My X1 has reached 4000+ hours and the bulb is getting pretty dim, so I am trying to decide whether to spend $300 on a new bulb, or to go ahead and upgrade. The color wheel is a bit louder now as well, and a couple of times it has made a loud buzzing sound, but that has not happened for at least a month now.

Does anyone have any experience going from an X1 to the AX200? I would love to have the extra brightness, but I'm concerned that the LCD image may be too 'soft' after watching the DLP this long. I know the resolution of the AX200 is higher than the X1, but will this make up for the difference between DLP and LCD? I cannot find any dealer with one on display in my area.

I almost went for the Planar deal, but I just can't make it fit into my room well.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Bigfoot, I'm sure you will get many responses to let you know that there are many choices from the current generation of projectors that will blow the X1 out of the water. But, to answer your question, the ax200 is head and shoulders better that the X1. I too jumped from X1(dlp) to the ax200(lcd) and was hesitant, with the "consensus" being that dlp is sharper.

As for other suggestions that may come your way, I can only vouch for the X1 and the 200. I loved the X1 and it had quite a bit of sentimental value to me, but there is really no comparison. I'm guessing you're worried that the difference would not be great, but really, the 200 throws a significantly better picture all the way around even/especially with some ambient light. As far as softness.....looks pretty sharp to me(there has been a lot of talk in the past as to the benefit/cost of the panny's smoothing technology). I believe you'll be very pleased with its performance, at least in comparison to the X1.

Good luck with you decision!

I agree with splode 100%.:) The AX200 throws a substantially better image than the X1.

My panasonic does quite well for itself considering it competes with my sharp 20000 in the same room. Go with the AX200 without hesitation.

Thanks for the advice. I placed an order for my AX200 today and hopefully will have it in time for football (without total darkness at last) this weekend!