Who else makes a good widescreen projector under 2000  

Take a look at the Sanyo XW-15. 800 lumens, XGA, 350:1 (or maybe 300:1) contrast ratio.

Weak on the blacks, but can be had right now well under $2K.

Great bang for the buck. If you do a search on this projector you will find overall good feedback on it.

I am surprised it hasn't caught on a little more here, as it is a great value.

Rick

which problems are you talking about. I was about to buy one, but I haven't read any major problems.

No, no, there are many OF the people returning them IN the threads. There's a difference.

-Jens

Remember that you almost always hear from 100% of the people who are having problems and almost never from those that aren't.

I haven't seen any evidence that the AE100 has a failure rate any higher than other projectors.

It's just that they are so popular on this board right now that many people have one.

Still, the gamble is not worth the reward, IMHO, in this case.

Look at the difference between Wolfgang's experience with a dead pixel on a US bought 75u with panazip vs many forum users experience with ********** and the AE-100.

He was without a projector for 0 days and it cost him 0$ to get one dead pixel fixed. Nothing compared to what users are going through with dead power supplies (or whatever the unknown gremlin is). Not to mention, that several AE-100 users are living with dead/stuck pixels because of the cost of sending their unit back.

You can roll the dice, and end up with a great bargain...Chances are in your favor. But you can also end up with a dud, additional out of pocket expense and a host of headaches.

I looked at the Sanyo's before buying the Panny 75u, and agree that they are a good value. However, be prepared to spend some additional dough on external scalers, as Sanyo is notorious for having weak internal scalers. If you plan on driving it with an HTPC, then it's a non-issue.

Robert,

Feel free to correct me, but the internal scaler on the XW-15 gets top marks. I know Sanyo has had this knock in the past but not on this projector.

I think if you do a search of the forum you will find praise for the internal scaler in the XW-15.

I could be wrong but for the price this unit is still a powerhouse!

Rick

robertmee wrote:
"I looked at the Sanyo's before buying the Panny 75u, and agree that they are a good value. However, be prepared to spend some additional dough on external scalers, as Sanyo is notorious for having weak internal scalers. If you plan on driving it with an HTPC, then it's a non-issue."

This is the first time I've heard someone knock the XW15's scaler - To my eye (and the almost 100 people who have seen my Panny RP-56 fed XW15) the Sanyo's scaler does an amazing job all by itself. Forget a Quadscan, HTPC, external line doubler, Voo Doo schrunken head, $500 cables, firebird screen.... all you need is an XW15, a sub-$200 Panny RP-56 DVD, component cables, and a nice flat white wall and you'll be in heaven.

I watched "Grand Prix" on *gasp* VHS through a single composit cable last night.... unbelievable seeing this epic in widescreen for the very first time. Colors, sharpness, even sound was WAY better than I ever expected from this aging film. If they ever remaster it on DVD I'll buy it only for the ease of fast-forwarding through the sappy bits. Picutre quality was shockingly good, this without any external line doublers, scalers etc....

Don't let the nit-pickers or naysayers scare you away - the XW15 is the only one you need.

my XW15: 9 months old, 625 lamp hours, not one hiccup

Could be...I specifically looked at the xp21n which was horrible. If the XW-15 is better, then I agree...The value would be good.

If you're not comfortable with nit-pickers and naysayers, then you're in the wrong forum....It's loaded with them ;)

I'm not nit-picking or naysaying....Just pointing out a personal experience with Sanyo's in the past, albeit the xp21n, a pricier unit, but evidently not as near a quality scaler. I stand corrected :)

I'm fine with N&Ns, as long as they are actually nit-pick and naysay fairly.

Its cool Robert - next time you could save us some typing time by being specific about the Sanyos you have and haven't seen before generalizing about all of them :)

Hey I don't really care how Sanyo improved the quality of the scaler from the XP21 to the XW15, and also managed to reduce the price of the projector, and frankly I dont' give a damn. Been too busy enjoying movies :)

Yikes Kurt!

We're all friends here, I don't think Robert had any ill intentions, and his comments about N&N's was followed by a smile.

PS, If I remember properly you found the service menu on the XW-15, if so, any luck with it?

Rick