I never realized how confusing and intricate projectors where until I had to buy one. Let me give you the low-down on what the projector will be used for. I am buying a projector for my church and I was wanting a nice projector for about $1,500. A couple of the biggest problems is that the throw distance is 25ft, give or take 3inch, and the screen is 11ft 8in wide. We will mainly be projecting words on a screen for singing and the occasional video, about 2 times a month. Ninety percent of the time we will be projecting 4:3 aspect ratio. Also, our main connection is VGA from a computer.

I have been doing quite a bit of research and I have found 4 or so that sound like they might work, but I wanted a little more professional opinion.

At the higher end of the scale:

Canon SX800 for about $2,000
-I like this projector because it's native resolution is pretty high (SXGA) and it can even support up to UXGA resolution from a computer. It also has a pretty nice contrast ratio of 900:1.

-I don't really like the projector because it's $2,000 and this is a little much, and the replacement bulb are extremely expensive ($570ish)

More my price range:

Sony VPL-CX150 about $1,600
-The native resolution is an adverage XGA but it can go up to SXGA via the computer. It has a fairly nice contrast ratio of 650:1, and the lumens are 3500, which is the brightest of the bunch here.

NEC NP905 about $1,600
-The native resolution is low but it can support up to UXGA like the SX800. I like how this offers HDMI for the possibility of moving into the HD realm, but that is not a high priority right now. It dose have a pretty low contrast ratio of 500:1.

At the lower end of the scale:

Canon LV-7365 about $1,000
-I went to a local well trusted video electronics store here and they suggested this one. It seems like it would be a good choice as well. It has a native of XGA but suggests it can support up to UXGA. But this is also the most limited in throw distance with a maximum of 27ft along with a contrast ratio of 500:1.

Well those are the projectors I have been looking at and I hope you can help me pick one. Thanks for reading this long post.

Church projectors are a tough bugger. Are you going to be using this in a high-ambient light situation or in a sunday school room? If you're using it in the sanctuary, you're gonna have to at least triple your budget for a decent light cannon to get that big of a screen. The name of the game in churches is lumens. Something in the 4000-8000 lumen range.

Yeah it will be in the sanctuary with a lot of ambient light. I was told that $1,500 would be a good amount for a projector for my situation but I would rather get a nice projector then a lame $1,000 HT projector like the one we have now.

I was wandering around pp.com and I noticed the Proxima C445+ which is a projector they offered for churches. I'm not willing to spend $4,000 but I will spend around $2,500-$3,000 to get a decent projector. That C445+ is $1,800
and it is 4000 lumens, maybe you guys can suggest something in the $3k range with 5000 or 6000 lumens?

EDIT: The projector we currently have is a BenQ PB6100 (I know... our last tech didn't know what he was buying) and that is only 1500 lumens. The image is washed out and that projector is maxed out in every way. So, I am thinking that a projector between 4000-5000 lumens should do the trick. We have a very nice Da-Lite screen (I don't know the serial # on it) and I think that is why we can even use a 1500 lumen projector.

Thanks for your help.

Sorry for the double post but I don't think this merited an edit.

I found 2 projectors that seem to match my extreme budget yet give me the flexibility that I seek. The first one is the BenQ SP831 and the second one is the ASK Proxima C445+.

Which one would you guys sugest?