After much thought, consternation and research, today I had a Sim2 HT 3000 installed in my HT replacing a 2 yr old Sim 300 E.

The following is a totally non-technical, A/V idiot review of the 3000 with apologies to Jason and Alan (who, no doubt will be laughing at this for some time). Warning: if the terms dithering, artifacts, ANSI, RBEs are crucial to your analysis of a PJ , read no further.

Background: Previous PJs owned: A Pulsar (Zenith) CRT --dinasour water driven PJ that required constant adjustment but VERY state of the art and expensive for its time. And, The 300E mentioned.

Current set-up: Stewart Firehawk 110" screen; Sony DVP- ES 400 Disc DVD managed by an Escient Fireball ( god, these things are great); Comcast Scientific Atlanta HD 1080 box.

Source material: HD Cable NBA game; Discovery Channel; and standard def DVDs : North By Northwest, Dodgeball; Nemo and Boz Scaggs Greatest Hits in Concert. (Kids were on PS3 so I have not tried Blu Ray yet.)

Reason for Purchase: I spent weeks going back and forth between C3X and 3000 with huge help from Alan and Jason (I hope you all appreciate these guys) I have a large room and 300e was never quite bright enough so I was headed to 3 chip but at the last minute decided to take a chance on 3000 as a stop gap until 3 chip 1080s are readily available at a good price.

Impressions:

1. I knew I was in good shape when my installer fired it up at 3 pm on a sunny day and I was already seeing a good , clear picture. I could not wait until nightfall.

2. It is an extremely quiet PJ compared to 300e . I don't even realize it is on.

3. It is way brighter than my 300e (my biggest concern) --no comparison, but bear in mind it only has 25 hrs on the lamp and 300 had 900 when I sold it,

4. Picture is truly outstanding up close or in back of room. Could I tell the difference between 720 and 1080?-- I can't swear to it , but this an outstanding picture.

5. Nemo jumped off the screen . Even my 10 yr old noticed the difference. Boz Scaggs ( a great concert) is filmed in a dark nightclub setting and I saw much more background detail than ever before. The colors in Dodgeball were much more vibrant and when you add the brightness it was like watching a different DVD.

5. Oh, and yes it comes in a sexy , sleek Ferrari like box that all the reviews talk about--who cares?--no one has ever said, "nice PJ box" when looking at my HT. I don't get it, but it does look nice for what that is worth.

6. The 3000 sits in the same room as my Fujitsu 55" Plasma (yes, it is a large room), and I have to say the 3000 compares much more favorably to the Fujitsu than my 300.

In conclusion, I am very happy with the brightness of this PJ which was my major concern. The picture is the typical Sim theater- like experience which I have never seen on any Sharp or Sony (Qualia close) Having not seen an RS-1 I cannot compare but it sounds like those are wonderful PJs at a much better price.

For now I very happy with the purchase ( I'd better be after pi$$ing away this much money).

Much thanks to Alan and Jason along the way for their unbiased opinions and constant help . :) Terry

Terrific !!

Think you may try a different screen ?

Congratulations! I am wondering now if the 3000 would be better for me than the 3CX. When it comes to color was the C3X much more dynamic than the 3000 or did you think the difference was not that great? Secondly, if you get a chance to watch Star Wars how does the black level look and can you see more shinny stars than you did on the 300e. How much brighter is the 3000 over the 300e any estimates? Thanks Greg

I seem to recall the 300e is around 175 lumens on a good bulb while the 3000 is around 340 lumens on a good bulb.

Greg, my comparison of the C3X and 3000 was equally unscientific. It consisted of reading many reviews, emailing owners of both, and looking at screen shots, so I can't really compare colors, other than to say in Nemo they were outstanding and much more vibrant than the same movie on he 300.

Also , having just taken a bath on eBay selling a 720 PJ I was inclined to go 1080 (although I am sure the 3000 will be worth little when I sell it--just the nature if the beast)

Only using the naked eye I would say the 3000 is A LOT brighter than the 300--of course this is on a brand new bulb. I think the 300 (125 watts?) was underpowered in this regard and I think Sim must have thought so too since the new version of it has a brighter bulb.

Have not watched Star Wars, but I think it is in the Escient and will take a look.

I did watch the IMAX NASCAR film, and having spent many years at NASCAR tracks (I represent drivers) I can say that on the 3000 it was as close to being there as I have experienced on video with the 3000.(though with Kiefer Sutherland's narration I felt I was watching 24)

I also have an Escient (100) connected to a Sony es-777 400 dvd changer, I don't know what I would do with out it. It is an incredible piece of equitment. In an instant I can play any movie and it skips over all of those movie previews. If you have a lot of dvds people should check out their web site. They can provide 100% coverage of all dvds info and cover art.
Please keep us informed on the 3000. Thanks Greg

Not to get off thread and make this an Escient discussion, but by switching to a HT 3000 and a AV-211 Escient I made HUGE gains in my HT. And, frankly it is hard to say which piece was more important.

I would not have a 400DVD player w/o a manager like the 211. But more than that , it is now my home jukebox ( and I have a beautiful Rock-Ola that just sits) and internet radio . The ability to manage the DVDS, use the harddrive for tons of music and have the radio makes for a great overall syetem (they are expensive, however)

viperdrummer-

Thanks for the review..I may be getting an HT3000 soon. I'm switching screens from a Greyhawk to a Firehawk G3 (I too am concerned about the brightness).

Since you went to the trouble and $$$ to get the Sim2, I'm surprised you apparently have no HD-DVD / blu-ray player. These players now supply 75% of my HT viewing.

Can you comment on how clean the image is? In the reviews I've read, some of the dithering and other "noise" we've seen on typical 720p DLPs is much improved / absent on the HT3000, yes?

TA

TA:

Thanks. As I said I do have a Blu Ray player albeit in a PS3 but have not used it yet with the 3000. I can say that standard def DVDs look much improved on the 3000. The picture is very clean but again ("d" word) I might not know dithering if it hit me in the face.

Hd programming (Discovery Ch, ESPN) look vastly improved --clean and bright.

I frankly would like an expert's view on the proper settings. Jason no longer has his and my installer is a nice guy but this was his first 3000.

Congrats viperdrummer. Without measuring the HT3000 to my eye is very bright compared to other projectors. The internal processing is excellent as well. A very nice machine. This one should hold you over for many years. Enjoy :)

I just installed this projector in my dedicated light controlled room last night. I have a 123 diagonal (60" x 107") Stewart ST 1.3 screen, and the room is basically a dark cave. My last two projectors were a Sony G90 then a WM PH optomized Sony Qualia 004.

This projector is ridiculously good! The light output is huge, and it is actually too bright at this time! The sharpness ( no mis-convergence!) and especially the CONTRAST just kill the Q 004, and the colors are just as great. I am actually pretty sensitive to RBE artifacts, and there are rarely seen with this unit.

I have not aligned the grayscale yet and will do this in the next couple of days. My sources are Toshiba XA-2, Sony PS3, and HD cable.

THis unit is more expensive than others, but there is obviously a reason.

Im at present writing a user review of the D80 with a fair bit of focus on internal VP. Much of this id relevant to the HT as both machines are electronically almost identical. I hope ant prospective HT3000 buyers may find this of use or interest. Report will be up at the weekend.

I was going to purchase a brand new Sim2 Domino 80. The dealer offered me his a demo Sim2 HT3000 with 300 hours on it. The additional cost for the HT3000 is $2,000. Do you think it is worth it?

Depends on your room, but basicaly yes, rip it from his hands. Brighter, bit better contrast, better optics, lens options. For 2k extra its a total no brainer.

Never seen a D80 but heard good things. 3000 is 5000/1; D80 4000/1; 3000 brighter and I imagine quieter--it comes, I think in the same big box as their 3-chip-24 lbs so about twice as heavy and I suspect quieter. So for just $2k I agree rip it from him.

The D80 is a great unit, probably a better "value". The HT3000 no question is a better performer, but a good chuck of change more money as well.

The D80 is a great unit, probably a better "value". The HT3000 no question is a better performer, but a good chuck of change more money as well.
Agreed, but a $2k difference makes it a pretty low hanging fruit. Full price difference is one thing but 2k... I'd jump at it

IF you can find a $2k price difference, then someone is overcharging on the D80 and way undercharging on the HT3000. There is a $6k retail difference.

D80: $9999 list
HT3000 (short throw): $15999
HT3000 (long throw): $16999

IF you can find a $2k price difference, then someone is overcharging on the D80 and way undercharging on the HT3000. There is a $6k retail difference.

D80: $9999 list
HT3000 (short throw): $15999
HT3000 (long throw): $16999


Dude, read post 13 in this thread. Hes getting an ex demo deal with 300hrs.

Indeed, and I did miss that. But, that still doesn't make sense unless a. they are overcharging on the D80 or b. they are losing their shorts on the HT3000 (hopefully the case). :)

If that D80 is at normal price or even a bit higher than street. He needs to take that deal before the dealer has a chance to blink.

My advice to him would be... as you walk out the shop, keep walking and dont look back.... for anything.

Agreed.