$1500 Projector

[Jeremy77]

My father is in the market for a projector for his living room, I was talking with him last night, i have never spec out a projector before so this a new area for me. I would like to keep it below 2k but i want him to get the most for his money. Some recommendations would greatly accepted and tell me what to look for on the projector.

I do know a couple of things to look for like 1080p instead of 720p. HDMI inputs would be nice to have as well.

Please as much advise would be greatly accepted here.

Jeremy

 

[BMXTRIX]

Plenty of topics to read through, but if you do some looking around at etailers such as VisualApex and ProjectorPeople you will find that $1,500 doesn't actually buy you a 1080p projector at this time unless it is refurbished, or an older model.

Visual Apex does have last years Espon 1080 projector (not to be confused with the Epson 1080UB) available for $1600 plus a $300 mail in rebate, for a final cost of $1,300 plus it comes with a free replacement lamp. Good deal!

BenQ has also put up their W5000 projector from time to time as a refurb model in their clearance section...
http://shop.benq.us/benq-us/searchresults.aspx?search_id=4&culture=en-US

Definitely a very good deal for the $1,300 or so that they sell it for.

But, you actually need to do a fair bit more planning before you can really pinpoint the exact projector you should be getting.

1. What is the size of the room it is going into?
2. Is it fully light controlled?
3. What kind of screen is going in?
4. How big is the screen?
5. How far away are people sitting from the screen?
6. What is your budget for audio?
7. What will be viewed on screen?

A good screen runs around $800 (www.carada.com) or so, and if that's supposed to be included in the sub $2,000 budget, I would say that you have little to no chance to go to a 1080p projector.

One of the better projectors on the market at 1080p is the Epson 6500 which runs around $3,000. That's $1,000 more than you are looking to spend in total.

 

[lsiberian]

Plenty of topics to read through, but if you do some looking around at etailers such as VisualApex and ProjectorPeople you will find that $1,500 doesn't actually buy you a 1080p projector at this time unless it is refurbished, or an older model.

Visual Apex does have last years Espon 1080 projector (not to be confused with the Epson 1080UB) available for $1600 plus a $300 mail in rebate, for a final cost of $1,300 plus it comes with a free replacement lamp. Good deal!

BenQ has also put up their W5000 projector from time to time as a refurb model in their clearance section...
http://shop.benq.us/benq-us/searchresults.aspx?search_id=4&culture=en-US

Definitely a very good deal for the $1,300 or so that they sell it for.

But, you actually need to do a fair bit more planning before you can really pinpoint the exact projector you should be getting.

1. What is the size of the room it is going into?
2. Is it fully light controlled?
3. What kind of screen is going in?
4. How big is the screen?
5. How far away are people sitting from the screen?
6. What is your budget for audio?
7. What will be viewed on screen?

A good screen runs around $800 (www.carada.com) or so, and if that's supposed to be included in the sub $2,000 budget, I would say that you have little to no chance to go to a 1080p projector.

One of the better projectors on the market at 1080p is the Epson 6500 which runs around $3,000. That's $1,000 more than you are looking to spend in total.

If you have a fairly smooth white wall you can use that until you raise the funds or make your own screen. I currently use my wall and it's just fine.

A good DIY screen can be done for around 100 I think. I know Projector Central had details on one they did. Us less wealthy folks gotta save where we can. Size still makes the biggest impact on picture if you have a decent resolution. Of course nicer resolution is great, but if you never experienced it you don't know what your missing. So you would probably be satisfied.

I think he's better served getting the PJ now and the screen later. If he's got that budget.

Sanyo's go for around 1500 I think. The refurbs BenQ aren't available atm.