This poll is for owners or previous owners of the AE2000.

Surprisingly good results so far.

As of right now, 6 out of 23 owners have dust problems. That's not terribly good news.

I would say anything under 5% is acceptable. 5-10% is fair. Anything over 10% is awful. Right now, it looks as if 1 out of 4 units has dust problems. That's horrendous. Most will return units with dust blobs. There is also some units with mis convergence and focus issues that are being returned. Can you image a 30% return rate on a projector due to problems. That's unheard of. If the results remain consistent with this percentage, I would say that the AE2000 is a defective unit by design and should be discontinued or recalled.

If consumers take the risk of buying this unit, they should be sure to buy it at a reputable dealer with a liberal return and exchange policy. This projector is still on my list, but the ONLY place I would even think of buying it is at Costco where I would have a full 90 days to return it if it were to develop a dust or mis-convergence problem.

The only problem is that the projector on the top of my list -- the Epson Home Cinema 1080UB -- is ALSO known to have dust problems.

In the end, I might just end up with the Sony VW60.

I would say anything under 5% is acceptable. 5-10% is fair. Anything over 10% is awful. Right now, it looks as if 1 out of 4 units has dust problems. That's horrendous. Most will return units with dust blobs. There is also some units with mis convergence and focus issues that are being returned. Can you image a 30% return rate on a projector due to problems. That's unheard of. If the results remain consistent with this percentage, I would say that the AE2000 is a defective unit by design and should be discontinued or recalled.

If consumers take the risk of buying this unit, they should be sure to buy it at a reputable dealer with a liberal return and exchange policy. This projector is still on my list, but the ONLY place I would even think of buying it is at Costco where I would have a full 90 days to return it if it were to develop a dust or mis-convergence problem.

The only problem is that the projector on the top of my list -- the Epson Home Cinema 1080UB -- is ALSO known to have dust problems.

In the end, I might just end up with the Sony VW60.

Man, story of my life. I want to purchase the AE2000. I will most likely get an RS1 because I can't spend 3k on a new toy just to see dust on the screen. We buy this expensive stuff to see fine details of the source, not fine details that are flaws of the equipment.

The only problem is your sample. People are vocal when they have problems and silent when they don't. 1 out of 4 may really translate to 1 out of 6, or 10, or 1,000. You will never have any way to tell.

Don't take this the wrong way, but it makes the whole excercise kind of pointless IMHO.

The only problem is your sample. People are vocal when they have problems and silent when they don't. 1 out of 4 may really translate to 1 out of 6, or 10, or 1,000. You will never have any way to tell.

Don't take this the wrong way, but it makes the whole excercise kind of pointless IMHO.

Yes, those that have problems tend to frequent forums and report them. The numbers likely don’t reflect accurate “real world” figures. However, it is true with all projectors. If the Panasonic is getting more complaints and reports than, say, the Sony VW60, then it is safe to conclude that the Panasonic has more “issues”.

If you look at the forums, you will find the Panasonic is getting a lot of “dust” and convergence complaints. Other projectors are getting far fewer. This leads me to conclude that the Panasonic has some quality control problems and has, overall, worse “quality” than some other projectors in its class.

This may be a stupid question, but I honestly don't know the answer to it. A lot of people are talking about dust blobs. Can that problem not be addressed by opening the PJ and spraying air on the panels every once in a while?

Convergence is another issue all together. I personally think that Panasonic should allow user control over convergence.

This may be a stupid question, but I honestly don't know the answer to it. A lot of people are talking about dust blobs. Can that problem not be addressed by opening the PJ and spraying air on the panels every once in a while?

Convergence is another issue all together. I personally think that Panasonic should allow user control over convergence.

There is a "do it yourself" guide somewhere on the forums for cleaning the panels on the AE2000. However, if it were ever discovered that you DID open the unit, your warranty would be voided. Some don't like to take that risk even though it would be almost impossible to prove it was opened. Also, the process is a "little" involved, so some are reluctant to do it. You have to remove the main cover, disconnect some things and remove an inner cover. Also, by opening the unit, you are exposing the panels much more to the elements than a closed unit. It is possible to actually make the dust worse by blowing particles all over the place. Plus if you use the wrong thing (such as compressed air) you can spray liquid and ruin the panels.

Personally, I don't think a consumer should have to take apart the projector for cleaning on a regular basis. Some LCD projector manufacturers have done a good job managing dust well (Sony, for example). To me dust problems are a sign of being "cheap" and careless in the design. If you spend $3000, you shouldn't have to put up with constant dust blobs. Just my opinion.