So ive been watching sdtv on a ceiling mounted infocus 425z for a couple years now. I think it was a good entry level projector, effectively filling a 100" screen, but now its time to move on to HD land.

Ive done some research and narrowed down my coices to either the ax100u, mitsu1000u, or epson 400, with the panny being the clear leader.

My room is not well light controlled, as such brightness is key.

So here are my questions:

Should I buy the ax100u in the next couple days, before the rebate expires? Or does it seem likely that by the fall I could see a price drop on the ax100u? The ax100u came out last August, so maybe I will only need to wait another month.

I intend on projecting to ~100 in widescreen surface from about 17ft away. I have (though have yet to use) a high-gain glass beaded luma 2 screen by draper. Will the image be too bright for me with such a setup?

I intend to continue ceiling mounting.

It seems as though you have set yourself on the Panny, which is a great choice. (I have one myself) Though I can't comment on the best time to purchase your pj, I do suggest you visit a forum sponsor. That being said, I have used mine in a dual purpose den/ht with 50-75% light control on a 1.0 gain screen (Draper Salara). Shooting a 106 inch image from about 18 feet (pj ceiling mounted) and it is plenty bright. I doubt you would need a high gain in your setup. Good luck.

Panasonic frequently extends the rebates. Wherever you buy, be sure to understand the return policy. Great technical support up front is great, but the real test is getting it home and seeing for yourself.

Do yourself a favor and purchase an extended warranty. My AX100U and another co-workers PJ both had auto-iris issues that cropped up at 500-600 hours.

If you can wait until the 2008 projectors are announced in September you might find another model or two to choose from as well.

Bah! I just couldnt handle waiting; I've been far too long without a projector. Ordered the HD1000 last night. Seems to be fairly reliable, the only somewhat consistent problem being yellowish greens, which seems like it can be fixed by calibrating once the lamp has been broken in (~100 hours)

I would have gone with the benq w500 for SDTV as it has a very high end video processor in it.

The w500 really would not have been as bright as I wanted, besides, I don't plan on watching too much sdtv from here on out :D