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Good PJ for work and Home Theater?

395 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by triodeuser, Feb 26, 2005

shugazer9

Discussion Starter · Feb 25, 2005

My brother the lawyer is in the market for a PJ to use for presenting cases in court as well as dual duty in a Home Theater. Id say he is looking to spend about $1500-2000. Any specific recomendations (Toshiba, Infocus?) What features should he be looking for?

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krasmuzik

· #2 · Feb 25, 2005

This is a tough one - court room presentations are going to need high lumens because of high ambient lighting and large screens that can show all of a computer display with a large audience.

Any projector that can do that will sacrifice the qualities of good contrasty colorful widescreen presentations.

Lawyers make enough money - he should buy two projectors and stop trying to cheat on his taxes!

In that price range I would think the BenQ6200 is OK - but I would spend more and get a NECLT245 - but I would only buy it on a money back trial so he can see if it is viewable in court. And they are not the best HT projectors.

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smass

· #3 · Feb 25, 2005

Dell 4100 might be a good choice. It is XGA, 4:3, with a 2200 lumen rating, and 2000:1 contrast ratio. I have a Dell 2300 that I use for work - its plenty bright in large meeting rooms. Both can be had for well within his budget.

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triodeuser

· #4 · Feb 26, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by shugazer9
My brother the lawyer is in the market for a PJ to use for presenting cases in court as well as dual duty in a Home Theater.

I spent a lot of time looking at a similar situation -

As Kras stated, there is no real dual-duty - so you have to focus on what puts bread on the table and will later on generate funds for the HT projector.

For someone doing presentations in different setups, maybe shooting on the wall from odd angles, etc. I think it will be very difficult to find anything better for his purposes than an NEC MT1060 or NEC MT1065. They are out of his price range as new units but I picked up a refurb MT1060 with 10 hours on it and 6 mos factory warranty for a price within his range. This was six weeks ago or thereabouts.

These PJ's have high lumens, auto focus, power zoom, 3D reform, and will automatically color match the wall. The 3D reform will adjust a trapezoid on the wall into a rectangle, when you are displaying from a side angle - They are designed for ease of use with Powerpoint and for other professional presentations

I was unable to find anything that had close to the flexibility and quick setup that matched these units. I went with the MT1060 because I setup in various places, sometimes under pressure when I need to be concerned about other things.

Assuming that the lawyer wants to be focused on the needs of his client rather than fiddling with the focus, etc. I cannot imagine anything better for his purposes.

Oh yeah, the high lumens is great for having people over for a sports event and not having to worry about total darkness for the room _big grin_

A little short on black level and contrast for HT, but put it up on a big screen and it looks so good, it's hard to go back to the small RPTV even though it has a better picture.

Regards

Ken L

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shugazer9

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 26, 2005

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I now have some PJs to compare and evaluate. Is a 4:3 native PJ preferable in a presentation environment? It seems that that may be the factor which really prevents dual use since 16:9 is better for HT. Can the 16:9 PJ be pivoted 90 degrees to display legal size documents?. Also, my brother was looking at some Toshiba models which are bundled with document cameras. Would it be better to use a laptop as a source for digitized docs & Powerpoint? As far as screens go, is it too obtrusive to set up a screen or should one just use a wall?.

Ken L- Where did you pick up the refurb NEC from?

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triodeuser

· #6 · Feb 26, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by shugazer9
Is a 4:3 native PJ preferable in a presentation environment?

Yes.

When you display 16:9 on 1024x768, you actually get 1024 by 576 - Looks good, though.

Quote:

Originally posted by shugazer9
Would it be better to use a laptop as a source for digitized docs & Powerpoint?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally posted by shugazer9
As far as screens go, is it too obtrusive to set up a screen or should one just use a wall?.

depends on the situation, angles, light and particular wall.

_but_ you can throw a huge image on the wall, where a screen that size would cost more than the PJ or be a real hassle

The larger you go the brighter you need to be because you're spreading the lumens over a larger area - However, if you can dim the room, that will equal out..

I carry a 6 foot screen on a tripod and just use what works best. Always suits me fine if I don't have to lug the screen in.

Quote:

Originally posted by shugazer9

Ken L- Where did you pick up the refurb NEC from?

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