Optoma HD70. The new budget king. - Page 3

For that money I think it would have to be

this little guy does seem interesting.....

i'm keeping my eye out for this one..

DarkChip2

Have you guys seen this on any more than the 1 e-retailer? Just with the mention of the 1500 MSRP, I got nervous that it was a price mistake, only opportunity to get it for $1k. but then, I suppose that if that was the case, they wouldn't honor the orders at $1k anyway, so no point in pre-ordering, right?

A street price which is 2/3 of MSRP seems perfectly normal.

VA now shows the offset at about 33%, which is what the HD72 is, I think. Damn these manufacturers with their large offsets.

Its a compromise......for people using it as a coffee table PJ its perfect.

For people using it mounted inverted, they're taking a gamble that most people have 8' or higher ceilings.

Its only us guys with low ceilings that get skrewed And for that, we have the Keystone Correction.

Wonder who else has 720p DLP projectors coming in this price range

That french review which compared the HD72 with the HD70, said that the HD70's black levels and noise levels are not at the same league as the HD72's, but the HD70 still puts a very nice picture for the price, escpecially when being fed HDTV.

Btw, what does the 7th segment of the 7 segment colorwheel stands for in this pj ?, please tell me that if it's a clear segment, we will be able to turn it off...

The seventh segment is white for the extra brightness.

Does the HD72 have a 6-segment? I *think* it's also 7, and it's VERY bright... do we know which lamp this takes? Ie. same as another pj? H27 perhaps? (with 300 more lumens due to the white segment)?

Yes, the HD72 has a 7 segment color wheel with a white section and 1300 lumens.

I think that just maybe you guys need to take a look at the Sanyo Z4 LCD for pic quality and price.

Gil, I'm interested in the Z4, but it's $525 more expensive (aka 34%) and yes, the spare lamp is nice, but how many of us would automatically buy it otherwise if it wasn't 'free'? Most of us already have screens, too. 92" screen? Don't they make TVs almost that big? 100"+ for me

@ $1100-1200 and I'd seriously have to read some glowing HD70 reviews before choosing it over the Z4, but at $525 differential (aka 1 HD-A1 and 5 HD-DVD movies!) I don't see them going head-to-head - aside from the HD70 stealing Z4 sales because it'll likely beat it on blacks/contrast (if that's your thing) and the whole 34% cheaper part.

Little doubt the Z4 has better colors/sharpness than the HD70 will ever manage.

Correct--Color and Detailed picture make it for me. The auto iris and the manual select iris make more than adequate contrast ratio and black level [no it ain't perfect, but neither is DLP].

Bring your Optoma or Mitsubishi over for a "shoot-out" with the PLV-Z4.

Using both a high gain 92 inch [curved screen 2.5) and a 2.0 glass bead 106 inch.

The spare lamp makes it a 6000 hour projector.

The Z4 can't compete with such a price and I doubt the Z4 throws a picture as good either. Infact, I would be shocked if the DLP didn't clearly beat it. DarkChip 2, Brilliant Color, Image AI. C'mon. DLP's like this are generally superior overall to the top LCDs. I'd be surprised if it were any different in this case. Regardless, the Z4 and AE900 became overpriced overnight. .

I'm with MTyson.....I'm in agreement that the Panny and Z4 are two fantastic bargains for HD LCD. But if there is a $1k 720p LCD out there, I can't think of a reason why I'd go with one of those LCD's instead of this one (well, lens shift. But thats about it).

Neither of those PJ's is BAD...but given a choice between LCD/DLP, I go DLP.

I wonder how this will affect the upcoming releases from Panasonic (AX series?) in terms of initial pricing........if the LCD manufacturers saw this coming......

I wonder if a 5000:1 CR on a LCD is still as good as a 2000 to 3000 CR on a DLP....

I just pre-ordered the HD70 from VA, they say late September for delivery but I am skeptical. This will be my first Projector so I hope it is a good one. Only time will tell. I was gonna go for the HC3000U but saving $500, on the projector leaves money for HD DVD player or somethin. if you have any thoughts on my post please respond. I guess this will be the designated HD70 thread. Thanks

I too am in the process of pre-ordering...

Should I elect their Graywolf II screen? Or should I just get the electric screen over at Eastporters.com?

I guess what I'm asking is if there is any advantage to having a Gray screen over a White one?

Aren't you guys worried about "pre-ordering" it before any reviews come out?

Im not worried about preordering before reviews. The specs seem pretty decent especially for only $999.00. I went with the optoma greywolf 2 screen @ 92" becaus ethat is what VA had on sale. I will see how well it works and if I am unhappy I will get somethin else. The screen wasnt that expensive either.

All the LCDs which use the D5 panels (AE900, Z4) are based on panel which have a native 750:1 CR. If you see a spec that mentions othewise, it's smoke and mirrors. This is why DLPs with even 2000:1 usually look superior regarding black levels.

The new D6 panels (Panasonic AE1000) are finally going to increase native CR to 2000:1.

To all of those who are preordering the HD70, Im sure I wouldn't be the only one who would greatly appreciate if you reviewed it. I was planning on getting the h27 with the free screen at costco and then I saw this. I just want to wait to see what people say about it. It also seems a little odd to me that the only e-retailer I seen any information on it was Visual Apex (although it appears to be a reliable store).

It's not. The native contrast of a 4805 is clearly better than the AE900/Z4 and it's rated 2200:1.

I have owned the Greywolf 106" for quite a while now.....its an excellent screen, probably one of the best low-cost pull downs you can buy, IMHO. There are better pull down screens, but you'll pay a bit more for them.

And at the price Visual Apex (and I'm sure others) will be selling it for, I am *absolutely* considering this PJ........

I went to see this highly acclaimed Z4 and I left bitterly disappointed. Vertical banding was simply brutal...unwatchable. And when the sharp dlp was fired up, the lcd looked even more horrendous. The CR on the dlp was very nice...the lcd was...not.

Ben

I think the real question is how the measured contrast of an LCD with the iris turned off compares to a DLP. For that, we shall have to wait for the reviews.

But if historic pricing holds true, and the LCD vendors come out with a 720p front projector for $600...

What is the release date for this?

The end of this month. But you know how that goes.

Projector Central just posted a review. In short, very good for the price.