[TweakGames]

Hello all. I have been reading up on projectors and such for over a year now and I finally got a chance to sit down and see one for the first time. I was in a "Rex" store in Lewiston ID, after a nice dinner with my friends and girlfriend. First I want to say that the person that helped me, (Andrew) was quite knowledable in the subject of Projectors. They had a room dedicated to 3 projectors, but only 2 LCD.


We didn't even look at the cheaper DLP model because I am very sensitive to RBE, and think it's stupid that 20% of the people that might see my projector in its lifetime will see RBE. The other two projectors were the Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema 800, and the Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema 810. They were side by side and we could control lighting.


Seeing how this was my first time, seeing how it was my first time seeing 2 almost 100 inch screens side by side it took me a sec to step back and think. Both pictures looked amazing. The 810 was supposed to have a little more contrast then the 800, but neigher my freinds nor I could really see any difference. Actually the 810 seemed to have a little bit of difficulty changing from white to black during one of our HD shows we were testing it with. (It was a video of someone playing a piano and the 800 seemed more sharp) But maybe it just want calibrated correctly.


Anyways, my first comment is WOW. hehe It really seemed nice, and one of the girls didn't want to leave.

But my second comment is ... wow .. how could it be this good for only like $2300 (that includes the screen) for the 800 model. I have been doing my research for a while now and figured I was going to need to drop well over $2,000 on a projector alone (such as the PT-AX100U) but if I am overly happy with some plain old joe epson projector that I really havnt heard of on this forum (at at least .... REALLY talked about like a lot of other projectors) then maybe I would be happy with anything.


I guess my question is, how do those 2 epson models relate to all the others such as the PT-AX100U and the PT-ae900u? I know its all just opinion but.

Thanks.


oh ya also! I will not be needing a projector / speakers and such for my apartment for 6 months. How stupid would it be to buy them now compared to 6 months? Would prices alone be a major factor? I know 1080 and blueray are really starting to become a major thing, so maybe all the 720 projectors will have a major fall in prices.


Thanks.

 

[jrwhite]

Hi TweakGames,


The Epson line of projectors are known for high reliability and great service. I'm sure you wouldn't go wrong with either the 800 or the newer 810. Epson protects it's pricing more than the other pj manafacturers that sell on the net, and the Minimum Advertised Price for the 800 is the same as your quote for the projector / screen combo, so, your deal seems about right.


The AX100 will be marginally brighter, and will exhibit less Screen Door Effect if you sit closer to the image. The Epson has greater lens shift, so allows for more flexible placement ( although the Panasonics are pretty flexible too ).


My advice is that if you like the picture, and like the deal, you won't go wrong with that choice.


I wouldn't be too critical of DLP's, as I think the 20% number you quote of people affected by DLP artifacts is a bit high. That being said, there is a percentage of people who suffer disconfort watching them. The current trade off is that you can get a projector that looks pretty much as good at less than half the price, but is also much less flexible as far as placement.


The next major projector event is CEDIA in September, so, about 8 months away. There will always be some price shifting between now and then, but not any earth shaking events. As the 810 has replaced the 800, it's possible that the 800 pricing will get even lower, but, Epson doesn't tend to 'fire sale' their products.


Good luck, and welcome to the FP club.


Jonathan

 

[TweakGames]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jrwhite /forum/post/0


Hi TweakGames,


The Epson line of projectors are known for high reliability and great service. I'm sure you wouldn't go wrong with either the 800 or the newer 810. Epson protects it's pricing more than the other pj manafacturers that sell on the net, and the Minimum Advertised Price for the 800 is the same as your quote for the projector / screen combo, so, your deal seems about right.


The AX100 will be marginally brighter, and will exhibit less Screen Door Effect if you sit closer to the image. The Epson has greater lens shift, so allows for more flexible placement ( although the Panasonics are pretty flexible too ).


My advice is that if you like the picture, and like the deal, you won't go wrong with that choice.


I wouldn't be too critical of DLP's, as I think the 20% number you quote of people affected by DLP artifacts is a bit high. That being said, there is a percentage of people who suffer disconfort watching them. The current trade off is that you can get a projector that looks pretty much as good at less than half the price, but is also much less flexible as far as placement.


The next major projector event is CEDIA in September, so, about 8 months away. There will always be some price shifting between now and then, but not any earth shaking events. As the 810 has replaced the 800, it's possible that the 800 pricing will get even lower, but, Epson doesn't tend to 'fire sale' their products.


Good luck, and welcome to the FP club.


Jonathan

Thank you VERY much for your reply. You answered all the questions I needed to have clerified. I think I will end up waiting till the last second for buying my projectors, receiver, DVD player (or PS3) and speakers just because like a lot of people here, I like to get the best value for my dollar.


Also the HDMI 1.1/1.3, HD-dvd/Blueray war makes me very nervous to buy any electronics right now. I hope it will be cleared up in the next 1/2 year. Do you think it will be safe to make a decision by then?


Also, although it might not be a smart idea in the long run I want to see what a cheaper LCD projector and like a 1080P projector look like. I was wowed by the 800/810 (seeing VERY little difference weirdly) but I would like to know what Im missing and what I really dont notice. For some reason I'm thinking my level of projector detail is quite low. Although I did see a $5000 DLP projector here in Yakima Washington, but had nice colors, but if I got 1/2 close to the screen I could see some of the pixels shaking.


Again thanks for the reply and from what it sounds is maybe I should continue finding projectors to critique/compare and be patient, although I might have a possible winner already on my hands. (810/800)


~tweak