Viewsonic Pro8200 VS Optoma HD20 Help me?

Seems the bottom of the screen will be about 1' 3" off the floor if your limited to a ceiling of around 7' 9" with the Viewsonic, and that size screen. HD20 looks like 2' off the floor. I got the numbers off http://www.eliteprojectorcalculator.com/ if you want to look at 'em. For a comparison my 126" sits at 1' 6" off the floor, which makes it pretty much centered at eye level, when sitting.

I've got the Viewsonic PRO8200. It is my first projector. I've had it since December 2012. Overall, I'm VERY happy with this PJ!

I've got it setup in a room roughly 12ft deep (screen to PJ hanging from ceiling) and 10ft wide. My ceiling is approx. 8ft tall.

I built my own screen (def recommend you do the same since you said you were on a budget. I followed a DIY BOC (black out cloth) build on here and completed mine for about $70 in materials) that measures 90" of viewable screen with 4" of black border. My screen sits above an entertainment center that is roughly 4 feet tall. Here's a pic:


Technically my screen could go slightly larger, but with the border around the screen, the height at which I have it mounted to clear the entertainment center, and how close the screen frame is to the ceiling, not to mention how close I sit to the screen, my 90" screen is plenty for me.

With the 8200 not having image shift, and using a standard mount, you'll notice that the PJ actually points up towards the ceiling a little (when projecting the bottom of your screen as high off the ground as I am). Because of this, my PJ throws a little light onto the ceiling which then "Halo's" on the surrounding walls. My solution to this is going to be to go buy a spacer to drop the PJ another 1/2" or so which will hopefully fix the Halo effect. Since the PJ sits above a couch, I'm not worried about it hanging too low. Another solution seen on here is building a shroud, but I'd rather try the spacer solution first.

In the end, the Halo effect I'm referring to is really minimal, and not that much of an issue, and with an 8' ceiling it still works quite well.

Hope this helps!
Edited by West1134 - 2/19/13 at 8:08am

I would up the budget slightly and try to go for the Benq w1070, it's the one to get in this price range.

Pro8200_User_Guide.pdf 3200k .pdf file

Please refer to attached Pro8200 User Guide and refer to the section on Adjusting Projection Image Size. The graphic chart in this section will help you determine the screen size and projection distance.