Hi everyone,

First let me start by saying that I am completely new at this and don't have a clue about anything, so please bear with me and have a little patience as I may be asking some stupid questions here.

I live in an apartment and on a small budget. I won't be using a screen now, but I will upgrade in the future.

I will be using this for watching HD TV,regular(SD Tv sometimes), gaming with xbox 360 and SD movies and will eventually get a PS3 to play Bluray Movies.

I would not like to install it in the ceiling as its an apartment, so I need something that can be put on a table or something. I already sound stupid don't I. Anyways,

My Budget: to be honest if I can get anything at under $500 that would be great but my upper limit is $600. I don't have any problems with 720 p or 1080p( out of questions with this budget).

Will I have to buy an A/V receiver also to get the PJ to work.

Oh!!! I will be sitting at around 10-12 feet.

I don't know anything about DLP, LCD or whatever other technology that may exist.

That is all I can think right now, So if you guys could help me out here it would be great.

Most PJs can be run from a table. Ceiling mounted just makes it permanent.

At your price range the Acer PH530 or the Optoma HD70 after rebate are the only new machines close that are HD specifically. You could also look at a sharp XR20x which is a 4:3 but with an excellent output and would handle your regualr tv viewing quite well. You could look for a used machine in the section for selling here or Craigslist or Videogon or ebay. Look for SOme of the machines specifically mentioned in the threads here and make sure they tell you how many hours are on the lamp.

The AV receiver is just a way to get your sound played. PJs for the most part are not wired for sound and the ones that are are not really adequate for home use, eccept for maybe the Optoma Moviemachine or the Epson Moviemate.

What are the room dimensions wall-to-wall?

We have never used a AV Switcher. Our surround system "head" is to the side but speakers (center and front left & right) are at the screen.

Idea - you can save initial dollars by connecting various audio outputs from your devices to your sound system.

You can spend about $70 at Radio Shack for a pretty good 4 input to 1 output HDMI switch so you can plug your Xbox an HD receiver (or cable or sat) HDMI outputs into the switch allowing a single connection to your projector.

Then you can buy an inexpensive regular dvd player that has up conversion and also connect it to your HDMI switch box. Up Conversion of regular dvd to your new HD projector will put almost HD WOW into your BIG SCREEN projection experience.

Price - With your budget you can find a LOT of decent first projectors at even big box stores like Circuit City in your max price range.

There are online providers that are competitively prices and in many cases you avoid paying sales tax.

THE HONEST TRUTH - Only reason we got into front projection for Home Theater was we found both our projectors at outlet stores. We bought our first - Canon - 4:3 Native but GREAT cinema mode - paid $550 and it included a Da-lite screen and its' MSRP without screen was $3500.

Main projector now is Panasonic AE-900U - paid $600 for it - demo closeout - works great.

Look for shops that sell big box store returns and demo units from places like CostCo (where both of ours came from) and Sam's and etc. There are very good deals out there if you are willing to take a small risk and suffer the consequences of saved money or much better projector for dollars spent.

EDITED TO ADD - IMO - table mount worst choice. Unless our room is obscenely long you should be able to mount PJ on a wall shelf - IMO - best solution and a lot less complicated that ceiling mount.

It worked for us!
goodluck

My advice! Don`t skimp! Buy the highest thing you can so you won`t be wanting to upgrade in a year. If that means holding off a month or so do it.

You can always try to pick up an Optoma H31; it's only 480p but I don't have a single problem with mine as I was in the same boat as you about a year ago. DVD's look great as does the xbox 360, sure it's not 1080p but when I made the switch from a 32 tube tv I was extremely impressed. I am actually looking to possibly sell mine, it has a few hundred hours on it (300 or so) and according to most people should go for about 2000 hours depending on usage. PM me if you are interested or if you have any questions regarding 480p projectors, specifically the Optoma H31.