Has anyone upgrade from the SP4805 to HD1000u. Was it a drop in replacement as far as image offset and position? I Want to upgrade to 720P and was going to go with the hd70 but the Hd1000u seems to be better recieved by forum members. My home theater has a 7'-0" ceiling and I have a 6" drop on the projector that is 11'-0" away from the screen. My current SP4805 is projecting on a 76" pull down screen. the bottom of the screen is 36" off of the floor. the projector does have a very slight amount of tilt one or two clicks of keystoning.
I have conflicting info about what the real image offset of the SP4805 is. Projector Central lists it at 34% but my infocus manual lists it at 127%. The HD1000u is listed as 35%. If the SP4805 does indeed have a 127% offset then will this make a big difference switching to the HD1000U or will small amount more tilt be enough to hit my current screen as is with the HD1000u.

Please help!

Boobug -

Sometimes folks refer to offset as 27% and sometimes as 127%. That is because it is the height of the screen (100%) plus 27%. so fear not, your difference isn't that great.

Boobug look for some of the offset/keystone threads relating to the HD1000. Seems like with your low ceiling you'd need to tilt the PJ up and adjust the keystone accordingly. Some say don't buy a PJ that can't be installed naturally in your room, others say you can tilt a lot without seeing trapazoidal distortion and that keystoning, if necessary, isn't hardly visible with video (moreso on graphics/text from a PC). Who you believe is up to you, I lean towards the latter in my experience. With 921,000 pixels to work with you can keystone and still get great detail and a square image nicely. .. but no it won't be a drop in replacement. The offset issue is going from bad to worse for your particular install situation.

nightfly-

thanks for the input. Do you know of any projectors under 1000 dollars that would have a similar offset to the sp4805 but are much improved in picture quality fo HD viewing.

I just upgraded from a SP4805 to the HC3000. I have it on a small table hitting a 80" screen and it works in the exact same spot that the 4805 was in.

In my experience it is a very similar offset. The projected image being no more than 1 inch higher on the screen than the 4805 which was easily adjusted with the image offset (very handy).

The HC3000 is a little more money, but the upgrade is fantastic and well worth it IMO.

Hey guys I think the HC3000 has the same offset as the HD1000u. The offset will work fine from a low table, but maybe no such luck with 7' ceiling mounting without issues.

The only similar machine is the Optoma HD70 with 3-5% less offset than the Mits, for more money.

Here's a hd1000 vs hc3000 thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9732428#post9732428