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HTF Contest: Win an Epson HC 8700 1080P projector courtesy of Epson and ProjectorPeople.com! (1 Viewer)

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Adam Gregorich

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[SIZE= 14px] [/SIZE][SIZE= 14px]  [/SIZE] 

[COLOR= #ff0000][SIZE= 14px]NOTE: THE CONTEST IS NOW OVER.  JUDGES WILL BE SELECTING AND ANNOUNCING A WINNER ON SUNDAY NIGHT NOVEMBER 21st.  GOOD LUCK![/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE= 14px] [/SIZE]

 

[SIZE= 14px]Projector People’s Great Thanksgiving Giveaway[/SIZE]

 

[SIZE= 14px]Bring home a new EPSON Home Cinema 8700 UB projector for the holidays![/SIZE]

 

[SIZE= 14px]If you had Epson’s outstanding new Home Cinema 8700 UB projector, what would you watch in hi-def on the big screen as you kick back after Thanksgiving dinner? [/SIZE]

 

[SIZE= 14px]Tell us for a chance to win a new Epson HC 8700 UB 1080p projector – delivered to you by Thanksgiving Day! So what would it be? [/SIZE]

 

[SIZE= 14px]A bowl game with friends? [/SIZE]

[SIZE= 14px]A favorite holiday movie with family? [/SIZE]

[SIZE= 14px]An embarrassing slideshow of your brother’s baby bath time pictures? [/SIZE]

[SIZE= 14px]A ???[/SIZE]

 

[SIZE= 14px]Submit your story here in this thread and our panel of Home Theater Forum judges will pick the most creative, best-written entry to receive a brand new Epson Home Cinema 8700 UB projector, courtesy of EPSON and ProjectorPeople.com. Contest ends on 11/20, so the winner can receive the projector by Thanksgiving Day and make their story reality.  Winner is expected to post pictures of their Thanksgiving night party and a review of the projector on HTF so we can all live vicariously through you.[/SIZE]



Find out more about the Epson HC 8700:

Projector Specs and Information

Projector Screen Calculator

 

  • Deep, dark blacks; crystal-clear detail — 1080p D7 chip with C2Fine technology, plus 3LCD, 3-chip technology and a contrast ratio up to 200,000:1
  • Brilliant images, anytime, day or night — 1600 lumens color/white light output1
  • Natural, smooth image quality — built-in Silicon Optix HQV Reon-VX processor
  • Widescreen format — new anamorphic scaling mode preserves original 2.40:1 aspect ratio and eliminates black bars1
  • High-definition, 1080p home theater experience — D7 chip delivers 1920 x 1080 resolution
  • Remarkable color reproduction — new preset color space selection facilitates accurate color reproduction
  • Stunning picture uniformity and positioning flexibility — state-of-the-art Fujinon lens with a 2.1x zoom ratio
  • Energy-efficient E-TORL lamp — 200 W lamp lasts up to 4000 hours1
  • Cutting-edge connectivity — two HDMI 1.3 ports for maximum flexibility
  • Ideal for fast-action movies, TV shows — advanced, high-speed auto iris function adjusts light output up to 60 times per second
  • Easy maintenance — convenient dust filtration system with large surface area for greater efficiency
  • Outstanding support — two-year limited warranty; next-business-day shipping service
 

 

 

 

 

 

   
 

Todd H

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I recently lost my grandfather on September 12th. He was 81 years old and was more like a father to me. While going through all of my digital video tapes I discovered that I had recorded about 35 minutes of his 80th birthday. A couple of days ago I imported it into my Mac and made a DVD. If I won this projector I'd invite all of my family over for Thanksgiving and we'd watch this video as a celebration of his life.
 

Joe Caps

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I used to live in Southern California. Because of a bad accident in which during the operations, I passed away three times and was brought back three times, My folks got rid of my California ap[artment, sold my car, took all my posessions and brought them back to my home town of Elmira, n. y. - all without my permission as I was in a coma at the time.

Because of this I am very poor. I was given a blu ray player for last Christmas but have nothing large to watch the picture on. to get away from all of the snow here and the depressing situation, my dream is to watch the new blu ray of Sound of Music being released this week on blu for the first time, and to watch it on this projector.
 

DaveF

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If I won this projector, there's absolutely no way I can get SAF for a front projector in the living room; we've discussed this and FP just doesn't work in that room. To properly enjoy a full 1080p HD projector, I'd have to finish the basement and install a true home theater. I've had quotes on doing that and have talked with friends who have finished their basements: it would cost $30,000 - $60,000. And then I'd need a whole new suite of HT gear, so there's another $5,000. Oh, and furniture, another $5,000. And if I'm doing that, I might as well get that pool table and related accessories, for another $2,000. And then I'd have to buy the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Blu-Ray, about $65, to watch with my friends for the inauguration. Which might be closer to Thanksgiving 2011.


Winning this $2,200 projector could set me back upwards of $72,065. And a year in installing it all.


It's probably better for my marriage and my bank account if Joe wins it.
 

BrotherLou

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Louis Hoang
I love watching the war movies and football. I'd love to watch them in HD big screen but cannot afford to buy one. If I win this projector, it will be my wish come true. I can project my favorite movies or FB games anywhere in my home.
 

MatthewA

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Ever since I was a child, the idea of watching movies at home in a theater-like setting intrigued me. Through the years I've seen my home theater change from mono sound to stereo sound to 5.1 channel surround sound, from VHS to laserdisc to DVD to Blu-Ray, from 4x3 to 16x9, and from the 19" CRT I watched as a small child to the 32" Toshiba that served me well for 15 years to the 61" Samsung 1080p DLP I currently use. And I'm ready to take yet another step into making my home theater in my furnished basement more like an actual theater.


For years due to my traumatic childhood, my basement was the only refuge I had from the harsh realities of life. I was bullied so badly I had to be home schooled to get my high school diploma. The emotional scars made it hard for me to socialize, and impossible to find a job for fear of who I'd run into while working. After high school, it got worse. I turned away from the people who care about me—although somehow they stayed loyal to me—and everything I have tried to do to better myself has been half-hearted. Until now.


I looked inside to see what was troubling me, and I learned that I had to overcome it myself. And I have. I started running, and I have lost a tremendous amount of weight. It didn't make me happy in and of itself, but along the way I found out what it means to be truly happy.


After Thanksgiving dinner, if I or anyone in my family actually felt like getting up, we would find a movie to watch. It would have to be one that we all loved, and that's not easy to find. I am very particular about what I watch, and my family seldom wants to watch the same things as I.


Being from Detroit originally, Dad would probably want to watch the annual Lions/Bears game. Mom would want to watch what she usually watches: the endless marathons of endless variations of Law and Order or NCIS. My two younger sisters would want to watch something like Jersey Shore on MTV. I would have none of that for the inauguration of the new projector. It would have to be something special, something near and dear to all of us, even if we've already seen it before.


So why not a movie we all know and love that has just been released to Blu-Ray? Why not The Sound of Music? That movie was made for the finest possible presentation, and it has been beautifully restored for Blu-Ray. I would love nothing more than to watch this film, my other favorite films, and even my favorite TV shows, in the setting it deserves. And what better reward for finishing the marathon I'm running in on November 7? The presentation would have to be perfect. I have long had many ideas for my dream home theater, and this projector would be the first incentive to make them come true. It could be a way to do things together again as a family.


Additionally, I am teaching myself photography so that I can make a living doing it; wouldn't a projector be a great way to show clients my portfolio!
 

KeithAP

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For a Thanksgiving home movie event, my first choice would be "Pieces of April." Unfortunately, that isn't available on Blu-ray yet. Does an upconverting Blu-ray player count?


I think Thanksgiving would be a good time for a "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" epic marathon. Both mini series serve the dual purpose of reminding us of the sacrifices that many have made in the name of freedom and secondly, they are technically well made films ideally suited to be seen on the "big screen" treatment.


-Keith
 

Ruz-El

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My mother abhors the television and considers my dads 34" LCD to be too big. I would love to get this projector just for the torment of him watching NASCAR on the entire living room wall. Seriously, it would be amazing, and him so happy.
 

Sam Posten

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I'm living in hotels. Day to day in different ones as I find the best rate.

Even when 'home' I find no comfort, my bed is crated up.

My theater is fully disassembled.

My DVDs and BluRays are in storage.

My house is about 2 days away from going on the market.

My 720p projector and greywolf screen are on craigslist, with the idea that I'd get a small flat panel to keep me company as I ride this out.


In short, my life is in shambles and my home theater as it once was envisioned is no more.


What would a new projector mean to me? Hope. Incentive. A new start to be planted in a strange land.


Edited to add: What would the first thing we'd play on it be? No doubt it would have to be my family's favorite film of all time, and the perfect metaphor for my situation: It's a mad mad mad mad world!


Edited again to add: Wow I guess I was a bit over dramatic there guys, sorry to be such a downer! I'm doing ok and sorry if it seems like I was going for the sympathy vote, wasn't my intention.


I accepted a job move as part of the local base closing, essentially doing the same thing for a different company, 100 miles south of where I 'live'.


I had to essentially show up here in MD not knowing anything about where I might wanna buy a new place, figure that out, find a place to stay night to night in the meantime, and hustle my ass back to jersey each weekend to pack my house up and get it on the market. Once it's sold I'll be able to buy something down here. To do so tho I've had to give up living in the town I wanted to spend my life in, and disrupt my family big time in doing so.


The problem is there's been no place for me to stay so far. The apartment prices are all jacked up because of the BRAC they know people are desperate to stay close to the base. The places further from the base aren't much better. I've tried doing Craigslist room shares but all the ones I've visited have been creepy, dirty, too far away, too expensive or otherwise wouldnt be right for me. I keep looking but nothing has worked out yet. Meanwhile I keep paying my mortgage just to run back to NJ to finalize boxing, cleaning and eventually I hope, selling... And staying in hotels at ridiculous $ per night during the week until I can find something more stable.


It's been a devil's bargain. I get to keep working and am glad to have a good job, but doing so has meant throwing so much of my life away. Had to give up my teaching job, which just makes me sad. I'm persevering tho! I've had a bit of a nasty cold in the meantime and am scheduled for an MRI on my (I hope still dormant) tumor, so lots of stresses on me besides the job stuff.


This too shall pass tho, and I've got a lot of support from family and friends, plus a good job to actually show up to. There's a lot of folks out there doing a lot worse than me!
 

RobertSiegel

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After a great family Thanksgiving dinner, there is nothing I think would suit the occasion better than 20th Century Fox's new restoration on Blu-ray of The Sound of Music! From early reports, including a glowing review from Robert Harris, Fox has outdone themselves and finally released the ultimate transfer of this movie from Todd-AO source material.


A little history: I am 48 years old. When I was 5 my parents took me to see the movie in Virginia, Minnesota, a small town north of Duluth where I grew up. I sat there in a trance. Everything about the movie seemed like a dream. Being Jewish, my parents were concerned about my being 5 and took me out at the end of the wedding scene to avoid the Nazis. Every year after that until its run on ABC TV on February 29,1976 at 6pm central (yes I remember everything about this movie), the theater would show the movie one weekend every year after that. We always had a scratchy 35mm print but it never mattered, I went every night for the 3 nights (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). As a kid from 5 on, I went through roughly 25 copies of the RCA soundtrack album. Then, when Magnetic Video released the very first VHS version , I was in a state of bliss. I delivered papers, went around town and worked any job I could find until I could afford the first General Electric VHS machine, which at the time was almost $1000.00 (the old heavy top loaders). It took me an entire summer and fall to save that money working 3-4 jobs a day, to buy a machine for this one movie. I was probably the first person in town with a VCR. When I bought it, I was in true bliss and played it many times over.


After that, I purchased every new version, there were 4 different releases on VHS (even if it was the same transfer I would buy it for the new cover art). Then came laserdisc and when the movie came out, I was able to watch the movie in stereo sound for the first time at home. Bliss again! Then came the widescreen laserdiscd (the print looked all red but it was great to see the entire image) and then finally the box set, and finally after that the Dolby AC-3 laserdisc. From there, I spent 9 months excited for the Five Star Collection DVD, which turned out to be full of edge enhancement. Then the 40th anniversary edition, better but it never looked or sounded right.


When I was 19 I moved from my small town of Eveleth in northern Minnesota to Minneapolis for college. I got an apartment and met a great woman upstairs and we became good friends. She kept telling me of her ex brother-in-law that was a projectionist since the 1950's and became the head projectionist at Mall of America theaters, and I Just had to meet him (because of my home theater set up in my apartment). He came over and was unaware of laserdisc. His name was John Novak. He was very much into sound and film, so his job was the love of his life, and his favorite 2 movies were Ben Hur and The Sound of Music. The first disc I played for him was The Sound of Music. I had the very first Dolby Surround home theater processor and he was stunned they even made one for the home. I will never forget his face when his jaw dropped watching the pan and scan stereo laserdisc. This was the start of a friendship that only happens to some people once in their lifetime. Every time after that a new version was released, we would always go to the store, pick it up and then go to his house to watch it. We both always commented that it never seemed right, the sound should have always been better considering Fox's sound department and the picture being Todd-AO should have been so much better. He always told me stories of the special advance test screening of The Sound of Music he projected at the Mann theater in Minneapolis for one night (They had one night test screenings in Minneapolis and Tulsa before the premiere). For 29 years, he and I were best of friends and this year we were very excited for the new Blu-ray coming out because of the early talk that Fox was going all-out on this transfer. Sadly, on March 15 of this year, he had cardiac arrest in the parking lot of the emergency room in Minneapolis, he never made it inside. So this release is such an exciting experience for me and yet alot of sorrow comes with it. I have seen the film 281 times and scanned songs probably thousands of times, especially that opening scene.


In 1988, I tested positive for HIV from a blood transfusion after a car accident.. I have gone through 22 years of worry and so many different issues. But since then, whenever I feel down or times seem hard, I can always pop in my latest version of The Sound of Music and it never fails to bring me out of my sadness and makes me feel full of hope with it's wonderful score, including such songs as I have Confidence and Climb Every Mountain, which always give me hope for a cure to this terrible disease and it never fails to lift my spirits. With the beautiful cinematography, what better movie to watch on an Epson 8700 projector after a wonderful family Thanksgiving dinner.


I have had an Epson 1080 (the original, not UB) since 2006 which I purchased by saving from my disability checks for 2 years. 2 months ago, out of warranty, the machine stopped working, and after sending it to Epson, told me it would cost over $1000 to fix. It is too much for me. So I have been using my old 35" tube set in the meantime. I have an "Elite" brand 150" screen and a 7.1 channel surround system. So what a great Thanksgiving gift it would be to have the 8700, a projector which I have been looking at on the internet so many times, which I hear is such an improvement, to view this new wonderful transfer of my favorite movie that has so many memories on Blu-ray on my big screen!!! I would be in pure bliss! And I would be watching with my family but also for my former friend John, who I know would be up there watching with me, and giving thanks for my life and being healthy for now.
 

Jack Cleveland

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Home theater is really, ultimately about sharing. Gathering people together to enjoy an experience that bonds and reminds us all of our commonality is really the essence of film. Many years ago, Louis B. Mayer said that film was the one thing he could sell and still own. Although true from a business sense, we all own the art of film. Whether a trip over the rainbow to Oz, or across time and oceans to Casablanca, or discovering the meaning of rosebud from Citizen Kane, we all are transported and transfixed while watching a story unfold on a movie screen. We bond, we revel, and we bask in the rich experience that is shared during the viewing.


For me, my home theater is a place where people gather to rediscover the art of film in a comfortable environment. There they can see recent films or classics. They can learn, and they can enjoy. A meal may be shared, and then a film can be shown. Youngsters can enjoy their favorite Disney film on a big screen for the first time. And senior citizens like my own parents can watch Gone With the Wind, remembering when they first saw it, and enjoying being with others who may be watching for the first time. That these experiences take place in my home allow that room and that home to become a safe, warm, and special place. New memories are fashioned, and home becomes the gathering place for the family once again.


This Thanksgiving my parents, brother, sister, their spouses and my nieces and nephews will gather at my home. We will eat dinner on my grandmother's china, laugh, reminisce, and probably watch some football. But that evening, a holiday classic will be watched. Perhaps White Christmas, or It's A Wonderful Life, or maybe Miracle on 34th Street. While we eat our pumpkin pie, we'll bond closer, allowing the film to work it's magic. As people long ago gathered around a piano and sang, or a book was read aloud, we will allow our tradition- the film maker's dream- to work it's spell and weave us each one closer together.
 

Aaron Silverman

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I'd break in that puppy with the extraordinarily rare bootleg video of me proposing to my wife in the 20th Century Fox executive screening room while the rest of the Home Theater Forum cheered me on!


Sure, it looks like crap, but maybe I can get Lowry to futz with it first. . .
 

Stephen_J_H

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I would pull out Gremlins and get the whole family to watch, because of the finite amount of time we have to watch Christmas movies. Yes, I do consider Gremlins to be a Christmas movie.
 

SteveSs

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Having been born and raised on an unnamed mining planetoid within the Oort Cloud, I could not think of anything more homey than watching the new BR of Alien after Thanksgiving dinner. I have owned every form and version of the film, mostly because it feels like a home movie to me! Just imagine what it's like to sit back with an overstuffed tummy and then watch the dinner scene.
 

Hito77064

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We can sit back to review our vacations, my daughters' birthdays and all times our "big family" have chance to get together.

Even good or bad memories they all need to be remembered.


Hope every one have a happy and lovely Thanks Giving Day


Hito
 

Radioman970

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This new video viewing device would become the centerpiece of our holiday gathering; playing home movies as we chow down.



Watch out grandma! Don't get cranberries on the screen!


Grandma has to sit very close so she can see but more than once she'll try to pass a big bowl of tators or Aunt Susan's Mystery Lumpy Green Paste to our younger selves on the TV screen.

Oh grandma! [/i]




And then there's Maude! Yes, Aunt Maude. She's shorter than the TV version, dresses similar! and rides around in her motorized cart with the extra loud reverse beeper. beep! beep! beep! bumpitybump!!! Ouch my foot!


That's okay Aunt Maude, you just backed into the dessert table. I think the raisin fish cakes you brought will still be edible after a go with the dustbuster. Just don't back into the new TV!




Aunt Carolyn's latest beau will be here. He knows jokes that pre-date Bob Hope.

Thanks Aunt Carolyn for bringing another "Center Square"!




Of course, Cousin "Buddah" will be arriving late as usual in his Geo Metro that somehow still runs. After the meal he'll fall asleep all over the giant sectional sofa with the pets everybody brought lying around him. We have video of that and I hope those scenes come up after it happens for real so I can film that happening while it's happening on the screen from last year.

Smile Buddah!


Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
 
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