High Quality Projector

[w33bo]

We are almost done finishing the basement, and by parents are finally willing to spend some money on a good video product but they dont want a projection screen and for the size we want, plasma (thin) is too expensive so they really want to get a projector, we want something in a very good quality range, but they would love cheap,
i think we are willing to go up to like 2500 but 1700 or less is best,
its going to be mostly for dvds, and also hd tv as soon as we get a tuner, so it has to be compatible

i dont have much experience with projectors, and the whole lumens and contrast ratio numbers confuse, when is it optimal and when do the numbers just not matter anymore?

any suggestions on a great projector you have experience with?

would a cheaper (800-900) projector with less definition (800*600) still be great quality or will the difference be really noticeable?

The projector has to be able to work well with a little light, so that where the lumens come in?

thanks for any help

Daniel

 

[MichaelD]

Hi Dan and welcome to the forums.

I'm not a projector pro, but a lot of people at this forum are. I would advise you signing up over there and posting your question in the Display Devices forum. You will get some good answers.

I know a little about projectors. The more lumens you have, the more ambient light you can have in the room; you were right on that one.

You may have noticed the price disparity b/t 800x600 and 1024x768 projectors. Big diff, eh? :Q My advice is always to buy the best you can afford.

Oh, you said your parents don't want a screen? You do know that w/a projector you will NEED a screen, right?

 

[arod]

With your budget you should be able to get something decent. Hometheater forum is a good place to start, as is AVSForum. For your budget Id edpect to get a widescreen projector, maybe even a DLP one. Eventually Id get a list of 3 or 4 projectors and go to a local high-end audio/video type of place and demo them. Be sure to use the same source and cabling (IE from the same store, lighting conditions, DVD player etc) because that way you will truly see the differences between the various models.....

 

[w33bo]

we might need a screen...but they dont want a very wide thing that goes back 20 inches, so the 2 mm for a thin screen is fine ... or we could use the wall, which would be framed in with some very nice speakers

thanks for the quick replies

Daniel

 

[MichaelD]

Ah, OK. Use a screen though. Wall, bad. Good luck.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Ah, OK. Use a screen though. Wall, bad. Good luck.

Agreed. My experience is with slide projectors (only really old people or photography nuts will probably know what those are ), not digital projectors, but it is the same with either: walls suck, get a real screen - you'll be glad you did.

 

[Luthien]

I recommend and own the Infocus X1 Projector: (Unbelievable quality for the price and highly recommend at Home Theatre / Projector Sites) Like you are about to do I did a lot of research before purchasing and I have never made a better purchase. Several of my relatives bought same after seeing mine. Sorry I dont know how to create hyperlinks.

Here is a link to the X1: http://www.infocus.com/products/productview.asp?site_lang=1&site_region=1&prod=x1&c=4

You will need these two cables: Component to VESA (Probably should buy 2 of these) & Compenent to Svideo. The component to VESA cable can be found here http://www.allthingstech.com/comp/969149.html?id=DabszBa9&mv_pc=201 . The Component to Svideo adapter I could not find anywhere else but from Infocus itself so it costs more: http://store.infocus.com/escalate/s...-VIDEO-ADPT&clist=&ret=&pls5catname=&tab=desc

Here is the ceiling mount you should buy: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3053110856&category=32862

Paint your wall with: Ultra pure white flat latex paint (use a roller not a brush and do 2 coats).

Or buy a cheap $150 large screen. Dont go overboard it doesnt make enough dif.