Black bars on my WIDESCREEN TV!?! (1 Viewer)

[Qui-Gon John]

Well the good news is the slight difference in that area is very slight, I really have to look hard to notice it. If I'm just watching the movie, I can't tell it's there. Maybe I can get the guns replaced in my last year of the extended warranty.

 

[Jan Strnad]

Greg,

You make some good points, but I'd like to add to the discussion.

And most decent quality digital projectors on the market are cheaper than a RPTV set and nearly rival that of many HDTV sets on the market.

Maybe if you're talking about 65" RPTV, but since smaller RPTVs are available for less than/around $1500, you'd be hard pressed to find an FP that would deliver anything like the quality of a CRT/RPTV for that money.

You also need to factor in the bulb replacement cost of $200 and up, which will creep up on you pretty frequently if you watch "normal" TV on a front projector.

Also, while we're in this transitional phase between all-analog and all-digital broadcasting, the more you blow up a standard cable or satellite signal, the worse it looks. Many people find that they want a direct view set for broadcast TV and an FP for movies; an RPTV can be a reasonable compromise for both sources.

A front projector remains my dream, but until I have that light-tight room and several thousand dollars to spend, I've found that a small (42") RPTV is a better value for me.

Jan

 

[greg jones]

You make a couple of good points, but let me elaborate. The analogy that I was trying to make with the 65" was that most people try to put the biggest screen they can into what seems like the smallest rooms. And with the recent price breakthroughs in digital projectors and the plethora of sub $2000 projectors on the market, the decision is becoming harder to make. For example, Panasonic's new AE300 (not sure what the US model number is) is an absolutely amazing LCD projector for its price. Amazing colors, better than most on the market for black levels, 6000 hour bulb life (that's a whole lot of watching time) for less than $2000. Yes, the bulbs can be an expensive thing to buy, but you have to look at the burn-in issue. With digital projectors, there is ZERO burn-in problems. How much do you think it costs to replace three 7" CRT guns if you get burn-in? And, that leads me to JohnCo's reply. Unfortunately CRT replacement due to burn-in is not, as far as I know, covered under warranty. It's considered as a side effect of use and does not get covered.

I feel that an all to common line of thinking is that FP is expensive to get into. For the same price that someone spends on a 55" HDTV, you can get a great HDTV-ready LCD projector and maybe even have enough to get a brand-name screen. If not, build your own for less than $30 and enjoy. The process isn't difficult and anyone with even limited building knowledge can make one with great results.

 

[Michael Mathius]

Here are 10 most popular Pjs MSRP
1 Panasonic PT-L300U $ 2,799
2 Sony VPL-HS10 Cineza $ 2,995
3 Sanyo PLV-Z1 $ 2,495
4 InFocus X1 $ 1,999
5 NEC HT1000 $ 5,495
6 Sanyo PLV-70 $ 8,995
7 NEC LT240 $ 3,495
8 NEC LT260 $ 3,995
9 Mitsubishi XD300U $ 6,995
10 Sharp PG-M20X $ 4,395

The actual street prices of these projectors are much lower than the msrp. Try google and you may just be suprised.

Michael