Projectors - where do I begin?

davidro

Lunatic Member
We don't watch TV. We watch movies. No silly 3Ds. We don't like having a TV in the lounge (aka listening room). So I carry around the TV whenever we want some movies. We don't do 5.1 or 7.1 - we just use our stereo. I thought pulling down the screen whenever we want movies would be convenient. A projector would enable a larger screen too. But I know zilch about projectors.

Main source would be laptop using perhaps HDMI. Do projectors come out with line/stereo-out?

Where do I begin?
 
I don't know of any projectors that process audio. They are usually used in a full HT environment, where the input is fed to an A/V receiver and the HDMI out from the receiver is fed to the projector.

Before he went multichannel, my son drove his basement home theater from his laptop. He sent the video to the projector and the audio from the audio out of his laptop to his stereo.

How light tight is your lounge? Front projected images wash out in rooms that can't be made pretty dark. You can get brighter projectors, but they cost more.

I'm running a Mitsubishi 1080p in a dedicated home theater. It runs about $1300. You can get a really nice projector from $1100-$1500. We sometimes watch movies upstairs in the living room on a 32" screen and 2 channel sound. It's OK for dialog driven movies, but once you've seen a properly configured front projection on a 10' screen with 7.1 sound, you're spoiled for life.
 
I also use a Mitsubishi projector (HC5) and have a 106" motorized screen for watching movies in my dining room/av room. I use my main system for audio and video from a few sources - satellite tv, oppo bdp-95 (netflix, youtube, dvd, blu-ray) and laser disc. For regular tv I use a Samsung 60" plasma (just bought a month ago).

It is true that you need a dark room to fully appreciate a front projector. I use blackout curtains on the windows and can use my projector in the daytime. This also helps the plasma tv which tends to wash out in a bright room as well.

Even with only 2 ch audio for movies, watching one on a large screen is the best and the cost has come down quite a bit for projectors and screens. You can buy both as a bundle for around $2000.
 
Look at the Epson Moviemate 85hd. It's a 720p projector (which is just fine IMO) with an Hdmi input and a digital audio output. It even has a built-in DVD if you would need it. All for $850.

I would also check the clearance center periodically as these Moviemate models show up there periodically at some great prices.

Projectors are awesome. Once you use one you'll wonder why you waited so long. I'm still using an older 480p projector and still get blown away by the image quality.
Tiga
 
I would love to see more messages about members' experience with modern projectors in the $400 - $1200 price range. How good is the picture? How reliable the bulbs. How costly to replace bulbs? How easy is the setup in various sized rooms? What is the connectivity to surround sound audio systems. How noisy is the unit. What other mechanical/electronic problems have even experienced. I am not interested in vintage but rather the latest and greatest in the mentioned price range. Any views on all this?
 
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I run the EPSON EX7120 and love it. It's a 1200X800 native - and supports HDMI. Got it as an open box deal at BestBuy for about 350. Had it just over a year. I run it off a laptop via VGA - running Windows Media Center (which connects to my HD HomeRun tuner for HDTV/DTV) Lots of options for color tones, and aspect ratio. Picture quality is superb IMO.

You can hear the fan. I don't consider it loud, but audible. But once the music or content is running at a reasonable volume...it's not apparent, nor does it bother me.

I run mine around 15 feet from my screen - which is a 4X8 sheet of 1/4 inch lauan plywood over a frame made of 1x2 wood. A few coats of ceiling white. and screwed to the wall.

I run mine A LOT. I leave it on during the day sometimes if it's cloudy. Around thanksgiving I started noticing my contrast becoming worse and the bulb was starting to fail.

The EPSON replacement bulb is 199.99. I can find other vendors around 135.00. These both come with the bulb mounted in the plastic housing. However, there are vendors and youtube how-tos that show how to replace the actual bulb in your existing housing. I think this was more like 79.00 bucks or so. Looked easy to me.

But, like I said - I ran the crap out of mine. A normal person will get far longer use out of their bulb!

I'll post back once I get my new bulb!
 
Get on AVS Forum and read up, there is tons of info there and they are helpful.

You need to decide on the type you need, DLP or LCD, DLP makes up the majority of lower end PJs, but the rainbow effect artifacts can annoy some people. LCD, there isnt much around budget end, Epson TW5200 best bet, but they lack some contrast to DLP.

Major thing to sort is the throw you will need, ie length of the room, PJ to screen, then see what ones fit the bill (there are PJ throw calculators to help, go to Projectorpoint site).

In the DLP budget end, there is no better than the Benq W1070. around 5-600 quid i think.
 
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