First of all I've never owned a projector before, but I'm starting soon to work on my basement and I love the idea of having 100" screen to watch movies and hdtv. I was planning to buy 50"+ plasma for upsairs to upgrade my old good Sony 36HS420 (1080I hd crt still working perfectly), but I guess I will stick with it till it dies and you cannot beat size PJ gives you. Anawyas as a rookie I have few questions about PJs. From some reading I've done I'll be most likely buying Panny AX200, and I would like to hear your opinion if this is my best option based on my needs.

- must use ceiling mount
- light usage, 10hrs a week or so.
- about 10'8 distance to the wall, so based on the calculator I need x2 zoom PJ to get ~100".
- there is a window with blinds, walls will be paited with light beige color.
- I'll be mainly watching upconverted xvids/dvds and some OTA hdtv 1080I (still very limited in Canada) mainly hockey.
- I have no plans for Xbox360/PS3/BlueRay in the near futre. Therefore I think 720P PJ will work for me.
- grey colour based screen to enhance blacks

Anyways please let me know if AX200 is good choice. Or perhaps there are other better choices up there?

Also I have a stupid question if I use projection calculator on the projectorcentral.com and it doesn't show ceiling/floor option, does this mean that particular PJ cannot be mouted on ceiling? i.e.

Epson-PowerLite_Home_Cinema_720-projection-calculator-pro on projectorcentral.com (sorry but I cannot post URL links yet)

TIA ;-)

Projectors like the AX200 have such great versitility with te included lens shift, there is no need to worry about position much beyond can it reach the intended screen size at the desired throw distance.

I think it's a strong contender in your situation and it's price range for sure.

I was interested in the AX200 but after reading the issues thread I am staying away from it. I will be getting the Epson 720 and will have a 12.5 foot throw and plan on 100" as well. At least when the Epson does have issues they have been great about overnighting a replacement! Plus the free bulb and rebate make it cheaper than the AX200 at this point as well.

Can you install epson 720 on the ceiling? :o

Yes. Here is a link to the review:

http://www.projectorreviews.com/epson/powerlite-home_cinema_720/index.php

I have the ax200 and haven't had any problems to date. The problem thread scared me at first to, but what you have to realize is that this projector has outsold all other 720p projectors by a wide margin. That means there will be more problem threads because only people with problems are creating new threads about the problems. All projectors have occasional problems. Don't let this stop you from getting the ax200 if what you need is a bright projector with smooth screen technology.

Having said that, we'd probably need to know how far your seating location is from the screen to help more. If it is the 10ft you will throw the picture from, then i'd get the ax200 so that you don't get screen door effect (where the pixels are large enough to see). If its further, you may not need that feature.

I throw my ax200 on a 125inch screen from 13ft and couldn't be happier. Also, as a suggestion, I bought both a screen and a blu-ray player (ps3) and can definitely without a doubt say the blu-ray makes 100% more of a difference than the screen ever did. If you are getting only one or the other, you would be wise to get blu-ray over a screen, which if you were purchasing would be the same price (got my ps3 off ebay for $290). The difference between blu-ray and upconverting DVD is night and day, while the difference between screen/no screen (assuming your wall is in moderate shape and ambient light is controlled....watching at night) is morning and afternoon. =) I got my screen in and at night I honestly cannot tell very much of a difference, and actually like the wall better as it is a bit brighter. I bought a gray elite silverframe screen and dont even use it at night.

b15nut:
Thanks for the link. It is very good site :)

ucfmike:
Thanks for all the info, I agree with you since ax200 is very popular there is always more reported problems. The perfect position for my 'future' PJ is about 10.8' , I could perhaps push it to be further away, however due the basement (ceiling) design it will force me to have the PJ mounted lower, meaning the bottom of the screen might be very low almost at the floor level.

The sitting area I think will be around 12'-15' from the screen. I like the idea of painting the wall, the only problem I see is to convince my better half (the rest of the basement will be beige) and my two little ones using crayons on it, i guess I could always repaint it or do some touch ups :D

Finishing basement will take me several mounts (weekends/after work), so I'll have to revisit this. However I have to run some cables and have a power outlet on the ceiling, so if I go with 10.8' throw distance I'll have to go either with Panny or Epson both x2 zoom PJs.

As for Blue-ray I totally agree with you, that you cannot beat it. However for a while I'll use upconverting dvd's, and few HDTV OTA channels available in my area, mainly to watch hockey !!! :D. Also in the future I'm planning to buy popcorn hour with its 1080P output and play 720P/1080P content (mkv) from my PC upstairs.

As for cables what do you guys think I should have it ready, I'll use central-vac piping with 2-hdmi 1.3 cables, 1-svhs, 1-component, 1-composite and 1-dvi-d to hdmi cable (for my PC if I drag it downstairs).... anything else?

As for the ceiling mount, should I built a shelf or get special mount for the future PJ (either AX200 or 720)? Do they have to be placed upside down?

Sorry for asking all this stupid questions, but your help will save me from having a lot of head ache later on ;)

I know it might be heresy on here, but i'd try it without a screen and without painting the wall first to see how you like it. I had mine projecting onto a plain white wall that I didnt even bother to fix up (has some scratches on it and isn't in perfect condition), and thought that I had to get a screen. When my screen came in, I was pretty disappointed. I shot the image half on the screen and half not and couldn't notice hardly any difference at all with the lights off. The screen would help "frame" the front of the room, and keep your eyes in focus on the movie, but I honestly haven't had a problem doing that on my 125inch image! Contrast ratios on these PJs are so great that a gray screen at night doesn't do much but darken the image. Hey, if you decide you dont need a screen straight away, you could put that money towards blu-ray or a speaker setup, which would be 100x more bang for your buck.

Also, this projector is so flexible with mounting location due to the lens shift. I believe you can go one screen width to the left and right, as well as to the top and bottom. You're projector mounting height shouldn't be affected. 10.8ft is pretty short throw, but you should be fine with the screen size you are looking for and the zooming capabilities of this projector. I will say that for my personal tastes, 100inches would be way too small at 15 feet.

For reference, I like to sit middle row of a theater, not too close, not too far. I shoot 125inch and sit about 13 ft away. I've moved the couch as close as 10ft (a lil too close) and as far away as 15 ft (a lil too far away for my liking). A good test I did that gave a decent idea is to tape off the screen size onto your wall, and see how it would look.

Just some of my experiences =)