I have been kicking around the 1080p pj's but am thinking I might hold off until next year when the prices drop more. I just sold my AE900 and am looking to replace it. I have been leaning towards the AX100 but am wondering if it's too bright. This will be used primarily for movies in my bat cave. My 900 was ceiling mounted about 12 ft from a 96" screen. Using PJ centrals figures this would put out 27fl. I doesn't say if this is high or low mode. My screen is a home made doable board. I don't know what the gain is, I am guessing around 1.4??? I might be able to mount the pj at the back of the room and take down the ceiling mount but it will be close. I think the back wall to the screen is around 20' which is right at the limit of the throw.

Too bright?!?!?

Sorry but that's just rich. :D

OK, thanks for the smartass comment. I guess that's a big no. :D

definately not too bright! i can watch a 96" screen in my house with all the lights on. once i aimed them away from the screen of course...

You can always use a setting that outputs less light for movies and the AX100 has plenty of them. So, no too much brightness shouldn't be an issue other than the fact that such an intense bulb apparently damages the optical block of the projector with any robust use (keep it cool). I'm leaning towards the AX100 also but because it's bright and I'm concerned that the Z5 wouldn't be bright enough. In your situation where you aren't concerned with the brightness you might also consider the Z5 (if you like a sharper picture) since they are so similar in performance.

For me it probably will come down to whether or not I think the Z5 can handle my 120" screen from a 20' throw distance with low to moderate ambient incandescent lighting (I like having the two HDMI inputs and the sharper image plus the 3 year warranty is a plus). If not I'll go with the AX100 which appears to be very similar in performance to the Z5 except it uses smoothscreen which reduces pixilation (but also reduces sharpness). It doesn't sound like you will need the smoothscreen to reduce SDE either unless you intend to sit close to the screen.

I sit about 11' from my 96". The Z5 isn't an option. I cannot stand any type of SDE and I feel the Z5 would still exhibit enough to bug me. Also if you guys say there is no such thing as too bright I might as well get it and have the option of lights on for sports viewing.

I got a new AX100 a couple of weeks ago, and couldn't be happier. We watched the Super Bowl with all the lights on and the quality was outstanding. I had the lamp setting on normal for this. For most of my viewing (that is, with lights dimmed a little), I set it on eco-mode. This makes the flexibility for this projector almost unbeatable.

OK, thanks for the smartass comment. I guess that's a big no. :D

LOL :D

Sorry man. I couldn't resist. Do you realize I've been waiting years for somebody to ask that? :D

Seriously, I've never seen one post on this board saying, "Man, this thing is just TOO bright! What am I going to do?!?!" :)

LOL :D

Sorry man. I couldn't resist. Do you realize I've been waiting years for somebody to ask that? :D



Well I'm glad I can bring together the culmination of your many years waiting on the forum for this statement. I am here to help. :D I guess I never really thought about it. I was just concerned about hotspotting with my home made screen.

IMO, there is almost no such thing as "too bright" if the blacks and contrast don't suffer for the added light output.

I sit about 11' from my 96". The Z5 isn't an option. I cannot stand any type of SDE and I feel the Z5 would still exhibit enough to bug me. Also if you guys say there is no such thing as too bright I might as well get it and have the option of lights on for sports viewing.
Yep, the AX100 sounds perfect for you then... just pay attention to where/how you buy it.

It will be bought either from Jason (have it calibrated before it leaves) or Costco, everyone knows the reasoning there.

Um, yeah. :)

I'm assuming you're going with an extended warranty with the former? I may do the same thing but I'm curious how much of a price premium one pays to buy like that?

My reasoning is that if you are stuck with a lemon it would be much easier to return the projector than to have to go round and round with Panasonic to fix it. Having the PJ professionally calibrated would be awesome though.

The nice thing about buying from Jason and having him calibrate it is, if there is a problem it can be taken care of before I have to deal with it. I am not concerned too much with an extended warranty. I rarely keep my pj's that long to worry about it. This one is just filling the gap until the 1080's come down in price. The 900 I just sold was 8 months old with 135 hrs on it. :D I'm sure this new one will see more seat time but probably not by a whole lot.

It will be bought either from Jason (have it calibrated before it leaves) or Costco, everyone knows the reasoning there.

When I asked Jason @ AVS for a quote on the AX100 a few weeks back he told me they don't carry it any more. I didn't ask why.

Guy

The nice thing about buying from Jason and having him calibrate it is, if there is a problem it can be taken care of before I have to deal with it. I am not concerned too much with an extended warranty. I rarely keep my pj's that long to worry about it. This one is just filling the gap until the 1080's come down in price. The 900 I just sold was 8 months old with 135 hrs on it. :D I'm sure this new one will see more seat time but probably not by a whole lot.
Like you I've decided to purchase the AX100 or the Z5 as a stop-gap until the 1080p projectors mature a bit and the second generation PJs start coming out. I too may be ready to buy in a year but with only a year warranty there isn't much room for error! If you watch it that infrequently I'm pretty sure you'll have no worries... after a year I'll probably have over 2000 hours on mine.

When I asked Jason @ AVS for a quote on the AX100 a few weeks back he told me they don't carry it any more. I didn't ask why.

Guy

That's funny. I've left him a couple messages but haven't heard back from him yet. Oh well it's probably better to go the costo route anyway. It sounds like some people are having problems a few hours down the road. I would hate to pay to have a projector calibrated only to end up having a problem, sending it back, and have to pay to have it calibrated again.

OR, having to live with a flawed projector because Panasonic refuses to fix it when it develops problems.

To me one of the big fears is that my precious projector will break down and it will be missing in action for weeks at the factor for repairs. I just don't think I could live more than a couple of days without it... I can't take that chance so the option of a return seems like the practical solution.