Best cheap projector for small HT.

Thanks, Unsound, and Myrai...

that's funny unsound. but, you've a good point. I never thought along that tact. I will now.

Myrai... ever deal with that joint? I've seen some outlandish pricing online but have been reticent to get serious with any that I know nothing about in terms of their previous dealings..

bulbs. yep. They are high.. which made me think about LCD instead of the standard light (s).

My viewing is quite limited. No pun intended. News. NFL. The occasional movie. Some PBS/DISC/TLC.. AND YES, some DIY. GO FIGURE. See, I'm not 'black out' blind... but I'm like 20/900 and with a really limited field of view, say 15 - 20% of a normal one.

hence the bigger pic, with lots of color and contrast... but one I can adjust to get the right size from tthe viewing position. I'm figuring six to eight feet of picture is likely the deal for me ... a bit more or less. But I go to movies on dates, play pool, (although I do suck at it now though used to be... ah, let's just say better), and so forth...

the room can be totally blacked out. Likely no daytime viewing. I'd just TIVO it anyhow. As for the screen, it could be like back in school... one you simply pull down when necessary... don't need a motorized unit... well not at first anyhow.

after the newnest wears off the usage wil be around about 10 - 12 hrs a week. Maybe. So I don't see bulbs as a real 'big' deal but do understand the impact. Also the notion about extended coverages.

lastly, about the rig supporting it... are they costly too? I'd probably wish to have the mount on the wall facing the screen and as close to the ceiling as possible... they run hot right? and the fans are well, fans.

Mucho grasss.
blindjim

Some units can be placed on a shelf. A lot depends of how the air is vented and how the lens can be aimed. I'm assuming that on occasion others might be viewing with you. The NFL can be recieved in High Def, current movies and some broadcasts will appreciate a 720p and others 1080i. You might want to check out AV forums.com and projectorcentral.com. Your black room is a definite plus, while a roll down screen will do, you might prefer a permanant one in the long run. The prices on these set ups are coming down as fast as the quality is going up. Good luck.

Unsound makes a good point...if your going to mount on the rear wall you should look for something that does not vent out the rear of the unit.

You will also want a projector with the correct throw distance for your fixed location, ie...you will want to be able to adjust picture size up or down if needed. The mount should fit somewhere near the middle of the adjustment range for "that" projector...they are not all the same.

Good budget screen http://www.carada.com/....you can also make one for around $100-$200 which is what some people do at the (AVSforum) Unsound mentioned above do...all kinds of plans at that site.

Word of warning about the AVSforum!...some members are like some of our members....they do more tweaking than watching, (or listening in our case)..HeHe

Dave

Some great responses here. One thing to remember is that the digital PJ's do not beam the image straight ahead, they actually offset it upwards. This is so you can sit it on a coffee table for example,and the image will be above the coffee table. Usually the lens is approx at the bottom of the image. This is important because if you angle the PJ, the image gets out of shape, the bottom being wider than the top. This can be corrected by a "keystone" adjustment, but it is advisable to not use it, since it is digital and will markedly decrease image quality.
Ok, if you want to mount the PJ in the back of the room, near the ceiling, you will probably want to hang it. When hung, the PJ is actually upside-down, so the image will now be BELOW the lens. This helps to center the image on the wall. Once again, you want to avoiding tilting the PJ any more than absolutely neccesary due the the keystone problem.

Blindjim, the solution is simple. Just buy a used rebuilt Electrohome Marquee 8500 crt projector.

No digital projector that you would be looking at could possible compare vs this $24,000 projector. If anyone tells you otherwise they are uninformed or trying to sell you something.

1200 lums and 25,000:1 contrast ratio. It is film-like. You will find you won't even have to go to the movie theaters anymore. Its that good. You can pick one up on Ebay or better yet on VideoGon.

I run mine from Cox Cable HDTV via DVI cable and watch DVD's on my HTPC at 1440x960p with a VGA-to-5 BNC cable. My best advice is to find one thats been gone over and rebuilt by a tech with warranty. Get tubes rated 8 out of 10 or better and you will be fine. The tubes last 10,000 hours and cost $600 each.

If you want to really learn more about this stuff I suggest you go to AVSforum.com and visit the HTPC forum and CRT Projector forums there. The real experts post there.

*Analog fans may be blind, but digital fans are deaf*