PJD5133 vs EX5200 projector (1 Viewer)

I am trying to build a living room home theater on a budget and was hoping for some advice between these two projectors. The projector will be placed 15 feet away from a 7.5 foot wall (width). It will be used for watching TV, movies, and playing Wii U. The EX5200 has a higher resolution, but the PJD5133 has more lumens, higher contrast ratio, and is 3D ready. Can anyone chime in. With some advice for me?

Describe the room. Light controlled? What kind of screen?
You do realize the 5133 isn't HD. The 5200 is at least 720P.
Besides, neither one is intended for home theatre.

As far as I remember(I'm not "up" on

The room has a window on our door which is opposite of the viewing wall. I'll be placing curtains there. A little bit of light also can come from the kitchen windows, but there are blinds there and it is around a corner so not direct light. The rest of the lighting comes from overhead dimming lights.
I have never seen an HD projector, but at the brewery that I work in, we do have a 4:3 800x600 projector that I thought was more pleasurable to watch football on then most HD TV's. That Optoma does look nice, but I wasn't sure it would be that much of an improvement over the two I listed.

Worst case...
Buy a couple...try them...return one. Amazon, on some of these, should have "open box deals". So, if you can find a few of those to see which format(LCD or DLP) you prefer...if you end up returning one, you won't feel so bad...as it was already open.
Trying to buy based on "what a review says" is not exactly futile...but, nothing beats..."getting the thing home and trying it".
Also, even though you are in the lower end of the budget...this will be a big help...
http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm

Projector People is another place(upper right corner here with a link from HTF...) to get reviews and help. I am personally biased "toward Projector Central" mainly because I can't believe Projector People doesn't have(last I checked) a single JVC or Sony in ANY of their "top ten projectors" lists*. That tells me they don't know how to really "sell a projector"...
But that is just me.
*I'm not expecting Projector People to have a JVC on their "best seller" list. That might happen, once, by a complete fluke...but not in "most recommended"??? Really? Not even number 9 or 10???

First off, your screen wall is only 90" wide? How large of a screen do you think you can fit? Where will you put the front L & R speakers? Are you talking about the Epson EX5200? If so, both of those are 4:3 business projectors, and would be a bad choice for home theater use. What is your budget for projector?

At first, I thought I could have a much larger screen than I actually can. I had misunderstood throw ratios
I am planning on leaving that table where it is and putting the speakers on the end of it. The projector will be placed 15 feet away from the wall. I am renting, so I can not be putting anything too permanent in the house. The projector is going to be resting on a shelf above my fireplace. I actually have a wall to the right that is huge, but I can not find out where I would put the projector since there are no shelves and the wall opposite the large wall is about 35 feet away. It is a big open living room.

schan1269 said:

Worst case...
Buy a couple...try them...return one. Amazon, on some of these, should have "open box deals". So, if you can find a few of those to see which format(LCD or DLP) you prefer...if you end up returning one, you won't feel so bad...as it was already open.
Trying to buy based on "what a review says" is not exactly futile...but, nothing beats..."getting the thing home and trying it".
Also, even though you are in the lower end of the budget...this will be a big help...
http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm

Click to expand...

Thanks for the links and for the advice! Very helpful.

Jim Mcc said:

First off, your screen wall is only 90" wide? How large of a screen do you think you can fit? Where will you put the front L & R speakers? Are you talking about the Epson EX5200? If so, both of those are 4:3 business projectors, and would be a bad choice for home theater use. What is your budget for projector?

Click to expand...

I don't really want to spend over 500$ and yes that was the Epson EX5200... I had read good reviews by people using it for home theater.

weedyweidenthal said:

At first, I thought I could have a much larger screen than I actually can. I had misunderstood throw ratios
I am planning on leaving that table where it is and putting the speakers on the end of it. The projector will be placed 15 feet away from the wall. I am renting, so I can not be putting anything too permanent in the house. The projector is going to be resting on a shelf above my fireplace. I actually have a wall to the right that is huge, but I can not find out where I would put the projector since there are no shelves and the wall opposite the large wall is about 35 feet away. It is a big open living room.

Click to expand...

You do realize you can put the screen on an easel...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FAVI-16-9-106-Inch-Portable-Tripod-Projector-Screen-TRI-HD-106-/221145686132?pt=US_Projection_Screens_Material&hash=item337d4f6074

In order to put the projector on a shelf above the fireplace, you need a projector with lens shift. And you CANNOT buy one with your budget.

Maybe he's going to use a book to tilt it for aiming purposes and is happy with a trapezoidal image...

Isn't that what keystone adjustment is for? I was under the impression that a +- 40 degree keystone adjustment would give me the flexibility of pointing the projector at an angle.

So, you want to lower the resolution...of an already "resolution challenged" projector?

I guess I still have some learning to do. I didn't realize that keystone adjustment would lower resolution. I know very little about displays.

FWIW, I found this projector last night and I really liked the specs on it, but it is still lower resolution than you guys are suggesting...
http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-MX660P-3000-Lumen-Projector/dp/B004W8EGRO

Well, if you don't want HD, you don't want HD.

If the primary purpose of the projector is Home Theater, then you need a 16:9 screen and a projector with a native panel ratio of 16:9.
The Benq MX660P has a native 4:3 panel ratio and will not serve you well for HD broadcast, or films.
For another $100, Projector People has the Optoma HD66 projector that would be a better choice for HD content. I don't know if this will work in your environment or not. You should go to www.projectorcentral.com and play with the placement of the projector using the Projection Calculator.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-HD66-projection-calculator-pro.htm
Basically, you should find a projector using the calculators on www.projectorcentral.com that "fits" your room, that has 16:9 panels and a minimum of 720p resolution.
As a starting point, scroll down to the 720p section of this page:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/home-theater-multimedia-projectors.htm
Best of luck.
- Walter.

Walter Kittel said:

If the primary purpose of the projector is Home Theater, then you need a 16:9 screen and a projector with a native panel ratio of 16:9.
The Benq MX660 660P has a native 4:3 panel ratio and will not serve you well for HD broadcast, or films.
For another $100, Projector People has the Optoma HD66 projector that would be a better choice for HD content. I don't know if this will work in your environment our not. You should go to www.projectorcentral.com and play with the placement of the projector using the Projection Calculator.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-HD66-projection-calculator-pro.htm
Basically, you should find a projector using the calculators on www.projectorcentral.com that "fits" your room, that has 16:9 panels and a minimum of 720p resolution.
As a starting point, scroll down to the 720p section of this page:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/home-theater-multimedia-projectors.htm
Best of luck.
- Walter.

Click to expand...

He's already been told to check them out...yet continues to find non-HD presentation projectors and asking "will this work?"...