[christer W.]

In my HT, I can make the DT-500 work with it's offset. It is slightly less than a AX100, but having had an L200u for over three years and with 4400 hours on the original bulb, am feeling fairly loyal to Panasonic.


The DT-500 promises better blacks and a generally great picture, based on reviews of the seemingly very similar Sharp XVZ-3000.


The very good price at Costco makes it an intriguing alternative.


Anyone been in the same boat and gone with this Sharp projector?

 

[CMRA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by christer W. /forum/post/0


In my HT, I can make the DT-500 work with it's offset. It is slightly less than a AX100, but having had an L200u for over three years and with 4400 hours on the original bulb, am feeling fairly loyal to Panasonic.


The DT-500 promises better blacks and a generally great picture, based on reviews of the seemingly very similar Sharp XVZ-3000.


The very good price at Costco makes it an intriguing alternative.


Anyone been in the same boat and gone with this Sharp projector?

4400 hrs!? That would command brand loyalty. Imagine how good your L200 would look with a new bulb.

The Sharp represents a significant upgrade. You'd be hard pressed to do better for the money. Leave some for us.

 

[christer W.]

The funny thing is regarding my 200 is that I only recently watched a DVD I hadn't seen for a while and finally noticed it had gone a little dim. Bumped up the Brightness and Contrast a little, and it seems kind of like it's old self, which is very good by most people's standards.


Went over to a fellow AVS'r yesterday to take a look at his 500 with 2500 hours. Hard to describe, but while his 720p had it all over my 200 with it's 484p in terms of pixelation (his had none), watching OTA HD on his vs. mine was not as breathtaking a leap as i would have thought. I mean, I immediately noticed, and told him that his looked way better, but it really didn't look different.


I will have to get a new PJ regardless, as spending $300 for a new bulb only gets me to where I am already at, which is early 2003 technology. Makes the incremental jump to something new more palatable.


I have kept hoping the bulb will blow to expedite the new purchase, but it just keeps chugging along. Read a post here somewhere about a guy with a 300 who said he has/had 8,000 hours. Guess they don't build them like they used to!

 

[muzz]

That lamp is only a 120 watt model, so it should be alot easier to keep it cool.


I am expecting my DT-500 tommorrow, got it at the location you mentioned.

 

[christer W.]

Muzz


I would appreciate any impressions you would have to share.

 

[Davidt1]

Yeah, me too. I no longer have placement problems. Initially, I wanted to place my projector in the closet ( bedroom HT), and the HD70 barely works in this setup at the height of only 6'4''. Last night I put the projector on an adjustable shelf on the wall. Now I can set my projector anywhere from 7' to 8'5''. It's time to concentrate on getting the best projector for the money. I am also interested in the noise level DT-500.

 

[muzz]

Noise IS something I AM concerned about, hence the coscto purchase.....

 

[glowkiss]

I recently replaced my Toshiba Mt700(benq 7700 clone) with the Sharp Dt-500. I can confidently say this projector is an improvement over the Toshiba. Not a night and day difference mind you, the toshiba throws a great image. But the black level on the Sharp is definitely a major strength. You can see more of my comments with others at this thread - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=784246

 

[Davidt1]

Apparently, you are not bothered by the noise. Here is what Art had to say about the noise level of the XV-Z3000:


"I just don't get it. It seems that almost every time I find a projector that really stands out in most areas, it seems to also come equipped with one serious issue. For example the Panasonic PT-AX100U - very bright, good colors, but a little softer image than the competition. Or, in this case, the Sharp XV-Z3000's great overall performance, but significant fan noise."


The noise from my HD70 is tolerable. I hope the Dt-500 is not louder.

 

[grinchy]

My Sharp 3K is not loud in either mode. I choose to run eco because the brightness is insane (50 hours use).


I sit right next to it (table mount).

 

[johnsmith808]

I think table mounting it may actual lessen the noise. I had a crt pj, which was way louder than these digitals, and table mounting was definitely not as loud as ceiling mounting it.

 

[muzz]



Quote:
Originally Posted by christer W. /forum/post/0


Muzz


I would appreciate any impressions you would have to share.

Projecting app at 100+" image, on a Brownish gray wall.....

Picture looks VVG, Awesome on HD DVDS, VG on upscaled DVDS(TPM,FN,Matrix etc...)


I watched some of Training Day, and 2 fast 2 furious in HD DVD... Awesome pic!!


Black levels are actually better than I thought they would be ( I'm used to CRT RPTV), I have no issue at all with them, they aren't CRT black, but to me they're not a problem.


I run in Eco/High Contrast mode, and I find the pic to be PLENTY bright enough in a dark room/lil light.


IMO the fan IS a little bit loud, not awful, but it's not whisper quiet.

I'm referring to Eco mode. I wouldn't want to be close to it in High Power mode, the fan IS quite a bit louder, although I'm not certain what folks are used to/find acceptable when it comes to fan noise on PJ's.

I haven't seen any Rainbows. Pixel structure is not an issue.


So far, with a brownish grey wall?


I think it looks excellent.

 

[brboulder]

I just got the Z3000 installed in my theater yeasterday. I bought it from a local shop not Best Buy but got a comparable price (sub 2K) for a new unit. this is my first experence with front projectors.


My room is a mixed use room in our basement that opens to a kids play area so I can watch football and the kids at teh same time. I am throwing from around 11.5 ft onto a 103" screen, ceiling mounted on a 8.75 ft ceiling.


First impressions...


Very happy. I have a Samsung rear projection unit upstair and I can get the z3000 to give me a similar picture in terms of brightness with some lights on.


If I put on the lights in the playroom, almost no effect on picture quality. I am even able to but on flood lights that are positioned above my couch 12 feet away from screen and has very little impact on PQ...thus Superbowl party is offical on.


those results are using the dynamic picture mode, eco bulb, and high brightness. I could squeeze some more brightness by putting buld on high but....


ONE WEAKNESS - fan noise. Since I live in the Denver area I need to have fan on high for the high altutide. If fan is on high and full bulb, the fan noise is audible and somewhat distracting. However, high fan and eco bulb it is barly audible and the same with low fan and full bulb.


Watching movies last night, King Kong HD and Barnyard standard with 90% of lights off, I was able to go to a lower brightness setting (natural) and picture still popped of the screen.


The pitcure from the HD DVD King Kong was amazing.


Lastly, played XBOX 360 - Gears of War and NHL 06. Both looked amzing. Gears is a little dark so I set up the memory settting for video gaming and played with the brightness and contast. After some adjustments was very happy.


Overall, I was very worried about what projector to get. I had ordered the Panasonice PX100 with its 2000 lumens but returned that ot the online seller after reading about all the issues it was having. After seeing the review of this projector on Projector Reviews, I decided to get it since the company doing my install carries it thus I am able to get a 5-year warranty with 3 bulb replacements for $500 buck additional.


I have no regret. they 2 guys doing the instal loved the projector and its overall picture quality and its reliabilty.


I paired the projector with a 103' Vutec Pearl Bright Screen. I also got the Marantaz 7001 and am rinning the xbox 360 with HD DVD player add on and a dish network HD reciever through the receiver then onto the porjector via HDMI.

I have the Kef's IQ7 tower speakers for my left and right, with their IQ6c as the center channel. the four surround speakers are Speakercraft Aim8Three's. together this system which ran me about 10K looks and sound just as good as my uncle's system which he had installed two years ago for around 20K.