[stevej974]

Sorry about the lame title...I'm new to the forums and I have a question about panny's warranty and there pricing structure. I'm thinking of getting either the PT-AX100U or the newer model that will be coming out this fall. To get to the point, when panny's $400 warranty expires, is that it for the lower prices (will they rise back up like the PT-AE900U is right now) or will I see a new rebate before the holiday? I'm on a ~ $1800 budget for the projector and am wondering if I should:


1: wait until fall for the new Panasonic

2: or get the 100U now

3: or wait and get the 100U later

Sorry about my incompetence but I'm slowly learning the ins and outs of all of this

. thanks.


also, I'm most likely, not going to be able to set up the projector until the fall because I'm moving to North Carolina.

 

[CT_Wiebe]

You should wait until you are ready. Rebates on current models, generally, do not disappear - due to economic pressure from competing models. The competition to the AX100 is the Sanyo Z5, Epson 400, and the new Sony AW-15 - all of which are lower priced than the AX100. I have found that the deals actually get better as the product gets closer to new model introduction.


Also, the factory lamp warranty is only 90 days from date of purchase, so if you don't start using your new PJ right away, and you have a bad lamp, then you will be SOL (lamps cost around $400).


BTW, I consider the AX100 to be less desireable than any of it's competition (higher priced, less warranty, lower quality picture, etc.). You should check out the AVS Forum Alliance Members links at the top of this page. I think you'll find that the AX100 is around $300 to $400 more than it's competition and the Epson 400 is as bright as the AX100 too. Screens make a big difference, so don't forget to consider those in your budget. Also, PJs are "monitors" - they don't have speakers. A good surround sound system makes a big difference too (sound is considered to be 50% of the HT experience).


You should read the reviews on www.projectorreviews.com . Those are more "real world" reviews than any others (and Art tells you what his biases are). Art is an AVS member too. Jumping in to PJs without doing a lot of reading can be a big mistake (financially).

NOTE: Getting a brand new model also adds some risk. Lately, some new models have had some real problems with their initially released models. Two years ago, I got a model that had been on the market for only 2 months. It turned out that it had a lamp design problem (the lamps would fail in 100 to 400 hours). The model I got was not adequately supported by Toshiba (it was an OEM from BenQ) and they refused to acknowledge the problem, even though BenQ did and came up with a fix.

 

[reconlabtech]

As Claus suggested, spend your time reading this forum and all the referred sites to get yourself up to speed on front projection and the properly set up home theatre. This will really help you when you are ready to make your purchases.


Waiting on the PJ purchase is better because you never know what NEW promotions and machines will be available.


If you just gotta have something now, you can get one of a couple different models that are currently running less than $500 that you can set up on a table and project on a DIY screen. Then in the fall you can sell that and go for the home theatre.