Recommend a projector

Dont be at yourself

I'm looking at picking up a projector over the next few months. I've a budget of about 1,000e, and I'm looking for something for TV, movies and videogames - possibly as a display for my mac as well. HD is a requirement.

I'll be in Japan too, so I dunno if they'll be cheaper there or if that presents other considerations!

Does anything come to mind?

johnnyflav

Hey NBM, I'm looking for the same as yourself right now. I saw this in Pixmamia
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/416805/art/hitachi/home-cinema-video-project.html
and there's a review here from T3 that seems to suggest it's pretty good
http://www.t3.co.uk/reviews/entertainment/projector/hitachi_pj-tx300

Does anyone have any advice on this projector or the new inFocus ones, IN72/IN74?

Also will these be any use in a fairly small room? And do I need to buy a screen, or paint the wall with special paint? Or will a matt white finish be OK.

Any advice would be appreciated.

johnnyflav

Done a few hours reading about the variuos projectors out there now. Our budgets are similar enough, if you were able to go a little bit over the €1000 mark then here are a few I was considering myself.

The Panasonic PT-AX100 (replacement for the AE-900)
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/455927/art/panasonic/hd-ready-pt-ax100e-video.html
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/home-cinema-projectors/pt-ax100e/index.htm

The Sony VPL-AW15
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/574369/art/sony/vpl-aw15-video-projector.html
http://www.sony.ie/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VPL-AW15&site=odw_en_IE&pageType=TechnicalSpecs&imageType=Main&category=TVP+Home+Cinema+Projector#tab

These and the one I mentioned in my earlier would be the ones I'd be choosing from, the two mentioned in this post also have 24p output, which from what I hear is supposed to be a nice addition.

Here's a comparison on Pixmania (sorry about using so many pix links, but it's very convenient site)

Villain

I have an AX100, if you do a search you will I have posted pics and reports about, if you can't find it let me know.

johnnyflav

Cheers irish1, I can't find your reports/pics anywhere. I found some earlier threads where you mentioned the projector but that was all.

I've just seen that komplett.ie have the Panasonic for €1100. Payday's next Wednesday, so unless I hear some terrible comments on it, I may take the plunge.
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=326377

Just out of curiosity, will I need to buy much else when I get this, cables/mounts/screens/coolers/extra bulbs. Will it be OK sitting on a plan old shelf, using cheapish cabling and projecting straight onto a white wall?

Villain

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055032449

White wall all the way mate.

Kenny_D

I took the plunge today and ordered the AX100 and a 106" screen to go with it. Should be here around wednesday. Can't wait

johnnyflav

Cheers irish1, makes me a lot more comfortable to see it all set up and someone who's really enjoying it. I reckon I'll only set it up with component video though, I've a component switcher with the 360 and SkyHD through and will be getting a Wii shortly, so I can tie the whole lot together with just one splitter and a long component cable.

Now I've just got to wait til payday...

am i bovvered

I bought a 1 month old ptax 100e on adverts.ie for €810:) , i have it in the den hooked up to a wii, pc, and as of yesterday ps3, the picture is really amazing, esp the HD on the ps3, the first blu ray movie was "pirates of the carribean" I would definately recomend it.
I got lots of advice on boards on set-up etc, there is a input select button on the remote for the projector so my advice would be to run a component, HDMI and VGA cable all to the projector, you can the switch to the best format.

brav

The price dropped to €1099 on next week offers in komplett.

Great price

johnnyflav

I went down to 'RicherSounds' earlier and they may have put a spanner in the works, they have on offer the Hitachi PJ TX300 for £899 (~€1350) but they have a 6' (72") screen included as a clicher. I thought I was convinced with the Panasonic PT-AX100 at €1100. the sales assistant seemed to think that Panasonic are an expensive brand to own, lamps/service/warranty etc.

I reckon the included would be a handy bonus, but the majority of what I'd be using would be projected onto a wall (which I will be painting and framing). Has anyone had any bad experiences about costings with the Panasonic (which I still do believe is the best of it's range).

Thanks for any advice.

PS, I know that the above prices are mentioned in GBP, but I'm in the UK at the minute and will be either buying here to bring back or buying while here to be shipped home.

Villain

Panasonic Projectors suffered from issues in the past especially the ae100 which was my first projector, however I still have mine after nearly 4 years and its running away on its original bulb in my bedroom now, however if you go to AVForums you will see a thread for ae100 owners which includes a lot of owners who had issues with parts going. I work in I.T. and I have worked on several projectors including Infocus and NEC and they have all had issues. TBH I think a lot of the issues can be avoided if you use it correctly i.e. don't run for periods longer than 4 hours and clean the filter reguraly.

The AX100 has suffered from light flicker on eco mode however running it on full mode for a few hours normally clears it and Panasonic aren't the only make to suffer from this.

I wouldn't use a screen unless you have to i.e. if there is something behind the screen that can't be removed, I have used a white wall for years and it offers the best overall view imo as you don't have the screen hanging down and the image size can be varied to whatever you like. The zoom options on the AX100 are huge compared to the ae100.

Having said all that the Hitachi look to be a very good projector but the Lumens aren't quite as good as the AX100 but the contrast is better. Also the price is good http://www.webelectricals.co.uk/eStore/Product.asp?ProdUID={C5BCDDDF-BE5F-4BC8-B91D-D383FE1C30C8}&AUID={A85AEAD1-7355-446E-9FE9-8644269F87CB}

enfant terrible

I have the hitachi tx-200 and a 92" inch screen for over a year now.
I use it for sky hd, blu ray and hd dvd and find the picture stunning.
The football on sky hd is great and movies like king kong, riddick and the island were awsome on a big screen with this projector. You won't reget buying it.

Looking foward to watching 300 on hd dvd on it this weekend.

mossym

for bright irish evenings you can't go wrong with the panny. I've seen most of them, including at ces this year where the manufacturers had them set up to look their best..and i stil bought the panny.

btw you want a screen. white walls will do, but contrast levels and colors look much better on a proper screen

johnnyflav

Cheers for the input Mossym, I've not bought one yet, a mate's da works for Panasonic, so hopefully I'll be able to get one on the cheap.;)

I saw the Hitachi TX-300 and the Panny in action at the weekend, both projected onto a white wall, I have to say I much prefered the Panny.

While you say a screen is essential, it's my first projector, so I'm going to start with a white wall and add a homemade black surround. Then once I've decided on how big I want the screen area (and get a few sqiud together) I'll probably get a proper screen.

eddiem74

Hi Guys,

So the Pansonic PT-AX200E is the new model replacing the AX100 ?

The AX100 is on Komplett for 1,076, and the AX200 for 1,299.

Am wondering should I go the extra for the AX200 ?

Am considering one of these are my first projector so input welcome. Other recommendations also welcome.

Cheers.

Villain

The AX200U incorporates several improvements over the AX100U. One more HDMI input has been added to the connection panel, so the AX200 has two HDMI inputs in addition to the complement of traditional VGA, component, S-video, and composite video jacks. The auto iris has been redesigned for longer life and faster action. And the Light Harmonizer has been improved, and is being promoted as the Light Harmonizer 2. In the AX100, the Light Harmonizer adjusted gamma to compensate for changing ambient light conditions. In this system, not only is gamma adjusted when ambient light conditions change, but lamp output and sharpness settings are automatically adjusted as well.

In addition, the AX200 has a preprogrammed Game Mode, which adjusts gamma and brightness to open up shadow details in video games that would otherwise be too dark. So with the AX200U, it is easy to switch back and forth from the Cinema to Game Modes based on the material you are watching, without having to go into the menus to do brightness and gamma recalibrations. An additional feature of Game Mode is that it reduces buffer time to give the gamer an almost instantaneous video image and thus better control.

The AX100 has had issues for some people with flicker and shut down issues, mine personally is fine but for the sake of €220 I would go for the AX200, it bascially the AX100 improved slightly but with all the major issues resolved.

Dont be at yourself

I picked up an Epson TW-700 last month. It worked out at just under e1,000 - but I was buying in Japan, and their exchange rate is in a jocker!

I'm really happy with it so far. In a dark room the picture quality is excellent, great colour contrast and super sharp. Even in brighter conditions it performs well. I'll post up some pictures if I get around to it!

eddiem74

Irish1, any recommendations on where to pick up a Panny or is Komplett my best bet at the moment?

Also, do you know how the SANYO PLV-Z5 compares, it seems to have gotten good reviews also ?

Thanks.

Villain

Komplett is as good a place as any unless you want pay more for it, but be aware that if you do happen to have a fault you could be waiting a while to get it back.

The Sanyo at first glance looks good, but I'll do a bit reading on it at lunch time and let you know what I think.

Villain

eddiem74 have a look at http://www.projectorcentral.com/ax100u_plv-z5.htm

The Sanyo has the edge in picture quality but the Lumens are lower so if you have a room that will be dark then the Sanyo will perform better however it you have a room that will be lighting in when you want to watch soccer matches at 4pm on a Sunday the Panasonic will give the brighter picture.

The Sanyo is €1000 at Komplett so at 300 cheaper than the Panny ax200 I'd go with the Sanyo if you can keep the light out.

eddiem74

Cheers, thanks for taken the time to provide your feedback. Review was helpful, and the new Panny seems to be gettin rave reviews, although I have seen via other forums some new owners are starting to find a few issues.

So another possible plus for the Sanyo is that its out a while and I am sure teething issues have been fixed.

Will mull it over, still think I am leaning towards the Panny.......:D