Although has 2 competitors that might be even better choice.

AVS members seems to say that Benq PE8700 is the best DLP by far at the price it is now on sale for and they are many owners!, after having dropped around 50%, and you can have it for around 2850 from http://www.ivojo.co.uk/benq.htm or http://www.shootandshow.com (Nexnix), both superb suppliers.

Benq also named best DLP by highly respectable website/magazine Hometheaterhifi (of course, you should value opinions from forums more though ;p) - http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_4/secrets-best-of-2003-awards-12-2003.html - and
the review - http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_3/benq-8700-projector-8-2003.html

And the NEC HT1100 at 3300pounds from Nexnix, which also has many wows from AVS, although not as many, but that could be I think due to NEC being newer, and hence not as many has got it yet.

I hope you get many more qualified members here to argue for either pj, but its a difficult job you got choosing one.

Wasabi
 
In my opinion there is night and day difference between your options.

LCD is a friendly option, anyone can watch it without any issues, but blacks are limited and there are all sorts of issues with the lower end of the market like vertical banding.

I had a better LCD than the Z2 and when it was good it was really enjoyable, but there were just too many scenes that left me worrying about picture quality.

I then moved to the NEC HT1000 DLP and have seen the light! A half decent DLP kills LCD. The blacks are much better and the whole experience is much more film like. I watch and enjoy movies now and don't worry about picture quality.

The problem with DLP is that some people will suffer from a rainbow affect that is at best annoying and to a few it makes them feel ill. The newer DLPs have faster colour wheels that minimise the effect.

You (and probably our significant other) really should demo one before deciding. Of course that really goes for any PJ purchase.

The 5700 is a decent choice, it is very bright, which will initially wow you if you see it against others. But some people have found it a bit much in longer viewing. The Benq is also great as is the NEC that Wasabi mentions, and some of the SIM Domino DLPs might fall in your range.

At around £2k you can get the Optima H56, or a second hand HT1000 (I think there might be one in the classifieds now) . Both would be excellent value for money.

Really if you have the money and rainbows don't affect you then it isn't even a close race.

If you do want LCD then I suggest aiming a little higher. The Sony HS20 is getting good reviews.

Cheers
Marc
 
And in terms of future proofing, you could wait forever, there is always the next big thing around the corner!

Get in there and enjoy it now!
 
Isn't the Toshiba MT8 the same as the screenplay 5700 but possible a tad cheaper?
 
And my usual flag waving... If looking at mid range DLP's also check out the Sharp Z200 or Z201 (shorter throw).
 
Toshiba MT8 is a clone of of superb 7200 (720P res), and I've found its significant cheaper vs 7200 @ 5k (projectors.co.uk), only 3.46k (chaseavdirect.co.uk) <500 more than 5700. However, there are some quality issues regarding Infocus 7200, which I don't know applies to MT8, but many US owners has had bulb problems, and one dealer sold 27 7200 last year, and 9 had problems and 7 were bulb related. Thread here, it actually is a 7205 thread - 7205,

UPDATE 1 - 7200/MT8 is being replaced by 7205/MT800 with Faroudja chip enhancements and the new HD2+ chip, in April sometime, but with a much higher MRRP of $9k price, compared with 7200 of $6k - 72051, hence the low price of the Tosh clone, or is it just that Tosh can't break through UK market.

Benq PE 8700 has many US owners already and vast majority are very happy indeed, despite a few issues but which has been solved by firmware upgrades, superb CS, or calibration.

UPDATE 2 - Benq is releasing revised 8700 with the new Mustang HD2+ chip in April, and one US dealer is selling the new one for the same price as the old one. Could this happen at ivojo and nexnix? If yes, I think that this would definitely be the one to get!

As I said, NEC HT1100 is quite new, did a search on avsforum, but didn't find much yet, although found this one - HT1100 - and it seems that they are raving about it, and I'm sure buns and clinc will want to comment to ;p

JohnWH, according to this small thread - Sharp - Z200 is not as good as HT1100, and its only marginally cheaper than 8700.

Here is 1 shootout which includes 7200, 8700 and 5700 - shootout1 - most people favoured 7200 slightly, with its brigntness, colors and enough blacks, 8700 had better blacks and more CRT and 3-D like in controlled darker environment, but in an other shootout they preferred the Benq. 5700 had some Screen Door Effect, otherwise a very good pj.

I"m not sure whether I've made it more difficult for you to choose.
But do bear in mind, that there is no price difference now between 8700 and 5700, and even MT8 is not far away, while I actually don't know which segment HT1100 is suppose to compete against.

But if the revised Benq 8700 holds its price here in UK, I would definitely go for that one.

But if don't include it, and just compare with the existing ones, despite all the info I and others provide, at this kind of money, a demo between MT8/8700/HT1100, is really the best way to choose one, like what Marc said.

Wasabi
 
Just to let you know,

progressive-av.com is selling the MT8 HD2 chip clone of 7200 for only 3.1k, which is only 100quid more than Matterhorn Infocus 5700.

But I would still go recommend the revised BenQ8700 as US members say it is advantagous not to have the 7segment wheel and the HD2+ will make it even brighter, which should put it on the same brightess quality as revised 7205, but to a much less price.

Wasabi
 
Looking at the the review pointed to by that avs thread.. The Z200 definitely needs tweaking from the service menue's to get accurate colour reproduction, although I've only noticed a green push when using the DVI input...

When I got the Z200 the closest price I could get for the BenQ was nearly £1000 higher which exceeded the limit I'd decided to stick to. Obviously the 8700's are available for less now as they've being superceeded...

John.
 

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