LCD/LED projectors?

[Placebo 29]

Thinking of getting one, we have two 360's but only one 42" HDTV so thinking of buying a HD projector so both the wife and I can play on the 360 at the same time, wondered if anyone had bought one and had advice as to what to look out for? Only really looking at something cheap like £300 or so, saw some no brand one on Ebay which had me interested: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HD-1080P-LCD-HOME-CINEMA-PROJECTOR-DVD-SKY-BLU-RAY-PS3_W0QQitemZ170386352130QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudiVideoElectronics_Video_Electronics?hash=item27abd16802

[Fishercat 10]

I've heard bad things about cheap projectors, blurry pictures and such. You could probably get around a 30 inch tv for that money, which may be better spent. If you go projector way post a review if you would be so kind. Good luck with decision making.

[Colossus 2]

Can't say what product that is..

There isn't many good projectors under £400-500 I'm afraid. I know you might be looking for a used one, I'll try to find some first thing tomorrow,

but as far it goes for brand new one's:

Optoma HD700x (720p, DLP), seems to be quite popular on Play.com these days, and for the price of £529.99.

There weren't many reviews about it, but to what I could find it has been given an average score ((AlaTest.co.uk) The consumers seems to like it however.

That's the cheapest OK projector I could find. Other then that you'll have to kick your wallet up a notch.

Optoma HD20 (1080p, DLP) is actually classified as a budget projector, however, this one will cost you £789.99 (Play.com). It is, as of late, recommend here in Norway,

but these were the best english reviews I could find ProjectorReviews.com (Summary) & PriceGrabber.co.uk (Collection of reviews)

Last one I would take a look at is Epson EMP-TW700 (1080p, LCD) for £826.30.

It's not as good on the black colours as the newer DLP systems are, but it seems have a good enough review TechRadar.com

I haven't added the Swedish import VAT in to the equation, so bare in mind it might cost a few more pennies. I recommend trying to find this in a Swedish store.

Edited December 3, 2009 by colossus
Phew..

[GoOB 0]

There are no (added) VAT or toll fees when importing goods from other EU countries - You only pay VAT once, and that is the VAT applied by the other EU member state. You can save alot of pretty pennies by shopping from websites like Technikdirekt.de, warehousexpress.co.uk or indeed Play.com.

Edited December 3, 2009 by GoOB

[Colossus 2]

There are no (added) VAT or toll fees when importing goods from other EU countries - You only pay VAT once, and that is the VAT applied by the other EU member state.

Isn't it grand to be outside EU when importing?

(retorical)

[Whiskey_Tango 10]

to get a nice one your going to be forking over some serious cash, i was upholstering someones private movie theater and there was a guy there installing a projector that was running 1920x1080 and if i remember correctly the customer spent close to $3000 on it

if you were in america you could pick up a 46'' lcd 1080p sony right now from best buy for 989

[Placebo 29]

The key reason for looking at a projector is that that it's not feasible to have two 40"+ TVs in the one room, and we're too spoiled to play on anything smaller ;)

[Baff1 0]

Optima is what I have. 1024 x768. Cheap and cheerful. I'm very pleased with it.

You can get a widescreen version too now all for the budget prices you seek. Around the £300 mark.

I love it for home cinema, it's a bit too low res and low lumens for serious gaming. I had intially thought to get three for surround ArmA, but it's not up to it yet I don't think.

Fuzzy, pixelly....

It works, but I'm used to better from a screen.

I never did buy the other two. I've still got the money saved.

Edited December 3, 2009 by Baff1

[riffleman 20]

I played once in projector,front of friends rocks.

In my training it helps very much.

[Balschoiw 0]

Ir´s not only important what resolution the device has, even more important is the reaction time of the display used in the device. Most of them are not very fast unfortunally so playing on them or watching fast movie scenes get´s washy.

Basically the regular 300-500 Euro beamers are using stripped TFT displays with all of their limitations. This means they are not good at displaying fast paced action. Picture gets washy.

If I were you I´d sit back for a few more years and wait for laser beamers for gaming. They are catching up production-wide and deliver incredible great pictures, no matter what surface you project upon.

Using a regular beamer will force you into either buying silver-tipped cinema paint for your wall or using a retractable screen. On regular walls the result looks shit.

I have a self-built beamer for movies, gaming is not my choice with it.

Last year I got my hands on one of those old beamers for concerts with 3 little TV´s in it and some monsterlenses. That one is really good for gaming and the picture is great as it is an per pixel picture. The only problem is that it weights a ton and needs some serious adjustment for every lens when relocated. Your wife will hate you for the size and love you for the picture :-)

Seriously, give it some time. Else you´ll waste money without proper results.

[kronzky 5]

I've dumped my TV a few years, and only had a projector since then. And while I would never go back to regular TVs, you should still keep a few caveats in mind when considering switching.

a) Unless you are willing (and able) to seriously block out light during the day, a projector picture is gonna look pretty crappy during the day. Most better projectors have a "high intensity" mode for watching during the day, but it still doesn't come close to TV quality (plus, it will burn out your expensive lamp in a hurry).

b) Projectors are somewhat noisy. If your main use will be for gaming or war movies, then that's not a bit deal, but if you do watch quieter movies, and are somewhat noise-sensitive, then that could become annoying.

c) Hooking up the whole thing to your stereo, PC, etc., can be a bit of a hassle, and requires plenty of cables and creative arrangements.

Despite this, with a good setup the quality you get from a projector can equal (or even outdo) that what you get from an average cinema. (i.e. no commercials, no overpriced snacks, no basketball players sitting in front of you, nobody talking, etc.)

Now - as far as models are concerned, I would definitely not go with a cheap no-name brand. There are severe quality differences between the different technologies and implementations, and a movie that looks fantastic on one will look like crap on another. Plus, if you buy it from some random guy on ebay, you will not be able to test it beforehand (to see how good it looks), and probably not have any real warranty. In addition, once your lamp burns out, you might have a real hard time finding a replacement one.

I spent about $1,000 on mine (a BenQ W500), and bought it, after reading very enthusiastic reviews online, at Costco (where I could've returned it without problem).

Even though I live in a large city (Montreal) there was hardly any store that had projectors, and even if they did they weren't able to give a good demonstration of it, in proper viewing conditions. So you have to somewhat rely on word of mouth of other users, and have a good return policy as a backup...

I would suggest you do some serious research first, about what's the best deal right now (AVForums and ProjectorCentral are probably the best places to do it), and then save some money ($1,000 should be enough nowadays) to get a decent quality brand-name one.

You won't regret it... ;)

[Placebo 29]

So to bump an old topic, we did get a projector in the end, we went with a 2nd hand Mitsubishi HC3000U from a Swedish trading site, really happy with it it's an excellent projector, we also bought a 120" electric projector screen, cheap 5.1 sound system and 3 blackout roller blinds / blackout curtain to block all light from the windows, total cost is below:

720p Projector = £278

Projector Screen = £140

5.1 sound system = £17

Blackout blinds/curtains = £117

Total = £552

The screen is really awesome and so cool to make it go up and down!

V7HhV0C87Ns

Just need to buy a ceiling mount as you can see in the video it's just on a temporary shelf right now :)