Sanyo Z1 upgrade, again..

andyjayh

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Ok so I asked this question almost exactly a year ago and the Optima HD20 was coming very highly recommended. However other things like replacing my surround processor and amps got in the way and took all my funds :facepalm:

So now I have some time off work and therefore me and the misses are watching more films I am once again thinking that I need to replace the old Z1.

I am assuming that with all technology a year is a long time and there should be other contenders to consider for the Z1 replacement instead of the HD20? I would like to keep the budget down to sub £1000 but if a few hundred pounds more steps up significantly then I will consider spending more.

3D seems to be maturing but not sure if it's worth the expense especially as I don't have any source material for it yet? My assumption here is that I am paying for a feature that I might not use very much and this will result in a poorer performance of 2D at the price point?

After a quick browse around the tinernet I came up with the following short list;

Optima HD20, £700
Epson EH-TW3600 LCD, £1300 - Very close to the W1200
BenQ W1200 DLP, £1200 - WhatHiFi best buy
Optoma HD33 3D, £1350
Optoma HD300X UK version of HD33 (?), £930
Sanyo PLV-Z700, £1100, Believe this is quite old now?
Epson EH-TW3200, £900 - Close to the TW3600 and probably better value

My viewing config is setup this way, my screen is a 16:9 approx 2m across (2.33m diagonal), the projector is 3m back from this point fixed to the ceiling and my seating position is another 1.5m back again (4.5m back from the screen)

Any advice on whether the HD20 is still the budget projector of choice or are there others that are once again a step up in performance?

Many thanks
 
If you are discounting 3D I would say your best options are:

Epson TW3200 @ £900 if you need LCD and lens shift
Mitsubishi HC4000 £999 better black level performance but 18" offset to contend with
Optoma HD200x £599 or HD20 £700 approx the best VFM options, 300x if you want to cover possibility of 3D later.

I would forget the TW3600 as the 3200 is as good but cheaper and the Z700/800 from Sanyo is not as good as the 3200.

I have never seen a benq in action so can't comment on that choice.
 
A significant step up in quality for a 2D machine would be an Optoma HD82 if still available at £1299 from Superfi.It was a £3k machine but they have been selling quite a few of at this price for a few months as they are going discontinued.

Superfi - THEMESCENE HD82 HOME CINEMA PROJECTOR
 
Thanks for the advice once again in this area :)

Seems that the Epson TW3200 is worth looking closely at, good reviews and recommendations that make it more interesting than its more expensive brother.

Wouldn't say that I'm actually discounting 3D, just thinking that this technology will continue to improve and it's still quite early on. At the price point I'm looking at I might be sacrificing 2D performance for a feature that will get very little use? Happy to be advised that this isn't the case and these PJ's are worth considering.

On that note, can someone confirm that the HD33 and HD300 are actually the same? Sure I have read this somewhere and as the 300 is a few hundred pounds less it makes it interesting.

Good tip on the HD82, unfortunately Super-fi are out of stock now :( I was very tempted on this one until I notice they were out, oh well....
 

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