Z1 or AE200 - your help required...

[Dimmy]

I can finally buy a descent sized display.

Before I continue with this thread, I have a confession to make. I'm using a working PAL Progressive (and truly excellent) Denon DVD2800mkII DVD player, as of next saturday, a Pioneer VSX-D2011, and Mission 775e/77C1/771e speakers...

And a 20" CRT 4:3 television .

Infact I've been using this television for a year now, shame on me.

The time's finally about to arrive, next week, I can order my very first projector .

I've narrowed the choice down to the two mentioned in the thread title, but I just can't get them side-by-side for comparison, it may aswell be impossible.

So, a few questions.

Which delivers the highest quality image?

Which is the most reliable (yes, I've read Matt's thread, which is slightly worrying, but I've read countless others about Panny projectors going BOOM)?

Which would you buy?

I plan to use this, basically, as a TV. I'll be using the projector with Sky on fairly frequent occasions (Oh I can't wait for the olympics ), the Denon DVD player, Playstation, VHS, and - perhaps, PC and X-Box gaming.

I've found the AE200 on PriceRunner for a little under £700. Nexnix are selling the Z1 for £693 with a 'free' Sanyo DVD/VCR combo, which I've already got plans to sell for more than £100 as soon as it arrives, thus bringing the cost of the Z1 to under £600.

The flexibility of the Sanyo's Lens-Shift is rather appealing (and it looks much nicer than the panny). But the RGB Scart of the AE200 is very tempting indeed.

All Opinions greatly appreciated .

TIA

Dimmy

 

[faiz]

Bought a Z1 last week. Great picture, looks and flexibility ( the lens shift is very handy ). Only running it with s-video at the mo - i imagine the picture will improve greatly with component.

 

[Dimmy]

I saw the Z1 at smurfin's, where it was rather impressive.

There seemed to be an abundance of vertical banding though (which didn't really bother me). However the room wasn't really darkened, and his old Skyworth DVD player was letting things down a bit.

Here's to hoping he's got it fixed for next saturday .

 

[beecee]

it was the same choices for me! and guess what i opted for? (my sig gives it away. as all i was using it for was for movies.so the scart socket was not really needed for me it might be different for you. as i would only be using the component input.

but i would say the higher resolution of the z1 would give you a better picture inch for inch against the panny. and the lense shift is helpfull if you cant position you pj in the centre of the screen.

get the Z1.
imo...of course

 

[beecee]

Originally posted by faiz
Bought a Z1 last week. Great picture, looks and flexibility ( the lens shift is very handy ). Only running it with s-video at the mo - i imagine the picture will improve greatly with component.

it does. i was using s-video untill saturday. much better!!! and i am only 480i. not a progressive scan dvd player.

 

[Pete Delaney]

Having demo'd zero projectors I can definately say the Z1 gives the finest picture quality I have seen!

 

[faiz]

beecee, what component cable are you using ( i was thinking of getting a Profigold cable from tvcables.co.uk )? Is the difference in picture quality really that apparent?

 

[beecee]

Originally posted by faiz
beecee, what component cable are you using ( i was thinking of getting a Profigold cable from tvcables.co.uk )? Is the difference in picture quality really that apparent?

Prifigold (5m) and i noticed straight away a rise in pic quality over my 3m ixos s-video lead.

 

[greenmachine]

Lens shift is useless if you get a htpc with 1:1 pixel map.
Its best to get the projector as straight-on as possible.
I have a Ae200 and have seen a z2 but it wasnt setup properly so it wasnt a fare comparison, but im happy with the good geometry of the panny(478 hrs so far).

 

[Rusty]

Originally posted by greenmachine
Lens shift is useless if you get a htpc with 1:1 pixel map.
Its best to get the projector as straight-on as possible.

Do you mean keystone corrections or lens shift? I thought that lens shift (physical) didn't degrade the picture. Maybe I'm wrong though...

 

[beecee]

Originally posted by Rusty
Do you mean keystone corrections or lens shift? I thought that lens shift (physical) didn't degrade the picture. Maybe I'm wrong though...

only at the extremes does the pic quality suffer. i use about 5" horizontal shift and allmost half vertical with no pic quality loss. well not that i can see. And thats LENS shift not keystone adjustments.

Lens shift is a great feature. makes positioning the PJ much easier. (and can make up for slight miss-positioning of the PJ)

 

[greenmachine]

Even a phisical shift in the lens will affect the focus which degrads picture quality and gives you eyestrain.

 

[beecee]

Originally posted by greenmachine
Even a phisical shift in the lens will affect the focus which degrads picture quality and gives you eyestrain.

how? you can refocus the image!. as the same could be said for every PJ if you dont focus the image correctly.

i use lens shift and notice no loss in picture qulity at all.

 

[avanzato]

Yep I use my Z1 with full lens shift 'down' and have no image problems. In fact I found it a great aid in aligning the PJ to the screen and wouldn't like to setup a PJ that didn't have lens shift abilities.

 

[Pete Delaney]

I concur,

Lens shift has not affected my pic quality and makes pj set-up a breeze for those without a dedicated ceiling mount

 

[calscot]

All non lens shift projectors are like Z1's fully vertically shifted. Ergo if lens shift degrades the picture, the more you lens shift towards the mid point the less degraded the picture will be. Therefore all lens Z1's must have an equal or better picture to any non lens shift pj.

Total tosh of course - the lens shift does not shift enough to significantly degrade the picture, the maximum it goes vertically is to the same position as any non lens shift pj. If there is distortion then all other pj's suffer from it more than a shifted Z1.

Basically Greenmachine needs to read up on his optics.

 

[DJW]

Have you considered a s/h AE100, as they are going very cheap these days ?

I've seen threads stating there isn't much difference in PQ with an AE200, so if you can cope with no Scart it could be a cheap option.

I've got one & without comparing to others I have to say I'm very pleased with the PQ for the money

 

[Truecelt]

After much thought (and messing about on ebay) I bought a Panny ptae200 online from Techtronics in London for £695. It was sent with a "mystery free gift" which actually turned out to be a £40 Panasonic shaver. Not much use with a projector, but a nice gift all the same. It took just 5 days to arrive here in N Ireland. Although I have never been able to compare the panny with the Z1, I did check it out in town against a few higher priced units and the panasonic blew them all away. The picture on this supposed budget projector is absolutely fantastic. Colour and detail from DVD is superb, the screen door effect is barely noticable unless you are very close to the screen, and I cannot see any vertical lines. Any reports I have read have commented on the cinematic quality of the picture, with minimal jaggys and thankfully I can only agree. I am currently viewing a 150" image and the only thing you focus on is the film you are watching. I have the DVD connected via scart. Until I get the panny ceiling mounted and in place permanently I view sky via my sony vcr, as the digibox is in a different room and piped round the house via a digital amp and controlled by numerous skyballs. I thought I would be wasting my time doing this and the picture would be crap, but if anything the sky connected through the vcr and then by scart to the pj give a more blurred but smoother picture. Cant recomend it high enough. good luck with your choice.

 

[greenmachine]

I digress. calscot has a point about using the lens shift to help if you cant get the projector straight on( Its way better than digital keystone.). But in my opinion prevention is better than cure .The more the projector is of center on the x and y axis the larger the distance the image has to go to each extreme sides of the picture. Now this may not be enought to see in most circumstances but i have seen unfavorable results.

 

[Smurfin]

Originally posted by Dimmy
There seemed to be an abundance of vertical banding though (which didn't really bother me). However the room wasn't really darkened, and his old Skyworth DVD player was letting things down a bit.

You can't really draw a reference from that viewing as there was daylight leaking through the screen itself.