BenQ DLP: PE 7700 vs Free Upgrade to PE8700 (1 Viewer)

[Joseph Millison]

Ok here's the deal. My friend was looking for a good DLP projector under $3k, so I did some searching and found that the BenQ PE7700 was the end-all be-all these days. It seemed to fit the price range and the reviews/posts I ready confirmed that it's a pretty sweet deal. So my friend ordered one a week ago and we waited for it to arrive.
But it never arrived, and so he's been calling them left and right. I guess there was some problem with the shipping, and so BenQ offered him a free upgrade to the PE8700.
Now, from what I've read, the PE7700's technology actually surpasses the PE8700's. I read that the colors were better, etc. Can anyone confirm or deny this? The PE7700 is listed at like $2,500 (list $3K) and the PE8700 goes for around $3,200(list $8K). But is this actually a better deal based on the specs of these two projectors? Any assistance is very much appreciated.
PS, due to the nature of the situation, the comparison is only between these two models, so please refrain from offering up other brands/models
Thank you in advance for any assistance/advice I may receive!

 

[Joseph Millison]

*bump*

I wanted to bump it just once (as I'm not trying to be annoying, I just am trying to get this resolved ASAP), as we're sort of on a time constraint with the vendor. If anyone could offer any assistance it would be *greatly* appreciated Thank you very much in advance!

 

[John Menoni]

Josh, I would definately not take the 8700. If they are trying to sell the 8700 as an "upgrade" they are pulling the wool over your eyes. The only upgrade the 8700 has over the 7700 is the price. The 7700is in fact an upgrade over the 8700. BenQ is releasing a high end model called the 8720 (or something similar) that is in place of the 8700 but the 8700 has nothing on the 7700. The 7700 has a slightly higher lumens output than the 8700 and there are other features that are an improvement over the 8700. The reviews I have read confirm this. I was going to go with the 8700 myself before the 7700 came out.

 

[Max Leung]

I concur - the 8700 is not as good.

 

[Mark-P]

I was glad to see this thread because as it so happens, I have been planning on getting one of these two projectors myself. Currently I have a Benq DX-650 that I have had for 3 years and have been fairly satisfied with its performance. The two drawbacks are that it had a native 4X3 aspect ratio and the contrast ratio is 600:1 (Blacks aren't nearly as deep as I would like).
So now that the bulb is getting towards the end of its life, it naturally seems like a good time to upgrade to a better projector.
The PE-8700 and PE-7700 both are native 16X9 with 1280X720 resolution. After studying the specs of both projectors it seems the only real difference (other than the price) is the dlp chip. The PE-8700 uses the mustang II and the PE-7700 uses dark chip 2. Since the resolution of these two chips is identical, it appears that the PE-7700 wins out because the contrast ratio is 2500:1 versus 2000:1 for the PE-8700.
Shopping on-line it appears that the 7700 is slightly cheaper that the 8700.
David Boulet, one of the DVD reviewers here on the forum has the PE-8700 and swears by it.
Personally I don't thing you can go wrong with the 7700 and despite the slightly higher price tag the 8700 is not an upgrade in my opinion.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

When they talk 8700 these days they mean 8700+ ... there are not any 8700 units left ... haven't been for over a year.

Both the 8700+ and the 7700 have the hd2+ chip.

The actual calibrated difference between a hd2 and hd2+ chip is virtually negligible from any reasonable seating distance.

Regards