Where's a good place to buy a projector?

[Skyceman]

My wife and I would like to get a projector for a home theatre system but we've been having a hard time finding a place to demo the ones we have researched. We've already checked out Soundsaround, Future Shop, and Vistek with not much luck. Soundsaround atleast had 3 up on demo but not the ones we were seeking.

So if anyone knows a shop that sells a large selection and demos them as well we'd highly appreciate it.

[photon]

We used to rent from Apex Audio Visual all the time, and they seemed to have a good supply; not sure about their store though, never been there.

The best thing might be to buy from somewhere you can return it to (FS, Best Buy, Staples, etc) and just try it out.

Depending on your budget, I've read that the Infocus X1 is the best you can get for the $1200 price range. http://www.projectorcentral.com/infocus_x1.htm

[nfotiu]

You can do better than the x1 for the money these days. My brother has a benq 6100 he bought for somewhere around $1000 in Calgary, I'll email him to find out where.

I have a Sony HS10, that looks awesome. My friend just bought a costly Toshiba MT-800U, that looks pretty much perfect. To tell you the truth all three of those projectors look very, very good. The cheapest looked the worst, and the most expensive looked the best, and mine was in between. I don't know if the differences were worth the $4000 US extra dollars.

Which one were you looking at?

[Skyceman]

I was just in Best Buy today and saw the BenQ 6200 for 2000 (with a mail in rebate). I've had my eye on the following:

Sanyo PLV-Z2
Panasonic PT-L500U
InFocus ScreenPlay 4805
Benq pb6200

I'm leaning more towards the DLP technology for many reasons which is why I like the BenQ series. The only drawback is the lack of a DVI port which kinda irks me because of the loss of the great picture quality you can get from a PC via the occasional game. I'll have to run it via RGB cables which makes the signal analog.

If I get over my LCD feelings I woud get the Panasonic as I've heard its the best bang for your buck at this range.

I plan to build my own screen as well but have yet found a place where I can buy the fabric material. I have seen some awesome screens made for about $50.

[calculoso]

A friend of mine bought a projector a while ago and it's awesome.

He made his own screen using painter's canvas stretched over a home made wooden frame. Seems to work very well.

I've been thinking of doing the same - getting a projector. The only thing holding me back right now is $$$...

[photon]

Cool, thanks nfotiu by the time I'm ready to get one for my HT setup the ones with the features I want will be $1000!

I had someone give me great feedback on the 4805 once.

For the screens, isn't there a paint that's supposed to work for making your own screen? I'm sure I read a thread on slashdot about this.. Lemme look..

Yeah, this is one of the ones: http://www.goosystems.com/cgi-bin/ic/goosystems/index

This also came up: http://www.diytheatre.com/why_diy_mo...eens/index.htm

[Skyceman]

Originally posted by photon@Aug 8 2004, 07:10 PM
Cool, thanks nfotiu by the time I'm ready to get one for my HT setup the ones with the features I want will be $1000!

I had someone give me great feedback on the 4805 once.

For the screens, isn't there a paint that's supposed to work for making your own screen? I'm sure I read a thread on slashdot about this.. Lemme look..

Yeah, this is one of the ones: http://www.goosystems.com/cgi-bin/ic/goosystems/index

This also came up: http://www.diytheatre.com/why_diy_mo...eens/index.htm

Thanks for the link Photon (The second one didn't work however)

That GooSystems paint sounds pretty good. I was also told you can buy a special paint for a screen at Home Depot.

If some of you guys are considering the projection route, heres a great site:

Home Theatre Discussion on Front Projectors

[photon]

Forgot to mention this site too: http://www.avforums.com/

Huge discussion site, sometimes hard to find the info you want.

EDIT: D'oh, the http://www.avsforum.com that calculoso posted is the one that I'm thinking of! The one I posted above I have no idea if it's any good or not.

[calculoso]

Here's a few sites I was given. I don't really know a whole lot about them:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/
http://avsforum.com/
http://projectorplus.com/
http://hometheaterspot.com/

[nfotiu]

Originally posted by Skyceman@Aug 9 2004, 12:51 AM
I was just in Best Buy today and saw the BenQ 6200 for 2000 (with a mail in rebate). I've had my eye on the following:

Sanyo PLV-Z2
Panasonic PT-L500U
InFocus ScreenPlay 4805
Benq pb6200

I'm leaning more towards the DLP technology for many reasons which is why I like the BenQ series. The only drawback is the lack of a DVI port which kinda irks me because of the loss of the great picture quality you can get from a PC via the occasional game. I'll have to run it via RGB cables which makes the signal analog.

If I get over my LCD feelings I woud get the Panasonic as I've heard its the best bang for your buck at this range.

I plan to build my own screen as well but have yet found a place where I can buy the fabric material. I have seen some awesome screens made for about $50.

I would think that RGB vs DVI for computers wouldn't make a whole lot of difference. I've compared DVI vs component(analog) for HDTV and hd scaled dvd players, and I can't tell the difference.

The one thing about DVI though is that eventually you will only be able to get HDTV in full resolution through DVI.

[Skyceman]

Originally posted by nfotiu+Aug 9 2004, 06:55 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (nfotiu @ Aug 9 2004, 06:55 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Skyceman@Aug 9 2004, 12:51 AM
I was just in Best Buy today and saw the BenQ 6200 for 2000 (with a mail in rebate). I've had my eye on the following:

Sanyo PLV-Z2
Panasonic PT-L500U
InFocus ScreenPlay 4805
Benq pb6200

I'm leaning more towards the DLP technology for many reasons which is why I like the BenQ series. The only drawback is the lack of a DVI port which kinda irks me because of the loss of the great picture quality you can get from a PC via the occasional game. I'll have to run it via RGB cables which makes the signal analog.

If I get over my LCD feelings I woud get the Panasonic as I've heard its the best bang for your buck at this range.

I plan to build my own screen as well but have yet found a place where I can buy the fabric material. I have seen some awesome screens made for about $50.

I would think that RGB vs DVI for computers wouldn't make a whole lot of difference. I've compared DVI vs component(analog) for HDTV and hd scaled dvd players, and I can't tell the difference.

The one thing about DVI though is that eventually you will only be able to get HDTV in full resolution through DVI. [/b][/quote]
Really nfotiu? If that's the case then maybe I will go that route then. How long do you think HDTV will be running through DVI ONLY? 2 years? 3?

[nfotiu]

My brother bought his Benq at Memory Express in Calgary. They have some good prices.