Here's some of my thoughts from another post, i'm movinfg it over here to help consolidate. I am loving my Z1. But the noise can be annoying..
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Ok I have had a bit of time to watch the Z1. Overall I like it a lot, and i dont regret giving up my 1800 Ansi, XGA, Sony. The blacks on this baby are nice, though not DLP levels, they are impressive and with tweaking they can only get better.
Lets Talk about the good first.
Size: The unit it small, sexy, and all that good stuff. Feels well built, and the lens on this puppy is crystal clear and feels well constructed.
Tweakbility: The Unit provides an awesome level of tweekability. You can adjust Red, Green, Blue all independently which is huge. The usual color, contrast, brightness, tint. You can also tweek Gama which is another big plus. Color Temp is also there. Both Autogreyscale and Fleshtone are defeatable as well. These are huge options, which will allow you to get a picture that pretty much fits your tastes.
Screendoor: I sit 13 Feet from the screen and its not apparent to me. The image size is 106 diagonal. I don;t see a visiable difference between this and my other XGA machine. I;m feeding it with a Prog Scan Toshiba 3800.
Noise: On the Theater Black mode, its near silent. The projector is 4 feet above the viewing possition. But sometimes... (see Below)
Sharpness: The whole image comes in together, and the unit has a very sharp focus, and if the screendoor does bother you, you can do a slight defocus.
Brightness: Dont let the 700 ANSI, throw you off. There is plenty of light coming off my 106 inch screen I am using a Matte White, 1.0 Gain screen and its great. During the day I do not have complete light control, just blinds and the back of the screen, so light leaks, but I found that the picture held up well with no direct light hitting the screen.
Remote: Nothing special. Its backlight. it works. I;m programming all its functions to my AV-3000. But should you want to use it, its functional.
Throw: THIS BABY SHOOTS SHORT! I know all of you know this, and its been widely known. But for us who had projectors that were mid range throws (I thought mine was short!), you will have to move either the projector or screen to meet your previous throw size. I had to move my screen a full 2.5 feet forward to get the screen size down to 106
The Bad.
The lens shift function while it works well, feels "loose" The shift is stepless but not uniform. Meaning a 1/4 turns doesnt always move the same amount. And the amount of displacement is dependent upon the amount of shift you use on each axis. If the lens is shifted full max vertical you may not be able to get all of the movement to the right as there are physical limits. The good part is that the lens shift doesnt need keystone correction as well. But how often will you be moving the lens around anyway. But if you ARE going be moving it around a lot, its something I would keep a close eye on.
Noise: I am runnign the projector on theater black mode and most of the time its silent. BUT above once every 20 mins or so. The fan kicks in big time at full fev, and runs for about 2 minutes, then cuts off. Doesnt sound like a big deal? Well it its, because the shift is jarring if you are watching a movie, and audible. Ventilation in my setup isnt an issue, the unit has about a foot of space on all sides. SO I know that can't be it. Any other Z1 owners out there please let me know if you experience this as well.
Overall:
I like the unit a lot and I don't regret getting rid of my other unit. The unit is well made, the lens cover is a great addition, both asthetically and functionally as it keeps dust out when not in use. My Digicam is still out on loan, so no pics yet. Hopefully i will get it back tonight. I am very satisfied with my purchase, and dont regret my switch. IF this is your first projector, then go for it, stop waiting do it. IF you have a farily recent projector, then I would say go look at this first and see if its a huge step up. Also, think about your light control ability and try to see the projector with some ambiet light and see if that is acceptable for your taste. If any Z1 owners have comments please let me know if my unit is the anomaly (lens shift issue, fan issue) Any other questions just shoot.
