So I've seen a ton of people saying as soon as you hang your PJ, reaching the finish line can be a major challenge. I'm wondering what everyone thinks - at what point in the construction process you should buy a PJ. What happened in your situation?

What I am currently doing, is I selected a couple of projectors when I started the project and made sure my outlets and conduit supported them, and I will buy something as soon as the room has carpet. The way the projector market goes, they keep getting cheaper and better, so personally I would hold off as long as possible. I been going for 3 years now, but I see some light around thanks giving and my project is now about 3k cheaper =).

I would wait until the very last second before buying a projector. The prices are always falling, so why buy something if it is going to sit in a box for months as the prices fall? Also - a little gotcha on projectors is that the bulb warranties are often 90 days from the purchase date. My last 10% of theater construction was severely delayed by hanging my projector. There have been serious level shifts in projector pricing happening - projectors have been known to drop by $1000 or more at random times. You might get lucky and have a next level up projector drop right into your price range.

I hung my projector in May of 2005. I'm on my third bulb. The theater room is still not done.

I actually watched it for a over a year without carpet.

I think it's kind of like Sex, do you want to wait until you are married?

I think it's kind of like Sex, do you want to wait until you are married?

Too funny, Big!! lol

Actually, it's better then sex before marriage, there is no risk for pregnancy, and you can always buy a new baby when you are ready...

Hehehhe

So I've seen a ton of people saying as soon as you hang your PJ, reaching the finish line can be a major challenge. I'm wondering what everyone thinks - at what point in the construction process you should buy a PJ. What happened in your situation?

The new projector were recently announced so I would wait at least a few months from now for prices to come down on last years model and purchase one of those or buy a new model for the same price you were expecting to pay last week.

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grant

So I've seen a ton of people saying as soon as you hang your PJ, reaching the finish line can be a major challenge. I'm wondering what everyone thinks - at what point in the construction process you should buy a PJ. What happened in your situation?
I DO agree that once you put up the projector, your building seems to "slow".
However, when to buy the projector?

Anyone in the know KNOWS that as soon as you finish the research and "pull the trigger", something else comes out THE NEXT DAY that is 1)brighter 2) sharper 3)great with HDTV and 4)costs hundreds less.

As with almost all things electronic, this seems to be a fact of life. However, at some time in the process "you puts down your money and you takes your chances..."

I bought my PJ in Sept of 06, and really didin't even hook it up till about mid-December. Through out the then build, I would have to take it down several times to hang drywall, make stages, risers etc. It could be down for several weeks at a time. When I put it up after a long spell, it was almost like seeing it for the first time again! Wow!!

Make the best decision, and keep the PJ out of all that build dust and debris, and importantly, Enjoy!

Best,
Tom
Chinaclipper

If you want to build the airplane while you are flying it, then buy it now. That's what my dumb butt did. I can't tell you how many times I have taken my projector down to prime the ceiling, pain the ceiling black, paint the walls, run cables etc... I am beginning to think that I will call my theater "The Bassackwards" since that is how I'm building it, bassackwards.

Each time I do anything in the theater part, I have to put everything back together so we can use it. Pain in the butt.

But we enjoy watching movies NOW!

I hung my projector in May of 2005. I'm on my third bulb. The theater room is still not done.

I actually watched it for a over a year without carpet.

I think it's kind of like Sex, do you want to wait until you are married?

Awesome!!

Still not done? You hide that very well in your pictures. Unless you are referring to the back bar area.

Still not done? You hide that very well in your pictures. Unless you are referring to the back bar area.


Bingo, I was just on the phone today with a guy I want to do some upholstery work for the back bar.

Then Counter tops, backsplash tile, couple back lit poster cases, finish hooking up the buttkickers and I'm done with HT1.0.

HT2.0 will be 1080P projector, 2:35 screen and lens.

Also haven't done the HDDVD, BluRay, and the upgrade of the satellite system to MPEG4 with recorder.

I'm in no hurry.

I was leaning towards a sub $1k 720p PJ for now - during the plan and build process. Then, when I got close to the end of the build (seems like 1 year is a pretty average build time for an unfinished DIY basement + HT) I'm thinking the decent 1080p PJs may be sub $2k. I could get one of those and put the original 720p in the bonus room upstairs. That would keep my son's gaming time off the main projector bulb.

Any caveats regarding this idea? I've seen a lot of builds with two projector mounting locations "in case I need to move the PJ in the future". Right now the room I'm planning is 19' x 16' unfinished w/CIH. And, I can even place the PJ in the wall at the back of the room.

If I want to get a "cheap fling" PJ before getting married, and then marry the "right" girl and ditch the fling, what should I watch out for?

Then, when I got close to the end of the build (seems like 1 year is a pretty average build time for an unfinished DIY basement + HT) I'm thinking the decent 1080p PJs may be sub $2k.

1 year is pushing it unless you spend a LOT of time down there. I am finishing off 1400SF and I started in Jun 06 and am still not done, but with 2 teenagers involved in football/wrestling and a 4yo I did not spend as much time down there as I would have liked. I am planning on being complete before Christmas though, barring any unforeseen financing issues like a car going on the fritz.

I bough my PJ (Sanyo PLV-Z4)first. As far as the wife knows it was the one going in the HT, but I have other plans. It will become my mobile PJ for outdoor movies. I will place a new 1080 PJ in the room once complete and not a day earlier. I do use my PJ upstairs projecting from a table behind my couch onto a blank wall, but I do not think it influenced my time in the basement at all as I rarely watch movies on it unless I never had plans to go downstairs to work anyway.

John

I followed the advice of everyone here and am not planning on buying my projector until the room is completely done. I've been tempted many times, but have resisted the temptation. Of course it makes it easier to resist buying the projector when you've run out of money for one like me!

To me the projector is the cheese. It's the reward at the end for finishing this long project. And the projector market moves so fast you don't want to buy an expensive projector now only to find you could have bought it way cheaper or with way more features if you had waited.

Here is my list of electronics I've purchased and have been sitting in boxes losing value and the dates I bought them:

Ascend Speakers - January 2007
Hsu VTF-3 MK3 - February 2007
Denon 987 - March 2007
Berkline chairs - March 2007
Oppo 981 - March 2007
Carada BW screen - July 2007

I wish I hadn't bought the Denon so soon since I like the newer model that was released. My problem is I've been thinking I'm "almost done" with the theater for a long time, so I order things. Luckily I waited on the projector at least.

Guy

I was just about to post this question.

Here is the issue as I see it. My understanding is that projectors will produce a certian screen size based on the distance mounted from the screen, 'based on a specific model".. This would imply that to get the resulting screen size, (Huge in my case), you need to know what projector your going to purcahse and it's exact mounting position before the ceiling goes up. This would allow the joists bracing for the mount, the outlet, and the video cabling to be in the correct spot. I would also think that you must know if your going 'Constant height', before installing these support items.

How the heck do you get around that issue? I just don't see how you can be sure about the exact screen size, and mounting distance with out the projector in hand? I must be missing some logic here?

I ran conduit to 2 positions to get around that problem which hives me like a variable 6 or so feet for various projector positions. I can take a picture when i get back from vacation if it would help at all.