[tlastrange]

I ordered the NEC LT150 on July 3 just as I noticed that the prices were jumping up. Upon its arrival today I hooked it up to my Radeon powered HTPC and aimed it at a white wall.


!STUNNING!


I ordered this projector site unseen based on the favorable reviews here and the rock bottom price. I figured I could live with any imperfections until the "perfect" projector was released. It'll have to be a really perfect projector to beat the bang for the buck offered by the little LT150.


I've got dalite screen samples on the way and will post screen material test results with pictures next week.


Quick question for fellow LT150 owners: I've read a couple of posts suggesting a progressive scan DVD player gives results that are comparable to HTPC. Any comments? I'm thinking about WAF and KAF (Kid Acceptance Factor) for playing movies and am worried the HTPC won't cut it.


I'll be changing my signature shortly ;-)



------------------

Tom L.
my-wannabe-home-theater

 

[belmore]

Welcome to the club! I just received a LT150 today myself, sight unseen as well. I am very impressed. It competes very well with my Zenith Pro900x CRT projector that I am considering replacing. My Zenith is broken and I'm trying to decide whether to repair or replace it.


I really am amazed at how close it comes to the picture quality of my CRT. It some areas, the LT150 exceeds it. In others, the LT150 falls short. There's no way I could converge and focus my CRT to the level the LT150 delivers out of the box. On the other hand, I think the Zenith has marginally better color fidelity, but not much. The Zenith also has an artifact free image. The LT150 does have show the occasional rainbow artifacts and does have a screendoor effect at close range. I'm assuming this is much worse with LCDs, since I often heard the DLPs don't suffer from this. Sitting back at about 10 feet or less, the screendoor artifacts become noticeable on my 120in 16:9 screen.


HDTV looks fantastic as well. I just finished watching a taped episode of CSI. Obviously, my Zenith is not calibrated well enough or simply not able to resolve much more than the 576 or so lines that the LT150 can display in widescreen. I noticed little difference between the two. I imagine there is a difference, but it is much more sutle than I expected.


If you only have $3k or so to spend, I'd have a hard time believing you could do better than this. I'm sure some of the CRT folks will disagree and recommend a used CRT. I wouldn't recommend it. They're are a pain in ass to setup and tweak (I know first hand) and parts are going to be harder and harder to come by.


I'm sorry to say to all you CRT zealots, the King is dead. Long live the King.

 

[Grant Smyth]

I went out on a limb four or five months ago and said I thought this projector, when properly set up, could compete with, and in some areas, best many of the expensive DLP projectors. It seems to have taken a price drop before some would take the chance and purchase one. I think that the word is finally out.


Perfect? No! However, this is a great projector to have while we wait for the perfect one.


HTPC or Progressive Scan DVD Player? I have been using both over the last couple of weeks, extensively. I will give the nod to my HTPC with Radeon video card - smoother image for me with greater depth, however, the pro. scan DVD player is not far behind. With the new pro. scan players just now coming on stream I think things should heat up a little. Either way, a picture I can certainly live with for awhile.


You're going to let your kids and wife play with your projector??? Nobody touches my projectors but me!!! My wife can't even turn on my RPTV - O.K. I know what you're thinking - don't go there.


The bias against presentation projectors is still very much alive and so is projector rac...! Too bad for those with this bias, they have missed a real bargain! For every rule there's an exception.


NEC said they wanted a DLP with the look of a CRT - with its amazing contrast and blacks and saturated colour I think NEC has come very close - NEC has pushed the DLP envelope. Belmore - I dare you to post your "CRT projectors are dead" theme over on the CRT section - we'll take bets on how long you live!


Better to have a less than $4,000.00 U.S. projector with the liabilities of DLP than a $13,000.00 U.S. one with the same liabilities. By the way, the projectors that sell for $13,000.00 in the U.S. are over $20,000.00 in Canada!!!


You're pushing the envelope with a 120 inch (diagonal?) widescreeen! If you're getting a great image with something this big think what it would look like on an eight foot wide screen! Do a search under LT150 and read "For your Eyes Only" - there's lots of info from many LT150 owners.


Cheers,


Grant

 

[Dave E in TX]

Grant, its all your fault!


Tom, I'd definitely get a progressive scan DVD player or an HTPC. I have a JVC 723 DVD player which seems to work beautifully with the LT150, and it was cheap too ($325). I haven't seen an HTPC but I'm more the pluf and play type so I'm staying with this setup for now.


Welcome to the club, Tom!


-Dave

 

[Zee]

hi


I got my LT 150 about a month ago .. on reading positive reviews here ( specially Grant Smyth ,, thank you by the way ).. for my taste ( newbie ) the picture is stunning ....I have a Dalite 2.35 screen (54"x127") since I always watch dvds .. the only thing I'm waiting on is the panny 2 .... which I think is only gonna improve an already excellent picture...


Zee