I'm having a large outdoor party this memorial day and would love to be able to show movies or play video games on a large outdoor projection setup. The key though is that it should be cheap and relatively impermenant. High-fidelity and quality are less of issues. My current thinking is to buy a 200$ HTIB somewhere and pick up a 4805 off ebay, total cost about 500-600 bucks, and I can always sell the parts back afterwards.

Does anybody have a better recommendation for a cheap but functional projector for outdoors, I suppose the most important criteria is lumen output.

Thanks in advance.

I can't really recommend a projector (I have a Sanyo Z3 and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody due to warranty issues) but I will say that for an outdoor theater I personally wouldn't bother with surround sound. 2 big speakers under, or next to the screen. It's all about volume for outdoor.

Yeah, I agree about surround sound, I found a 2.1 system for 150 bucks that seemed decent enough for what we're using it for. Shouldn't really have to spend more than that these days, since high fidelity isn't an issue.

Alright...When you said HTIB system I had pictured you out in a field with little bookshelf speakers hanging off a tree branch...

Just make sure it's LOUD! If it were me I'd look at getting some old HIFI stereo receiver off ebay...if I didn't already have 2 of them in my garage that is.

I've done what you are talking about with a 4805 and small sound system. While it works, there are a lot of wires to worry about. Don't forget you need a DVD player too.

You can pick one of those self-contained DVD/PJ units - like MovieTime or the Epson one - for around $600 new and I'm sure less new. I'd really recommend going that route.

Good luck