A newbie seeking advise on a projector

I own the Mitsu HC5500. I sold my Panasonic to Chad. I can say without any hesitation that the blacks on the Pany are better than the Mitsu. So, it's a tradeoff between the two units: more detail on the Mitsu, better blacks on the Pany. One advantage the Pany has over the Mitsu is the higher light output which makes daytime viewing much better even in a darkened room.

As for bulb life, there are many factors that determine it such as number of bulb cycles, temperature of room (too hot or too cold) ventilation and the possibility of buying a bulb made on a Friday. I've had bulbs that were rated to last 2000 hours go for over 3000. And, I've had bulbs rated for 5000 hours last 1200. My last bulb on the Mitsu lasted 1200 hours on low power setting and Chad’s last bulb lasted about 450 hours. Anyway, if you plan on watching your projector a lot, plan on at least one bulb a year and if you don't watch it a lot, plan on at least one bulb a year.

I've owned a Pany 500u, 700u, 900u, 100ax and the Mitsu over that last 6 years. In addition, I've had lots of experience with the big Sony’s. The big Sony’s have gorgeous pictures, but they are big, have lower light output and eat bulbs. YMMV.

If the BenQ PE7700 is still available at the BenQ Store for $750 it's a real steal. I sit almost directly beneath it and seldom if ever hear its fan, if the sound is on at all.

it's only 720p though. I shine it onto a DIY 116 screen with great results accorfing to those who've seen it running.

This is regardless interlaced or progressive. (TV or DVD)

it works well also in low light as well. I can however control my lighting entirely.

A DLP single chip unit which no one hs yet to descern the screen door or rainbow effect yet. these two effects are based on the human viewing the image... not the PJ or screen itself. so IF YOU don't see it you're fine.

Ceiling is preferred. IMO.

Wirehider makes some very, very attractive and easy to use conduit to place onto ceiling or walls with which to run cabling in... signal & power. Very neat stuff indeed... and you can paint the covers!

I powered mine via removing an existing lighting fixture and use it's wall switch to turn the PJ on & off when needed. HDMI supplies the signal from an AV rec.

LCD has more placement options as many have lens shift versatility. many reviews however point to having them setup professionally for black level & color adjustments, however a good setup disc very well may suffice.

my DLP required little such attention... merely the same things one would do with their own TV to adjust to your own preffs... in essence, just had to adjust the brightness and contrast, and increse the color gain slightly.... for my own preffs... right out of the box it was fine by other accounts though.

Chadwiz' and my own setup were done for under a grand. So you should be able to do very well at $1200... depending on how you go with things.

one last note... if a controled lighting situation is indeed present, your options and results are many and very promising, whether you go LCD or DLP. The Projector People will give you honest and quite practical info on whatever they sell too.

The technology of projectors today are quite good generally speaking, so I feel it's not hard to come up with a very satisfying combination, of room, PJ, and screen. The only caveat here to bare in mind is just as with audio, there are many folks at these above mentioned AV wegbsites which are in fact 'videophiles' meaning, they are very very, picky about the minutia surrounding their setups. Consequently, better to them is measured in slight degrees here or there, so keep an open mind and stick to the main things that contribute to a good vivid colorful displayed image.

This effort won't be nearly as hard as you might think.

Good luck

Prpixel thanks for the info...I agree with you on the Sony's. They do have a great picture! My only dislike of them is the fan noise. The big JVC's have extremely good black levels as well...Even the older 720Ps are great! I've installed both in a few private HT rooms.

I've certainly noticed ..there's going to be a a small trade off any way you go. Some better black levels others better shadow detail.

Blindjim... I look at the 720Ps and wish the 1080s were the same price!! lol
There are some great deals on 720Ps out there. I've had to talk myself out of buying several different models. ;-)

I've wanted a PJ for some time now. Thanks to you and Chad..you are about to talk me into pulling the trigger on one. That.. plus experiencing the setups I've been involved in installing in the past has made me want one even more.

Gmood1,

Yes, the JVC's look real nice also. Saw the big JVC being driven by Fios about a month ago and was blown away. Now, if Verizion could get their act together in my neighborhood....

Yes, the fans in the Sony's are loud. I sit right beneath my Mitsu and I can not hear the fan while watching TV. The fan in the Pany was quite enough as to not be a distraction.

I should clarify Prpixels comment on my bulb, it does have 450hrs on it but still works, it is arching though and gets a high/low variance in light output that at times gets obvious and distracting but it still outputs very good light. Some notice and some dont but it bothers me as I spent my working like in Printing so am pretty sensitive to color and critical of image.
Glad we all seem to have helped, projectors are all in all awesome choices for a great viewing experience.