Panny AE900 Official Thread- Please post here! - Page 3

I owned both a Z2 and a Panasonic AE700. The dust filter on the 700 was much better than the one on the Z2. It had a hepa like filter and a pre filter built in. I did not have any dust problems with the A700 but I had major problems with the Z2. If you have a real dust problem I would suggest using a hepa air purifier in the room. The one advantage the Z4 has is the holes for dust cleaning. I would also expect that the filter on the 900 would be at least as good as the one on the 700.

I am looking at 2 alternatives... Optoma H78/79 and keep for a while or go lower price with an AE700 and switch to a 1080 earlier. Is there much of a noticable difference between the two?

This thread has a mini review and comparison between the 700 and 900, with more to come on Monday:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=583189&page=3

Viper: Since the first units are just now getting into the market's hands it maybe a while before you get more than a couple of comparisons between 700 and 900 and less likely comparisons between the 900 and Optoma H78/79 projectors.

There is more information out there comparing the 700 and 900 to some degree. You'll need to search the previous large thread on the 900.

GL
Ron

I have seen Daniels initial review of the AE-900 vs. the 700, (sounds very promising) but honestly I thought there would be several reviews by now.
Perhaps late tonight, or on Monday they will start pouring in.
Come on guys... post your impressions.

Craig

What is Panasonic's policy regarding dead pixels? It's a very nice early review from Daniel and I'm nitpicking here. Just curious.

I dunno about that, but you can't give the Panny AE700 away on Ebay. It looks like graveyard city.

Wow, I didn't realize things would get this bad so soon.

Looks like I'll be keeping my AE700 and its minor vertical banding for now.

Well, the H78 has deeper blacks and shadow detail. If price were not a concern, I would take the H78 over the AE900 any day, but that's a pretty big difference in price.

Hey Mike! Have you done a comparison between your Toshiba MT700 vs. the Pany 900?

Mike,

"I don't really see any change in the background or subtitle brightness as the subtitles appear and disappear, which tells me that the DI is not easily fooled."

Good to hear, and Daniel said the same.

Thanks

I'd be curios to know how the black level compares with the 4805. I am more than happy with the black level of my 4805, but want to upgrade to a 720p projector. I am considering either the Panny 900 or the Z4 if they have a black level comparable to the 4805. Otherwise I may have to spend a little more and go with a 720p dlp unit instead.

could you guys pls advise me on screen for the A900?

my viewing distance is about 4.5m - about 15 ft and room is totaly dark with black/grey walls/ceiling.
projector will be mounted on ceiling.

what size/material/brand would be recomended?

thx,
Gennady

a german version instruction manual is available on the internet at www.panasonic.ch just go to products, find the projector, and look for "dokumente" on the left hand side.

k.

I would call this site.
I bought my AE-700 from this site and they recommended a Da-Lite HCCV screen with my PJ.

Craig

I am not surprised that they are not selling. The AE-700 is a perfectly good unit, but the projector for what ever the reason has been nitpicked to death on the AV forums. Especially this one. I mean, how many positive comments do you hear vs. negative ones about the AE-700?
I never even tried to sell mine.
I would keep it before I tried to sell it for what I have been seeing them go for on line. If you are going to give it away, it might as well be to a nice charity.
Perhaps you could give it to a charity like your church or school, then write it off on your taxes.
Either that, when I upgrade from my AE-700 to something else, the 700 will become a nice out-door PJ.
There are better options, than just giving them to someone on E-Bay or what ever.


I do stand corrected. Here is a nice comment from another thread discussing the new AE-900. But positive comments are still few and far between.

Craig

I'll take this off topic for just a second.

What's wrong with giving an old projector away? Haven't you ever enjoyed getting a good deal on something that you otherwise might not have had?

My first projector, was given to me by a friend. At the time, there was no way I could have purchased one. My wife and I enjoyed that projector for about a year and then bought a new one. Giving the old one away to yet another new Home Theater family.

I know first hand that it hurts to see that your baby is worth nothing on the market, but that's the nature of a technology based hobby.

I am now purchasing a 900, and have a 3 year old DLP that I'm going to give to someone in hopes "Passing it on".

I think most of the people hunting deals on ebay are doing it because its the only way they can afford one

I am not saying don't give it away. Infact, my above post clearly states, that I would give it away, (That would be $0.00) to a worth while charity. What I am saying is, I am not giving my PJ to some guy out there who is just looking for a great deal.
I realize that electronics changes over time... that is just the nature of things. But I would feel much better about my self for giving my PJ to my church or local school than selling it for $1000 to someone I don't even know on E-Bay and I urge everyone else to do the same.
If more did this, it might just drive the price up a little.

Craig

I just sold my AE500(600 hours) in Hong Kong for US$700. I don't even understand why you guys are discussing to give a AE700 or an old DLP away to school or church. Our money is hard-earn n blood dripping out from each penny.

My biggest fear with LCD is dealing with stuck pixels. The stuck red and stuck green pixels really show up well in a lot of scenes.

Panasonic considers a unit with 3-5 stuck/dead pixels to be within manufacturers' tolerances and will not do any warranty work for that problem. I know from personal experience.

Don

If you buy your projector from a good dealer they will switch if for you if you find dead pixals withing the first 4 or 5 hours.

Point taken. Sorry if I sounded as though you weren't of charitable mind...you did clearly state so. I'm suggesting that the person buying off of ebay may not be someone looking to make a steal, they may be doing what is in their means to do.

I just ordered my 900!!! Hope to have it by before next weekend.

This is exactly the problem i have with my Panasonic AE500. Dust spots, atleast four large ones. I was going to upgrade to an Optoma H79, but my girlfriend has epilepsy and we discovered today that after only a short period of viewing a DLP projector (a high-end Sim2 one) she got very sore eyes and the middle of her head and felt a bit strange.

Therefore, i think i am about to purchase a Panasonic AE900. I would like it to have a far better picture than my AE500, mainly in terms of contrast, because at times, the AE500 was a bit washed out.

Can someone recommend the right screen for me. Will either of these two give me a good level of black:

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=4624

http://www.av-sales.co.uk/proddetail...cat=173&nav=19

Thanks
Chris

P.S. Is there any info on whether or not the dust filter is any better? Can it be rectified if it does get very dusty and spots appear on the screen. Is it a simple cleaning process by Panasonic?

From those who have seen this unit in action, is it bright enough in cinema mode to display a decent picture on a 126" screen? My screen is in a dedicated dark theater room with 100% light control.

Thanks

Paul

Both appear to be standard gain matte white which will work fine. If you want deeper blacks, look at a grey screen. Don't know if it's available to you, but the Optoma Greywolf is a great low cost alternate and a good match with the 900.


Only from memory as I have recently fallen to the dead bulb disease of the MT700/PE7700.
I'll have a comparison once I get a new bulb.


I don't know about Cinema 1, which is really dark, but Cinema 2 should work just fine. I have to do some calibrating, but so far Cinema 1 is almost unusable on my 92" screen, even with total light control.

According to the specs, the AE900 has a much smaller throw range than the AE700 (7.8-40ft vs. 7.8-20ft), is that correct? I've been interested in the AE900 since it has the ability to do a long throw from the opposite side of a fairly large room. My room is about 25 ft long, so according to the specs, the AE700 would work, but the 900 would not.

Dave G.

The throw range in the AE900 manual is 3'-11" to 40'-8". Of course, it all depends on your screen size as well.

Mike,
Is there enough lumens for CC filter calibration? To me this would be preferable to a grey screen.

ted

I know others are using filters with the AE700, so it should be fine for the 900 as well. I have a few I might try out eventually. The Normal or Cinema 1 settings should work.

I have no dust problems on my AE700 after ~300 hours. I used to have dust issues with the PLV60 that preceded the AE700, and both have been in the same environment.

The AE700 dust filter is a far more advanced design than the AE500 foam or the PLV60's filters.

The AE700 uses a high surface area two stage filter, using a micro fiber for the second stage. It is easy to remove and clean, and is very effective at keeping visible contaminents out of the AE700 optical path.

If the AE900 uses the AE700 design (or equivalent/better), you should have nothing to worry about re: dust.

Cool, thanks. The specs must be wrong on Projector Central. Screen size calculator only lets you go to 20' or so. My screen is 130". Using the calculator for the AE700, it works for my configuration.

Dave G.

This is from the AE900 spec sheet.