Hey all we can see the price keeps falling on this projector. I wonder how muc h farther it will fall, what do you think? but my main question is what is the next version of this, whats the next model that will replace this. I ahve not seen or read anything, or heard anything from you guys, so does anyone know anything? Whats the next model, and the lowest price i have seen is 1299 for this. I am debating on this between the new 999 models and this one. But iam curios about how low the price will go, and when is the new one comming out?

I think a lot of us considering the new $999 1080P projectors are eyeing the Viewsonic because of its feature set. But, man, is it a Sherman tank. It is HUGE. Bigger than most people even imagine, I suspect. That definitely doesn't help the WAF. The only reason I'm considering it is that I have a 10-foot ceiling and would like to keep my projector near the ceiling; hence, vertical lens adjustment would be a really nice benefit. But I'm not sure it's worth the extra $300 or having an "older" projector. I'd much rather go with the $999 Optoma or, so I don't have to listen to it whir right above my head, the $999 Vivitech. But they're both going to be hanging down three feet from my ceiling because of the lack of vertical lens adjustment. Sigh. Bottom line: I think it will pay to be patient and see where prices are on all these projectors, including the aging Viewsonic, when Christmas season gets nearer.

As a side note, I went out yesterday and blew $18 on a piece of Do-Able sheeting cut to 100-inches diagonally just to give myself something to do and assess whether that would be about the right size in my theater. That's helping me keep myself entertained for a few more days rather than pulling the trigger on a projector purchase before I should. Heh. (I think I'll drop $150 on a Da-Lite Model B, however, when the time comes, and let my son use the Do-Able for Crayon fun.)

the pro8100 is my first pj. and i don't think it is huge at all. actually, i think its pretty darn cool. it reminds me of the head of the alien ship in the first WAR OF THE WORLDS.

lets see :
small and noisy
or
large and quiet.

if it had more lumins, the same price (or less), and was 3x larger. thats what i would get.

the pro8100 is my first pj. and i don't think it is huge at all. actually, i think its pretty darn cool. it reminds me of the head of the alien ship in the first WAR OF THE WORLDS.

lets see :
small and noisy
or
large and quiet.

if it had more lumins, the same price (or less), and was 3x larger. thats what i would get.

+1.
The larger it is, the quieter. The smaller, well...let's just say the HD20 sounds like a hairdryer on high lamp mode.

Ok, so whats the replacement for the 8100 then?

I like Pro8100 as well.... where did u get the price of 999?

Nowhere. The Viewsonic costs $1,300.

Buy the Viewsonic, you will not be sorry! Every now and then a bargain comes along, this PJ is one of them. Yeah, it's a pain in the butt having to unplug it each night, but in return you'll have a PJ with a great picture, and features not found on ANY comparably priced machine.

Buy the Viewsonic, you will not be sorry! Every now and then a bargain comes along, this PJ is one of them. Yeah, it's a pain in the butt having to unplug it each night, but in return you'll have a PJ with a great picture, and features not found on ANY comparably priced machine.
Pardon the ignorance, but why do you have to uplug it? Draw too much power? I am in the market, and have just started looking for a projector in this price range.

Thanks

Is the 8100 with 1000 lumens adequate for a rooms with windows and ambient light for football/sports watching, etc. For a little more money there are some LCD's out there with around 1800 lumens.

Pardon the ignorance, but why do you have to uplug it? Draw too much power? I am in the market, and have just started looking for a projector in this price range.

Thanks

Read some of the big Viewsonic thread in the >$3000 forum. That's where most of the information on this projector is. To summarize this issue, many of the 8100's develop vertical lines if plugged in continuously. Unplugging fixes this, but most people with this problem have to do this on a daily basis.

One way to do this is to get a power timer that goes off in the a.m. when you are never watching.

I'm not aware of anyone who hasn't been able to fix the vertical line problem this way -- but then, the thread is over 100 pages long. :eek:

On how low the price can go, I'll bet these sell out at the $1299 pricepoint. The caveat would be if one of the strong $1500 projectors, like the upcoming Mitsubishi, drops back to that same pricepoint. Even so, the Viewsonic's features are unique at this pricepoint.

Bing cashback amounts fluctuate. I think there was briefly a 15% cashback from a vendor, and there was 10% for quite a while. Right now, I believe the best is 5%. $1299 - 15% is the best you will ever see for a new unit, IMO.

Is the 8100 with 1000 lumens adequate for a rooms with windows and ambient light for football/sports watching, etc. For a little more money there are some LCD's out there with around 1800 lumens.

I have the same question about 1000 lumens.:)

I have the same question about 1000 lumens.:)


Me too. Anyone have daytime screenshots? bouda78's bat cave screen shots look great but this is going to function as my main TV, so to speak.

Plenty of Pro8100 images here, including some sports shots: http://www.projectorreviews.com/viewsonic/pro8100/imagequality.php

If you take the time to read Art's entire review, note that the yo-yo iris issue on the early model was fixed in firmware.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/blog/2008/08/02/viewsonic-pro8100-home-theater-projector-2nd-look/

That leaves really very little to dislike about the pro8100, except maybe it's size. I was one of the fence sitters who could not pass this deal up. I take delivery tomorrow.

My thoughts on the Pro8100 (if anyone cares :) ):

I've been a front projector owner since 1983. I've had many CRT projectors and have had several digitals since 2000. I've owned both DLP and LCD projectors, and generally have preferred the depth and snap that DLP projectors tend to have. I've been to CES every year and have seen (and owned) many, many projectors in operation. I currently own a Sharpvision XV-Z3000 projector, a 720p model that is also sold as the Marantz 4100 as is regarded as one of the better mid priced 720 models. The bulb, though still very bright at 1500 hours, has been flickering a bit and it will soon need replacement so I've been searching for a low priced 1080p replacement.

I preordered the Mitsubishi HD3800 DLP projector which has been getting rave reviews from Projector Central and ProjectorReviews, however it has been revealed that the offset is quite large (34% apparently) and this just won't work well with my 120” screen or my plans to go to a 133” Highpower. I was able to buy a Viewsonic Pro8100 on Ebay with only 17 hours for $760. I figured I would play with this until my Mitsubishi came in late October.

I first threw this huge projector (second in size only to my old CRT projectors) on top of one of my theater seats, then jerryrigged my Monoprice mount to work with it. I upgraded the firmware, calibrated the settings with a combo of the settings here and on other sites. Iris setting of 0 and 2 resulted in unacceptable iris “yoyo-ing”. A setting of 1 or 3 results in iris action that is virtually unnoticeable.

Positives:
The increase in resolution is notable and a definite improvement. Two members of my family independently made the same observation, they both though the new projector made the screen look bigger! I attribute this to the 1080p resolution. Sharpness is excellent. After adjusting the enhancement setting to 2 film grain is appropriately visible and detail is very good. Brightness is very good and easily fills my 120” matte white screen (as does my Sharpvision).

Color. This was a big surprise, the color is deeper, richer,and more vivid than my Sharp. It seems to be drawing from richer palette of colors. Flesh tones are good, a real concern of mine as Art's screen captures on ProjectorReviews all have a “sunburned” tone. I attribute this to the PCS setting as when I turn it off, flesh tones look more real.

Contrast. This was a bit of a surprise too, the Viewsonic has a bit more sparkle to the picture than my Z3000, perhaps due to the slighly brighter bulb and richer colors. Shadow detail is equal or a maybe a little less than the Sharp.

Panel alignment. Excellent! My old Sanyo Z2 and Panasonic AE500 (not to mention every CRT projector I've owned!) had significantly more misalignment than this Viewsonic. The Panasonic AE3000 I watched at CES this past winter had terrible misalignment.

Color uniformity. Every LCD projector I've seen has a little or a lot of color uniformity issues with a slightly green tint on one side and a slightly red tint on the other. My Viewsonic has a very small amount noticable only on a full white screen and if you are REALLY looking for it. Much better than my previous LCD projectors.

Noise. This is the quietest projector I've ever owned with the exception of my fanless liquid cooled Zenith CRT.

HDMI. I have an Onkyo 606 receiver, DirecTv, PS3, and an HDMI Dell computer. The Viewsonic switches very quickly and without issues.
No banding issues yet.

Negatives:
Absolute black levels are a little bit worse than my Sharpvision. I've been A B'ing the two projectors on space scenes from Stargate Universe, Star Wars: A New Hope (in HD), and Fifth Element and blacks are slightly better on the Sharp, but not as much as I first thought when I was viewing the Viewsonic alone. I'm sure they will improve a bit as the bulb ages. I would rate them as in somewhere between the Sharp and my former Mitsubishi HD1500. Both the Epson 6500UB and Panasonic AE3000 at CES had significantly better blacks (no surprise).
Black level freaks need not apply. :)

Conclusion:
I'm surprised how much I like the Viewsonic and for the ridiculous price I paid, I will be quite happy with this for the next year. If you have any placement issues, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Viewsonic over the other low priced models while it is still available.
Needless to say, I've canceled my preordered Mitsubishi HD3800 from Provantage.

My thoughts on the Pro8100 (if anyone cares :) ):

Awesome review Robert, thanks for that. The black levels and possible banding issues are the only thing keeping me from this projector but it sounds like you got a great unit.

My thoughts on the Pro8100 (if anyone cares :) ):



oh, you BET we care :)

Thanks... :)

Black levels are really quite nice on this unit, not sure if I made that clear enough in my review. A B'ing the projectors reveal very little real world difference. Scenes with mixed brightness seem much higher than the 250:1 ANSI contrast measured by Projector Central (probably due to the improved Iris firmware settings since the review) and a little better than the Sharp. It is only in scenes with full screen black or star fields that you notice any difference.

Would this be a good upgrade from a Sanyo Z3?

I just purchased this today to replace my broken Benq PE7700. Hopefully it comes soon as I use the projector the most during football season. Looking forward to the Olympics on it as well.

What does "A B'ing" mean?

What does "A B'ing" mean?

Typically it means to compare 2 or more devices. The best way is to do a blind test where someone else controls what you see or hear.

What does "A B'ing" mean?

Yes, A/B is probably a better way to put it. I switched the HDMI cable back and forth between the two (projector A, and projector B) and watched the same scenes...

Robert Clark very good experiance, u need to achive 100+ hours and set ur pj to iris3 combined with black level set to low.
if u want more accurate grayscale level u should buy dvi hd bluyray at set ur brighness and contast at iris3 with bl set to l.

best luck.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&safe=off&q=dve+hd+blu+ray&cid=10177974095302898595&sa=title#p