I am on my second PJ, having upped from a 4805 to a Samsung 710 last year. Very happy and learned so much in this forum. But having been away for a while, need a bit of quick advice as my cousin, who is neither able to research much not has the time, would like me to get him started when we visit him next week. As he lives a fair distance away and we don't meet much I'd like to get this figured out as closely and quickly as possible.
Time is of the essence as I will be buying the PJ for him at my address and taking it there (July 3). He is so NOT an online guy it's scary, but I love him and he's my best friend in the whole family, and it would give us great joy and bonding to do this together.
He has identified a budget of $1K but it seems for the right pick he might stretch 100-200. I advised him to stay with 720P as 1080 in that budget, even if available (I doubt it) would be risky.
I have not seen his new home yet but he described the basement finished room as about 10' wide by 25' deep, with a suspended ceiling at around 8'. He is currently using the room as a general use area, with a desk and such. I told him he could segregate it and all he'd really need is around 12', or half the depth of the room. He thought he wanted a 50" screen but I sternly told him he HAS to go at least 80" or a PJ is not the right thing for him. (I am currently at 104" at 12' which is great). When we meet I will try to push him in the larger direction.
So the choices, in no particular order and followed by Amazon prices today, are:
Mitsu HC1500 (780)
Sony VPLAW10 (900)
Optoma HD72 (850)
Optoma HD71 (1200)
Optoma HD65 (900)
Now I know there will be favorites and the votes will likely be all over the map based on that. But keep in mind this is a newbie with not much time or technical inclination, who is moving up from like a 32" CRT. (I will be helping to install it and maybe build a DIY screen). So neither expectations nor fiddle factor is extremely high. What does matter is reliability, simplicity and ability to fit into this room, with cost (as in bang for buck) being the great overlayer.
I look forward to your comments.
Time is of the essence as I will be buying the PJ for him at my address and taking it there (July 3). He is so NOT an online guy it's scary, but I love him and he's my best friend in the whole family, and it would give us great joy and bonding to do this together.
He has identified a budget of $1K but it seems for the right pick he might stretch 100-200. I advised him to stay with 720P as 1080 in that budget, even if available (I doubt it) would be risky.
I have not seen his new home yet but he described the basement finished room as about 10' wide by 25' deep, with a suspended ceiling at around 8'. He is currently using the room as a general use area, with a desk and such. I told him he could segregate it and all he'd really need is around 12', or half the depth of the room. He thought he wanted a 50" screen but I sternly told him he HAS to go at least 80" or a PJ is not the right thing for him. (I am currently at 104" at 12' which is great). When we meet I will try to push him in the larger direction.
So the choices, in no particular order and followed by Amazon prices today, are:
Mitsu HC1500 (780)
Sony VPLAW10 (900)
Optoma HD72 (850)
Optoma HD71 (1200)
Optoma HD65 (900)
Now I know there will be favorites and the votes will likely be all over the map based on that. But keep in mind this is a newbie with not much time or technical inclination, who is moving up from like a 32" CRT. (I will be helping to install it and maybe build a DIY screen). So neither expectations nor fiddle factor is extremely high. What does matter is reliability, simplicity and ability to fit into this room, with cost (as in bang for buck) being the great overlayer.
I look forward to your comments.