Opinions needed on Mitsubishi X80U

I have been trying to find a projector at a street price of $4K or less which can meet the following needs:


1. Classroom use, with brightness adequate under moderate lighting.

2. Home theater, with good contrast and color and tolerable screen door.


I have used the search engine to glean as many comments as possible about this projector. The 1500 lumens on the Mits is pretty much a minimum for my classroom needs, while for home theater the 300:1 contrast ratio looks decent, and the unit's sRGB technology appeared impressive to some of this forum's Infocomm visitors. Has anybody seen other demos of this unit? Dell has the X80U right at $4K, and they also have a 30-day, full refund trial period.


In my home theater I have tested the NEC VT540 (which I found lacking in sharpness and plagued by screen door) as well as the Infocus LP350 (which was sharp and filmlike but hard to balance between sufficient contrast on the one hand and overbright whites on the other; the 350 was also too dim in the classroom).


Can anybody help me?


Mike


[This message has been edited by catullus (edited 06-30-2001).]