Please understand, everyone can turn lights out. Turning the lights out does not control light, it just turns the lights in the room off.
Light control for a home theater requires that you have painted the room with a flat, dark color on the walls and the ceiling. You never (EVER) in your life have walked into a commercial theater that is painted a light tan or has white walls. This is because white/light walls and ceilings and carpet significantly impact the image you get on screen. You lose all light control when the projector is a giant flashlight reflecting off the screen and then hitting light walls and bouncing right back onto the screen.
So, light control is not about flicking off a light switch, it is about controlling the 1,000+ lumens of light which is coming out of the projector and bouncing off the screen throughout the room.
That said, if you do have your room painted dark as described, then the 8700UB is a better projector in terms of image quality than the 8350.
If you have light painted walls/carpet/ceiling, then the 8350 will be fine.
There are any number of projectors on the market which are decent looking 1080p models, but none at that price point have the reliability and flexibility that the Epson 8350 offers. The Panasonic PT-AR100U is a excellent option as is the Optoma HD20. The Optoma is a DLP projector which has a very different look than the LCD projectors which many people prefer. The Mitsubishi HC4000 is also a model which is well regarded.
On the higher end, Panasonic, Epson, and JVC are all nice models with great flexibility. The BenQ W7000 offers a very appealing DLP product.
So, yes, there are definitely choices, but the Epson is certainly a no-brainer. It works well, has great flexibility, has a very solid image, and is priced right.