Looking for a home theatre projector within the $2000 - $3000 range. Looking for HDTV if possible. Does anyone have any recommendations?

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you mirin?

mate check out the ;

Optoma HD 70 ($1700-2300)
Optoma HD 72 ($2500-3000)
Mitsubishi HC-1100 ($1600-2000)
Mitsubishi HC-3100 ($2300-3000)

those are all DLP projectors so you will need to view them first to see if you're susceptible to the 'rainbow effect' that DLP can cause.. the minority are affected by it, but most arent.

If you do suffer then you will need to go for an LCD projector instead which has no rainbow effect, but can suffer from optical block degradation which causes uneven colouring and blotchiness;

Panasonic AX100($1800-2400)
Sanyo Z5 (~2000?)
Epson TW-700 ($1900-2800)

IMO DLP's have a much better picture quality, and much better contrast.
I've got a few mates that work around the place with access to some of these so let me know if you see anything that takes your fancy and see if they can do a better price

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Current rides :Black FPV Typhoon, WRC Blue 03 WRX manual sedan with 3" exh and defi's, old skool lime green mazda 929 with auto swingin air vents and 14" chrome hubcaps, 5'2" blonde

the optoma projectors are a orsm projector. and the panasonic is also a great LCD projector.

www.projectorgeeks.com.au

Business set up by a friend of mine. Really knows his stuff! PM me if you want more info.

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MY07 Mitsubishi Ralliart Colt

buy my Benq PE 8700+

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Mazda CX-7
Mitsubishi Evo X MR

lil bit of advise.. get a UPS put on your projector, it will help the lamps life if you want to get the most out of it..

The Sony one I have is quite good with Power Management. When turning off, the fans stay on for about 3 minutes until the lamp is cool, even if I cut power to it completely.

Not a cheap unit though.

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Should have bought an STI

from memory there was a thread on this before - perhaps a little out dated so in any case good to re-investigate.

I purchased my Panasonic LCD projector about 3yrs ago, so its been a while. During my investigations about the different models and makes I discovered the following worthy of considering when choosing ANY type of projector

DLP vs LCD
4:3 vs 16:9
plug types etc

DLP is the crystal (i think) technology cinema projectors use but on a much $ larger scale. Home projectors as said do suffer from the rainbow effect - you either hate it or you dont and live with it. DLPs are said to have better colours, deeper range etc.
LCDs are you LAMP type technology - generally cheaper in purchase vs equivalent DLP. Lamps do need replacing on average every 3000hrs (cost varies between $350 and $600). LCDs can suffer from 'picture burn' and spots if a certain image has been projected for too long but i've had mine for movies and PS2 and never noticed anything.

When i was looking around pretty much all DLP projectors under 4K were 4:3 ratio native and many salesmen tried convincing me that they were 16:9 and that the black bars top and bottom of the screen were normal - so just a word of advice, if thats still the case - don't get sucked into buying a 4:3 when you want a 16:9 (widescreen projector). Decide before you look if you want the 'tv' look of 4:3 or movie look of 16:9 and then look for projectors with certain 'native' ratio.

Also don't get sucked into the anti-lumins jargon. many sales people will try convincing you that the higher the anti-limens the better - yes, for DATA projectors bit not for movie/home theatre projectors. So don't get sucked into a 'DATA' projector vs a home theatre projector - I found that 'viewing' gave me the best indication in the end, quality of the image, the colours, etc.

Connectors: decide what system you'll be running, S-video, Component etc.. make sure the projector has the right plugs at the back to the amp you're using if you're using an amp or running straight off a DVD player etc.

Thats probably all the advice I can give off the top of my head.

Hope this helps in someway.

Cheers

Mike

i have a sony HS60 LCD and i think it's great. i put a pana 100 in a mates theater and altho its a good projector, i think its a lot grainier than mine, but i reckon projectors are all very personal. look at it with your own eyes and see what you like. the same the car audio i guess, have to see what sounds best to your eears

I've had 3 different projectors over the years, DLP & LCD, and whilst the new DLP's are light years ahead of what they used to be... LCD imho is still better in the sub $10,000 market if only for the fact they have lens-shift which DLP doesn't and can't have..

Personaly, if i was on the market, depending on how much you want to spend, i'd be going for either a 720p native or if you've got the $ 1080p native display.

in the 720p range, i can heavily recommend the Sany Z5's (i've got the Z4, it's much the same projector) they're excellent for colour reproduction and contrast. and sell for around the $3k mark depending on where your buying it from.

in 1080p range the Espon TW1000 or the Mitsubishi HC5000, but both of these are in the over $5k RRP price bracket...

I can supply any of the above models at pretty compeditive pricing too btw :P

Cheers,

SiriX