Projectors....

[007ELmO]

Just get a 1080p PJ, there are several out there under $1000 to $1500. Most in that price range are meant to work in ambient light conditions well.

If you have light control spend 2K and get something with a higher contrast ratio.

take a picture of your room and post it, the only room in my house i don't use a projector or consider using one is my great room (too many windows also). in dynamic mode you can usually get enough lumens to be acceptable during the day and outstanding at night.

 

[Alamat]

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe Projector People has some kind of 30 day inhouse trial. Choose your projector, if you don't think its nice fit. return it for another.
I have gotten pjs from them when I started and they have not let me down yet.

 

[007ELmO]

you are correct

 

[purbeast0]

i have a mid-range projector (panasonic ae8000) and it's in my basement that has 3 window wells. during the day the sun can hit one of them and draw a decent amount of light into the basement, even though it still isn't "bright". that alone makes the picture look washed out, and this is on just a normal white $300 screen. it is very watchable but noticeably washed out. i put a box up in the window well now when i'm down there during the day which will fix the problem right up.

at $1k i would not even consider it if i were in your situation. they do make screens that help this out, but they can get more expensive than the projectors can be.

EDIT:

also just read you have white flooring and walls, and yes that will definitely make it look even more washed out. i ended up painting my ceiling and walls a dark red for this reason and it made a big difference.

 

[007ELmO]

the 1K projectors usually have a lot of lumens (AR100U, W1080ST, W1070, etc) - they are meant for his scenarios and not a theater environment. The AE8000 is classified as a Home Theater projector line, it's a class above.

If he's expecting the picture to be awesome quality with a lot of windows his expectations are too high for his budget, but that budget usually offers some of the best PQ for his scenario, relative to other more expensive projectors.