Looking for most portable, situationally adaptive projector under 2000... (1 Viewer)

[blindspotlight]

I am currently considering the Epson PowerLite 8350 for home theater use. I would also like to be able to bring it to the backyard, and project live video at events around Los Angeles from time to time. I feel like being an affordable lens shift really helps it there, but am totally new to this and not sure if there's setup stuff I'm not aware of, if there are more portable (smaller) projectors of similar quality, or what would make a projector in that price range ideal for situations that are less than ideal, with ambient light or projected onto a wall rather than proper screen. Thoughts? (Model names would be great- the Optoma HD20 looks nice too, are there other models I should compare?)

 

[Jim Mcc]

The 8350 is definitely not a portable projector. In general, LCD projectors are much larger than DLP's. Bit if the size and weight of the 8350 doesn't bother you, go for it. I would suggest a projector with lens shift, that you would have shelf mounted in your home. You do not want to be taking a ceiling mounted projector down, then having to re-mount it, focus it, and align it every time. The Optoma HD 20 does not have lens shift, so I would forget about that one. The Panasonic AR100U is another one to consider. About the same price as the 8350 and has lens shift.