Front projector

[Craig234]

The Panasonic PE-AE900U and Optoma HD70 projectors both received rave reviews here. They're similarly priced now; which is better?

Are they good for use for PC gaming? For standard and HD TV viewing?

The Panasonic is on sale for one more week, and while I haven't yet gotten up to speed on this market, is awfully tempting to consider.

 

[InTheIndustry]

I have just finished building a theater room for a customer (pictures coming soon) and we installed the Panasonic PT-AE900. It is more than outstanding for the price before and after the rebate. Keep in mind I'm a Vidikron dealer and am partial to those but only on the high end projects. For lower end installs that have a less than $8K budget for a projector the Panasonic 900 is what I will go with from now on. I am not a fan of lower end (read Infocus, Optoma, Mitsubishi, etc.) DLP projectors. My experience has been negative concerning both build and image quality. I hope my $0.02 helps at all. Also, spend the money and get a nice screen. We used a Perfect VU Elite 106" with a gray screen. It looks A+. Also, in concern to gaming we hooked up an XBOX 360. Looks very good. From a gaming stand point I definitely DO NOT recommend DLP. On some games that require precise timing, like Baseball for example, their can be a lag between you pushing the button and the player swinging. I can't speak for all DLP brands and models, but I have experienced this problem in both DLP TV sets (most notably Samsung) and a few projectors. I have never seen this trait in an LCD TV or projector. I will note that DLP has gotten better at this over the years and this problem is now a rarity.

 

[Tsunamii]

Craig, I was also looking at the same ones. The HD70 zero pixel 2 year wrnty gets me back on the fence when I think im ready to make up my mind. I dunno....

 

[Craig234]

Thanks

Thanks a lot for the helpful reply. As for the 2 year warranty - it's great but don't compromise too much.

Do you want the system you like to watch more, or the system you like to watch less but that has a good warranty?

The warranty is a good tie breaker but not much more, in my opinion which is based on general info, and I'm pretty ignorant of the audiophile info.

For my question - the Panasonic is still sounding nice, with a few days left to buy on sale - the question of 1080p comes up.

I don't want to be upgrading what I get for some years - does it make sense to consider the Panasonic, or more sense to wait for a 1080p?

I see the 700 buyers asking a bit anxiously how much better the 900 is - it's no fun, and if things move that fast, sometimes the 'sweet spot' is actually to get something lower end and upgrade more often, just as with computer components.

The only urgency is the sale; I don't have other components yet.

 

[Tsunamii]

Craig, have you checked out the "Updated Display Technologies Guide!" posted here? It has me thinking about holding out with my Plasma untill some new meat comes on the market. Like you say "I don't want to be upgrading what I get for some years". I would hate to buy now only to see a nice
1080p projector come into the 2-4k range within a few years.

Does anyone have a good guess at when we will see these types of Projectors (1080p) come under 5k?

 

[InTheIndustry]

WARNING - Long & Controversial Answer

In this industry there will ALWAYS, and I can't stress that word enough, ALWAYS be something better coming out. As for 1080P, I wouldn't wait. The projector you are looking at buying is around $1500 after rebate. That is dirt cheap for a projector of even a decent quality. If you are looking at getting a projector now and then change your mind to "Well, I can wait a few YEARS" then I would question your immediate need to spend the money on one (that’s not a knock on you I only mean if you can really wait, then wait). There will always be great deals and sales that can be had on consumer electronics. As far as 1080P pricing coming down... it is a misconception that high end electronics (particularly video displays) get that cheap that fast. Look at Plasma TV's for example. In 2000 a 42" HD model from Philips was going for around $12,000. Well, here we are 6 years later and for quality name brand plasma you can easily still drop $3K. Currently the new Sony 1080P projector is around $10K and is a very nice piece. And, sure, other brands will come out with 1080P that won't be as expensive as Sony's, but how many years until they’re $1500 with a rebate? That's anyone's guess, but I have found that the past is the best predictor of the future. I haven't even scratched the surface as to why 1080P is ridiculously OVERHYPED. Like I said before, I just installed the Panasonic 900 and for an under $6-8K projector I can't see why someone wouldn't be thrilled with it in terms of value. Note: This coming from someone who has installed $5K-30K Vidikron models (not to mention how many other brands). Besides, for $1500, if you decide to upgrade two years from now you can sell it and not take a huge hit on the loss.

 

[Tsunamii]

InTheIndustry, thanks for the advice. I will have to sit back and wait for my addation to be completed anyway before I start to ramp up on some new equipement but very true as you wait for somthing to come down in price bigger and better things come along.