Worth getting Epson 8350 @ $1099 from VisualApex?

My advise is to wait at least until Friday. Last year on black Friday the 8350 was $999 from several vendors and I even had one in my shopping cart for $899 and before I pushed the button to buy, it went up to $999 and at which point I chose to pass. I have been surprised to see the $1199 price most of this year on this model that is now more than 2 years old.

I was in the same boat as you. And was disappointed recently in the last couple of weeks as the prices were around retail - 1299 at most retailers. I was also looking to pull the trigger on the Visual Apex unit at 1099 w/free 2 day shipping but got lucky and picked up an open box from best buy for 800 w/tax and added a 4 year protection plan. i would also suggest waiting until friday in case you see it for lower elsewhere.

Visual apex has the 8500UB-R for $1099 right now as well. For the same price you will get a much better picture.

The review for it is here, looks like it can handle ambient light well.

What worries me is that the 8500UB is only 1600 lumens whereas the 8350 is rated at 2000. I plan on projecting onto a 125" screen so I need the lumens, not so much for primary movie viewing which will be at night in complete darkness, but more for those daytime viewwing or for parties with lights on somewhat.

If you are so inclined, I believe you can still get a refurbed 8350 straight from Epson. Not a big fan of refurbed electronics or even pre owned for that matter, but with some warranties in tact and Epson has always been good about being pretty liberal with their warranties, I pulled the trigger on an 8350 refurbed. Just got it today, and it is staying it the box for a little while, so if I see someone come in with a great price, I will simply return it and go with the lower price.

With regard to the Epson 8350 open box at BB. Theres no guarantee that the store will sell it for sub 800 but its worth talking to them and to see if they are willing to negotiate the price. For the unit that I got from BB - the store was supposedly running a one-day special and taking off an extra 25% off the open item price. Typically open item is 10% off the retail/regular price. My deal didnt add up because they intially told me the PJ was 1169 and additional 25% doesnt get me anywhere close to 760 for the PJ but i didnt complain. Good luck - its worth a try and perhaps add the protection plan for added piece of mind as it pays for the replacement lamp.

I'm on the same page. The contrast ratio is pretty tempting for $100 more with the 8500UB but the lumens are always nice to have. I have a PT-AX200U with at least a few thousand hours on the bulb so i'm sure the brightness is pretty much non-existent compared to when it was new and you can tell. Any thoughts on whether to upgrade to the 8350 or the 8500 assuming it's about 50-50 daytime/nighttime watching?