[skilzygw]

Hey I am a big fan of home theaters. But right now i can't go all out on a crt or expensive projector. I was thinking of buying one of those lcd presentation projectors for like board rooms. I came across this sony VPL-CS3 Ultra-Portable Projector does 800*600 and up to 150inch screen. This is perfect for me. The resolution of 800*600 is perfect heck i dont care if the resolution is 640*480. I don't really care about having the best looking cleanest picture. I dont have hdtv or anything. I want to connect a custom built pc to it and not even worry about custom resolutions using power strip. I just want to plug in a dvd and watch. Or play my pc games. I need the projector to have a vga input and would like an HDTV component input but that's not that important cause i can use an component to vga converter(this is to play xbox, which i believe isn't going to come out with a vga adapter only rca, svideo, and component). SO are their any good cheap projectors that fit my needs?


This sony by the way i found for $1499 are their any cheaper ones that are just as good? I would love to spend around the 1000 or even less area. It can be used i don't mind either. Nothing over 1500 even that is crazy. Thanks,


Thanks for all your help and links to stuff etc...?


Thanks.

 

[Huey]

Sony VPL-CX1 is an XGA LCD with 550 lumens with Svideo, composite, and of course VGA/Component (needs VGA-->Component cable for $20-40 depending on length at www.a2zcables.com ). It can be had brand new with 2000 hr bulb and 3 year Sony warranty (90D bulb warranty) for $1500.


I had this unit and loved it until I upgraded to LT150. This unit is HDTV compatible at 1080i via VGA input (RCA DTC-100 DSS receiver worked great). It's not 480p compatible so you'd have to use HTPC for progressive DVD playback or stick with 480i via Svideo or component. Its contrast was poor (200:1) so image appears kinda flat with poor dark details. The black bars were actually dark gray and requires masking with dark cloth to improve apparent contrast slightly. No halo or light leakage of course due to LCD technology. Analog cable TV and VHS were good enough via composite from regular VCR. Colors were great and accurate. Its built-in deinterlacer and scaler was decent so interlaced STB Toshiba 2109 player was good although HTPC was even better with better clarity, less jaggies, and more vibrant colors. 16:9 mode of PJ allows the anamorphic squeeze which made interlaced anamorphic DVD very good via Svideo or component.


I gave it up due to low contrast and dead pixels (limitation of LCD technology). It requires very dark room due to 550 lumens only. I'm now very happy with LT150 (XGA DLP). Although you said you want it cheaper, my advice is not to go too cheap as you will outgrow it fast. Stick with at least XGA LCD or SVGA DLP for better imaging. If you go with VGA or SVGA LCD the resolution may not be adequate for long term happiness

 

[skilzygw]

thanks for the info. Can i ask you where can i buy these things online? Who has the best prices? If i wanted to go sva or vga route how much cheaper will it be? Where can i find on these at cheap prices so far the online places i see have the at cheapest 1500.


Thanks!

 

[Huey]

 http://shopper.cnet.com/shopping/res...259.sort.price


Note that the cheapest price for CX1=$1495 before shipping. Should not have tax unless you order from your own state. The cheapest replacement bulb is $257 for 2000 hr bulb (pretty cheap for PJ bulbs--LT150 bulb is $300 for 1000 hr bulb for comparison sake).


Other price comparison sites include www.pricewatch.com , www.pricegrabber.com , www.streetprices.com .

www.bizrate.com , www.pricegrabber.com , and www.gomez.com will rate store for reliability, etc.


I bought mine from www.electrified.com but it was not the cheapest on this list (it was back last year for $1895). I personally would advocate www.pac-2000.com as they seem pretty reliable, have good ratings, sell all kinds of big ticket items (RPTV, plasma TV, etc.) and give you free shipping (some charges $50 for insured shipping). You'd love this unit as it weighs only 6.4# and has the profile of a sheet of paper.


Remember this unit does NOT support ceiling mount or rear projecton (it can't invert or flip image) so don't buy it if you plan on ceiling mount. I had mine on coffee table on a homemade blackout white screen (see screen forums for ideas) at 96" wide and image was very good (LT150 was better due to better contrast). I believe this is an excellent unit to get started on FPTV due to its relatively low cost. It does have zoom which helps deal with 4:3 image on 16:9 screen, and makes placement easier. It's fairly quiet too (39 db which is like a computer fan) and not that distracting except on very quiet scenes of movies. It has a nice remote (unlike the tiny, credit card LT150 remote). Good luck

 

[BizarroTerl]

skilzygw,

You may want to check out the classified ads area under CRTs. There's some quite reasonably priced projectors listed. It seems that the used CRT market is the place to go for the maximum picture for the $. You should probably take a look through the CRT forum first before you buy though. From what I've picked up CRTs have 2 drawbacks in comparison to LCD/DLP/DILA projectors - size (weight) and they appear to need more light control as they aren't as bright (in general).