I would still be hard pressed to recommend this over the AX200, but it's just so marginally close it seems between projectors these days. Hands down, the issue is that there are to many EXCELLENT choices out there, and this one is not really different. That is, the projectors is top notch and likely blows away projectors from just a few years back that were ten times the price.
What are we talking though... $6 in price difference between the Panasonic and the Epson... Yep, that's going to be a harder decision to make. The Panasonic I've actually put up on a Carada 160 BW screen and was shocked at how bright the image was at that size. So, while the Epson is solid, if you do want the killer bright, it may still be better to go with the Panny.
On the other hand, what are the odds we'll see 1080p dip below $1,500 this year since the Sanyo and BenQ models are basically near $2K already? Heck, the new Sanyo is $1,799... Gotta wonder how solid that model is for only about 500 bucks more.