Sanyo Z3, Hitachi TX100, Pana AE500 for £800? Or near as?

dancingmatt

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Hi again

Has anyone spotted any good deals for buying a Sanyo PLV-Z3, Hitachi TX100 or Panasonic AE500E? I was eyeing up a Z3 for £880 online but it's gone up to £1000-something :mad: ...

Can anyone please please help? I really want to buy my first PJ this week but am really really struggling to choose (well no, there's too much choice! but not for my budget...)

And is the Sanyo PLV-Z2 vastly inferior to the Z3? Or worth picking up if I can find it cheapish?

Hoping for some great replies - I want to order my PJ tomorrow for the weekend! Help! :lease:

Thanks everyone
DM
 
not wanting to sound like an arse but do a forum search. there has been countless threads asking the exact same Q's about the TX100,Z3,AE700 in a test against each other. go find out the strengths weakness's of each product and find somewhere to demo each one. see all of them and decide which has the best PQ.
 
Hi

I'm not asking which is better. I'm not asking for any strengths, weaknesses or even specs. I've been reading posts on here for weeks and from making a list of about 40 PJs' specs I've narrowed it down, and now I'm just trying to make the all important and incredibly difficult decision!

I've posted a separate thread about demoing PJs, honestly I thought working round the corner from Tottenham Court Road in the centre of London would make it easy but nope.. and no one has offered any other places to go.

So I've tried to find somewhere to demo them, haven't been able to. From the tons of research I've done I know I'd be happy with the specs of any of these 3, plus one or two others. But the Z3 I saw online for about £850 and geared myself up to buy as the one has strangely gone up in price and now out of my price range :( so what I'm asking is has anyone seen a good deal on them right now?

DM
 
a z3 for £850 :eek: I highly doubt it. Was it second hand or perhaps that was the price excluding VAT since some sights have a nasty habit of posting the price excluding VAT......
 
one mans pleasure is another mans poison. i have the PJ-TX 100 and could write essays on its features and strengths and about a paragraph on its faults. you may get it home and think i was talking aload of B$. same goes with owners of each other model.
 
£800 for a Z3 is stretching it, as is probably the TX100.

The Z2 / AE500 are probably fine machines but being a generation back I think you'd be better shelling out a bit extra for the latest gen units.

It's amazing that even you can't get a decent demo set up, judging by your location. Just shows how woefully overlooked by the mainstream HiFi/AV shops this technology is.

As you are only mentioning LCD I'm presuming you have ruled out DLP? And you want WXGA rather than WVGA?

The cheapest you'll get a new hi def LCD is probably the TX, I think I saw someone list that it was available for around £900 from certain places. Beware though it's only a 1 yr warranty, I think the Sanyo is longer?

Either machine will do you proud...PJ :thumbsup:
 
Morning all

PJTX100 said:
£800 for a Z3 is stretching it, as is probably the TX100.

The Z2 / AE500 are probably fine machines but being a generation back I think you'd be better shelling out a bit extra for the latest gen units.
Yeah, but unfortunately I've already upped my budget! I was originally hoping to spend about £500-600 and if I go over £800 I'm really going to upset someone... :oops:

PJTX100 said:
As you are only mentioning LCD I'm presuming you have ruled out DLP? And you want WXGA rather than WVGA?
Yeah, I have ruled out DLP and I want at least XGA, because it's going to be connected solely to a PC for playing PAL DVDs and about 40-50% of the time PC games. I run these in 1024x768 at present. WXGA would be nice, obviously! What I don't want is to go smaller than XGA. And yeah, I know it's 4:3, but that still gives me enough resolution for 1024x576 DVDs.

Now come on everyone! :thumbsup: I want to buy a PJ today or tomorrow so I've got it for an FA Cup Final and gaming afternoon this Saturday! I've spent weeks researching it, now I'm just trying to find the best I can afford! So where is it! SPEND MY MONEY!!! :rotfl:
 
DM

The reality is the specs of the 3 main machines you are considering (Z3, AE700, TX100) are actually incredibly similar. Its also clear that there are plenty of owners for each projector on the forum, which logically is a clear indication that one projector does not stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Therefore, from your previous posts, your KEY driver is cost. My advice therefore, is to buy whichever of the 3 projectors you can find at the best price. You really will not be disappointed with your purchase.

I should add I have owned 2 of the 3 you are considering, and previously the Z2. I personally believe there is a reasonable enough gap in picture quality for you to buy only a new generation machine.
 
UrbanT said:
Therefore, from your previous posts, your KEY driver is cost. My advice therefore, is to buy whichever of the 3 projectors you can find at the best price. You really will not be disappointed with your purchase.

I should add I have owned 2 of the 3 you are considering, and previously the Z2. I personally believe there is a reasonable enough gap in picture quality for you to buy only a new generation machine.
Thanks UrbanT. Could you please quantify or explain further your opinion of the gap in picture quality?

Because the more shopping around I do (and I'm looking everywhere I can) the more I am thinking I'll actually end up buying a Z2 new instead of a Z3 or the others.

Not that I want to get a previous-generation PJ, but surely the Z2 for about £820 would be better than something for £600-700 like an NEC VT570? I haven't read a bad review of the Z2 anywhere.

But what's the big improvement in a Z3? :lease:

Ta
Nearly-owning-a-PJ DM
 
Hi DM

Having compared them back to back, and in the comfort of my home, switching between them showed 3 main differences:

1) Colours are more rich and saturated on the newer machines
2) Black levels on the new machines make the old machines look very grey in comparison
3) Subtle difference, is that artefacts like screendoor is better on the newer machines

My other main concern, is that you are buying old technology, and naturally its 2nd hand value is diminished the minute you buy a new one, and will be diminished again when the new generation arrives, perhaps later this year?

The reviews you read will also be good, but remember most of the professional reviews are written when the equipment is released to the market, not 2 years later.

Please don't misunderstand what I have written, the Z2 is a nice projector, but you may own it for a few months, the 'wow' factor wears off, and then you may wish you had just spent slightly more, especially if you compare it to a new model.
 

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