Hello everyone - Ive been lurking these forums for awhile... This being my first post just wanna say you guys are awesome... (forgive my rambling one too many sips of whisky)

I currently own a 4805. The lady and I have decided to step into the 1080p market - Looking to spend around 4k. I was thinking the ptae1000u - Yet im concerned about the "life" of the lcd panels. Also considered the Epson home cinena 1080, and the optoma hd81. If you guys have other ideas please tell me!

Currently we watch loads of dvds using an htpc. We also have an xbox360. Dont have cable so.. sd isnt a concern. we will be getting a hd dvd player once we switch.
Ive been reading up on these three pjs. Im thinking the panny would suit me best given i can sit close - and still have a good image. that 5 year warranty sounds nice too. However I seem to see more people liking the optoma and the epson?

The 4805 just doesnt cut the mustard anymore. Its got around 2k hours on it, Already went thru one bulb. No warranty anymore - just waiting for it to die :(

My room is 100% light controlled. Currently I have a da lite model B manual pulldown. Id like to switch to a CIH setup, with a 45x115 screen.

If I dont get a new pj soon.. She will be getting new shoes etc. etc.
anything else just ask...

Ive looked at the pearl - specs say 900 lumens - will this seem brighter than my 4805 with one light on? currently it gets a little washed out when I need to have a small table lamp on. Will it display alot of screen door effect if i sit close to my screen? I currently sit about 12' away from my 92" 16x9. I can notice the sd effect at that distance. I looked around for some longe warrantys on a pearl I couldnt find one :(

I second that. I think you'll be impressed at how bright the Pearl can be. Mine required only modest tweaking out of the box and the image will blow you away.

Brian

Where can i purchase an extened warranty on the pj itself? I dont want to be shelling out greenbacks later for repairs. Another concern would be if I can mount the pj outside the frame of the image without keystoning.. My 4805 is currently keystoned due to ceiling height. I suppose I should just choose - however I feel like i should of went for something better than my 4805. Thanks!

Why not go DLP ? The BenQ W10000 is a great choice

Or the BenQ w9000 - Coming from a former 4805 (and then 7205) owner I have to say I'm very pleased with the w9000

To see SDE on the Pearl you would have to sit within about
1ft of the screen and even then you would have to look for it!

That's interesting that someone saw the pearl look that bright in a Best Buy setup. I've been to two different one's in my area and in both cases it seemed really dim. One of the two was a little better then the other. I didn't have access to the remote to check the hours but was surprised at the pic I saw. I had the VPL-VW100 previously and was hearing that the Pearl was an upgrade over it in most regards. I certainly couldn't see it.

If you don't have problems with rainbows on DLP I can vouch for the HD-81. It has some tricky mounting issues granted. However, if you can get past the offset it's a really nice picture for the now sub $4K list price. Very Sharp and very bright.

If I dont get a new pj soon.. She will be getting new shoes etc. etc.
anything else just ask...

How many shoes for $4,000?

Btw, I am happy with my Epson on 134" screen. :)

You know the drill - shoes, handbags, etc.

Yeah the pearl was actually my first choice coming into the 1080p world. I phoned sony and i can purchase a extra 3 year warrant for around $350. wheres a good place to purchase a pearl? hopefully Ill be able to find some people local to binghamton ny.. who would love to show me their setups :)

Contact Jason Turk or Trig from AVS (the forum sponsor) if you don't mind purchasing
nonlocally. They have sold many Pearls to people on this forum.

Heres a link to a thread on an extended warranty...I don't know much about them besides what you read in the thread..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=727816

Phil