in home projectors
 

as before really was looking at plasma but got onto the idea of a projector? anyone use one as a tv? any good?

was told to get a high as possible ansi rating as would be ok then?

pros and cons welcome.

jamo :D

probably a better 'going-in' price than a plasma and the money spent is on the projection capability, not speakers,etc.

- check the noise level (constant fan noise); best watched in a darkened room; replacement bulbs are expensive; get one that is DIVx compatible (if you are downloading movies over the 'net); there are 2 competing formats - DLP and (?)LCD - don't know which one is best for home use as I only had to research and test for work use.

DLP Is generally regarded as better as it's brighter and has greater contrast. BUT somepeople can see 'rainbows' and flickering with them so its best to test them out first. LCD is cheaper and tends to have a higher resolution.

Try www.avforums.com and http://www.avsforum.com .

Get yourself an Infocus X1 from Ebuyer for £573 incl. it's a bargain, the best budget projector around by far. I've got one and it's great :)

You wont regret getting a projector jamo, excellent bit of kit. Keep your little telly, then put a big screen over the top. Have a look at my site click on the hi-fi button, and have a read of my adventures in hi-fi land.
things have changed round a little since I did that page, but the equipment is essentially the same.
Prices are way down now, so you should be able to pick up a real bargain. Spend as much as you can on the screen too, its well worth it in the end.
Films are awesome on it, but tv is a bit dodgy, even with a direct feed from sky digital.

chris.

thanks everyone :D

ive looked about a bit, an have gone for this one.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=64132

1600 ansi

3000 hour life span.

£230 for replacement bulb

what do you reckon?

i like your set up cw!!!

nice :)

I think the X2 is a new model and from what i've read it's very good.

Buy it :)

i thought of a plasma screen years ago but went with a projector instead :) and havent regretted it, but its best to have a seperate tv in the room as well as its not practical to just have a projector, main thing to check for if your gonna buy a projector is connectivity as they are very limited :( mine is one of the better ones so it has a lot but its still limited as far as home user goes, plus what you have to consider is throw distance for the size of the screen, my sony one has a short throw distance so the screen size is quite big :D as the only way you will get a big picture is moving it further form the screen as this is how it works :( so if you only have a small room it might be easier to get a large plasma tv :D plus if your getting a projector the one thing peeps forget about is the screen :eek: and you really need to buy one to appreciate properly :) i have an 8ft screen discreetly hidden away in my bay window :D but as i said if you have a small room this may also be harder to fit in :( projectors are far supperior to plasma IMO but your opinion may differ :)

We got fed up with a large telly dominating the room, so now I've got a screen that comes down over where the fench doors are (2.4 metres wide) and a ceiling-mounted projector. Absolutely superb for DVD, and pretty good for TV of a Sony Freeview box - no lines and far more resolution than you'd expect.

One thing to be aware of - it needs a darkened room. Best picture is if you can get rid of ALL light, especially when you watch films with dark bits.

Mine is an Optoma H56. DLP is improving all the time, the older ones can have an effect on some people where they see colours in fast-moving scenes (rainbows) but nobody has seen them on mine so far. LCD ones don't have that effect, but the pixel grid is usually thought to be much more obvious.

Other thing to note, you can't sit too close and get a good picture, it is far too wide and you can see the pixels. Sitting at a distance which is twice the picture width is lovely, so make sure it all fits in the room before you buy.