Panasonic PT-AR100 MSRP$ 1,999 - 4000U replacement... kind of - Page 17

I'm not sure what the air intake on the back of the unit is or where it goes. The intake on the right side is the intake that houses the filter. It exhausts to the front left.

Typically cooling is separate for power supply vs light components.... I haven't checked out the service manual for this one though.

Download the user's guide. I think all you need to do is replace the power cable with one with the appropriate plug, but the user's guide should confirm this. It will do 25/50 Hz just fine.

I just ordered this to replace my Mitsubishi HC3000U.

I have a dedicated theater room, fully light controlled. Was eyeing the epson 8350 and Mits HC4000. But the placement inflexibility of HC4000 and the lack of 2.35 mode on epson is what turned me away.

I have a white 130" diagonal 2.35:1 screen. (Translates to 138" in a 16:9 aspect ratio).

My mount currently is at 17' with HC3000U projecting on that screen.

I am hoping that the extra bright panasonic would work fine in my scenario given the screen size and the throw distance. Even though it is light controlled room.

I should get the projector on wednesday. I will report back with results.

Is Disney WOW the best way to calibrate for now? I do not have any fancy colorimeters and other setup. I will have to just use my eyes and blue filter glasses.

I will have a HTPC connected to the projector.

thanks

so am i reading this right...the pt-ar100 is compatible of doing 2.35 but just manually, or no? if so manually , thats better than spending 2k more for the ae7000...anyone can give insight...or pic proof?!

So what's the final verdict on the rebate? If anyone calls B&H, please let me know what they say.

The "final verdict" was stated last week. The rebate is void and will not be honored by Panasonic.

That may be the official "verdict" but I just can't see how they choose not to honor a rebate that is valid for purchases made from an authorized retailer during the promotional period? Do they really expect customers are going to call in to verify the legitimacy of a rebate before purchasing the unit?

according to the rebate processing center it has not been canceled.

It is not the same thing as using an anamorphic lens, stretching then compressing etc.

It does 2.35 by chopping off pixels on the top and bottom, which is what i am looking for.

There is a masking and position features listed in the manual, that allow you to primarily mask content from top and bottom being projected. Similar to Mitsubishi's 2.35 screen mode.

My goal is to project on a 2.35:1 screen, without needing an anamorphic lens, and not have light spillage beyond the screen.
And i don't want to use one of those external DIY light masking contraptions either.

I will report back with results once i get it installed.

great! let me know how it works out, going to project on a 103" diagonal 2.35 screen...just want conformation before the purchase!, also the black bars don't bother me much, so if i see them above and below the screen meh. whatever. maybe wait till later this year to see if panny releases a predecessor to the ae4000...

couple of questions as im thinking of upgrading to this from an infocus X10, my X10 just doesnt have the light output and contrast i need in my viewing area..Seems like their is nothing comparable for its lumens and contrast at this pricepoint

Is there anything comparable in its pricepoint? Just wondering if its worth holding out for something else..

does the unit automatically set itself to 24fps when it senses the Blu ray outputting this video format?

Yes, it automatically senses 24fps. There is no reason to wait. The technology is so mature at this point that any improvements will be small.

Thanks. Makes no sense they would just cancel a rebate in the middle of the valid dates. If only this unit was a bit smaller...it's several inches larger in pretty much every dimension compared to my current AX200. Not sure if I want to put up a larger shelf. lol But for 7 bills it's worth seriously considering!

Good luck getting the rebate, they sent out a notice to everyone that it is now void and B&H just happened to be the last to pull it from the website. Unless there is a legal reason that requires them to honor the rebate I think the person you spoke to just hasn't been informed, but its always worth a try!

I also called the rebate center and they said it is good. Maybe you should call and get your own confirmation. I have dealt with panny before and always got my rebates.

Wow just texted Panny solution center and they say the rebate is invalid it was a mistake on the website. Just like tech support different answer everytime. Time to cancel order. Would have been my 3rd panny never again

I think it is pretty apparent (to anyone who has frequented this thread for any amount of time) that all Panasonic wanted to do was to bring the cost of this projector down from $1300 (what I paid) to $1000. Unfortunately someone at Panasonic marketing dropped the ball and forgot this rebate was still circulating around the internet. I can tell you from the quality build and features of this unit that it is most certainly NOT intended to sell for $700.

And another confirmation. Just did solution center chat. They state it is no longer valid. They need to pull that rebate form from their website ASAP. If I wasn't a member here, I would have seen the rebate, pulled the trigger and been SOL. To the average uninformed consumer looking for a projector, they would have just bought it, downloaded the rebate from Panasonic and been out $300. I don't see how they can have it on their website and not honor it. That is poor business practice. I love panasonic, but this is kinda shady. They should eat the loss on the stock that is out there and just not supply any more until after the rebate expires if they don't want to honor it.

The blame can be shared equally between the merchant (who continues to advertise the rebate) and Panasonic.

The merchants have pulled the rebate. It's Panasonic that still has it listed. I'm not purchasing one as I have done my homework now. I just hope others don't get screwed by Panasonic in the process. They need to pull that rebate from their website.

When you spoke to Panasonic Solution Chat did they indicate whether they were going to do that?

I called Friday and was told they were still honoring it and like you kept calling around and found that it was def void and the rebate center would get that memo before I could get my rebate processed

This is the most activity this thread has seen in a long time and it's being generated by a bad rebate form. Fascinating.

When was the rebate time from? Can someone scan it for us?

I was thinking of picking up second projector but short bulb life with 400 dollar bulb replacement is making me think twice. It's around 19 lbs and no internal speakers, so not exactly a portable PJ. Am I right to understand it has a 2,000 hour warranty? Confused about that. Seems like a good PJ but if they are not gonna honor the rebate, hate to buy it , rip the box apart to take bar code off box and not get the 300 dollars back. It would be hard to return within 30 day period and harder to sell with box torn apart. Still thinking about it though, maybe you guys can share the good points about it some more.

Art has posted a "first look" review.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/blog...t-look-review/

Great! Looking forward to Art's full review, too bad the lamp life is relatively low/shorter

FWIW, this AR100 is my 3rd projector.

As a Canadian buying Pana projectors, we either get ridiculously overcharged or buy from the US and basically give up warranty... I chose to risk warranty.

Pana does NOT make the smartest business, nor customer service decisions (I always end up in endless loops if I call them for Canadian parts/technical). I believe they recently reported $9 billion in the red so not much to argue here.

HOWEVER, for those people that were waiting to see the prices drop to $1000, and then not be able to cash in a rebate for $300 on top of the lowered price, I really hope you never commit to buying it... I don't want you to know how good this projector is! I paid $1400 (incl shipping, customs) for a "B" line model - and it's been amazing! Had I known how much better (especially brighter) the AR100 is for our living room, I'D HAVE EASILY PAID MORE!

With the current market, and it's competition, there's no way this should be "a $700 projector". In my opinion it's an EXCELLENT $1,500 projector, and an AMAZING deal at $1,000. For those that lucked out and got it for $700: congrats. For the rest of the population, well... sorry: you're "stuck" with "just" an amazing deal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MB5QEYboE0

I can't disagree with anything that Art has written so far, I'm thinking this is going to be a very positive review given his initial impressions. Also looking forward to the complete write-up with his calibration notes. I haven't gotten around to calibrating mine since I just hit the 100 hour mark on the bulb but may begin sometime soon. As Art mentions in his first look the 'out of the box' colors on this projector look amazing and with all of the picture modes there has been no immediate need on my part to do a calibration.