I would really like your experienced advice (1 Viewer)

[Matt Stryker]

PS - The lamp replacement costs $837 according to AudioEnz, for the AE100.

I don't know who "AudioEnz" is, but Panasonic Canada quoted $350 USD to a member of AVS: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...E100+Bulb+cost
So in Normal mode, $350/2000 hours gives a usage cost of $0.18 per hour ; Econo mode would be around $0.09 per hour assuming a 4000 hour bulb life.

 

[Michael Lee]

100% markup for projectors in retail is, in a word, absurd. Video is the worst category for profit margin in the HT world. The $5037 from pricejapan cannot be a US version of the projector..that is so far below cost for a US dealer.

 

[Natalie M]

OK Where did you all buy your PJ's?

 

[Matt Stryker]

I bought mine from www.PCNation.com ; they had the LT150 at a good price and had units in stock. I was impressed with their service, and they shipped same-day. Natalie, you should check Reseller Ratings (www.resellerratings.com) before you buy from anywhere online; they give you a good idea if the dealer is reputable or not.

The $5037 from pricejapan cannot be a US version of the projector..that is so far below cost for a US dealer.

It is the Japanese version, with the difference being that it only has one set of component inputs (I saw the Japanese version yesterday at the Atlanta HT meet). The menus were English, and the English manual can be downloaded online. The US version sells to most small/mid dealers for $6080 at cost if I remember correctly. They then mark it up about 40% or so.
The 100% markup comment was prompted by me seeing an LT150 clone in the latest Sound&Vision; I paid $2400 for my LT150 and they were advertising this (Integra perhaps) PJ for $8000! It was exactly the same; absolutely makes me sick what some companies will do to the price after simply painting "HT" on the side of equipment.
My local HT shop sells the 9000 for $10,000; that means they are marking it up 64% from cost. So I guess my 100% estimate was a little high. It is nearly 100% over the PriceJapan price, but there are a few gotchas if buying from an overseas dealer.

 

[Gil D]

Natalie,
I wouldn't buy a projector from a local A/V shop. The target customers for these are the guys putting together $30-50K (maybe more) dedicated rooms. Also, the few FPTV setups I have seen in A/V stores have been poorly setup and many times with inferior projectors.
I purchased my LT150 from Link Removed which is an established mail-order/e-tailer. I phoned in and was assigned a personal account representative who actually returned my calls and was my sole contact. No customer service rep inconsistency as I experienced with Dell. Although CDW didn't price match 100% they came close enough that with the tax I would have had to pay by buying from Dell it was a wash. I was also told by the CDW rep that I had 30 days to return it if not satisfied w/ no restocking fee, contrary to what's posted on the website. No way the LT150 was going back after viewing dvd on it fed by my HTPC. Note that s-video input is not nearly as good as HTPC or progressive scan dvd player like the Panasonic RP56 available for ~$200)
IMO it's too early to buy WXGA DLP front projectors. In another year or two pricing should be between 2-3K on these with more competing products.
If I were buying an RPTV like the Hitachi, I would buy from Sears on an internet price match. This may be the way to go for the new home if your looking for ease of use and low noise as the PJ's can get noisy with their fans. FPTV owners will have a hard time recommending RPTV (including myself since I own both- Hitachi 50" Ultravision SDTV) over FPTV, since the big screen wins with a realistic cinematic experience. And this is coming from an audio guy.

 

[Michael Lee]

Matt-

I am an authorized Sharp dealer and I can tell you that the number $6080 is pretty far off the mark.

 

[Matt Stryker]

$6080 is pretty far off the mark.

I'm sure the price varies between dealers (I'm guessing depending on size of orders/past sales), but I have recently spoken to an Atlanta area dealer who mentioned the $6080 price; he also said that Sharp was forcing the dealers to buy the units in pairs which caused a lot of inventory/overhead.

 

[Natalie M]

OK Ive been hearing about the progressive scan DVD players. What are they why would I need one if I already have a DVD player?

 

[Natalie M]

Hey Matt, I just checked out PCNATION, and they had the NEC LT150z for 3108.00. Which is great, now I know you said you have the LT150, but can you tell me anything about the LT150Z?

 

[Carl Hood]

Natalie, we too have recently moved into a new house where we were able to dedicate an entire room for HT. The room is about 20 x 15 ft and here's how we set it up :- painted all walls and ceiling matt black and hung dark curtains to reduce acoustic "brightnes" and give the room a real theatre look. We can also make the room totally dark, which is a real plus. The screen is a simple 16x9 rectangle about 12 ft wide made from white curtain backing material stretched over a wooden frame, and hung on the wall. The projector is a Sony XGA unit which I purchased second-hand for AUS$5000. Light output is 650 ANSI lumens. For an extra $140, I had the unit serviced by a Sony agent and returned with a clean bill of health and peace of mind. The bulb has about 700 hours use. Replacement bulbs in Australia cost AUS$900, so I bought a spare. It was a really good deal - maybe I was just lucky. The projector has a "16x9" mode - ok, I lose some pixels as it uses a similar technique to 4x3 TV squeeze mode, but at least the DVD player doesn't have to down-convert to 4:3 mode. Anamorphic DVD movies are simply gorgeous! Colours are rich and deep with plently of brightness and contrast. Have had the set-up now for 2 years and absolutely no regrets!

 

[Matt Stryker]

Natalie- the main difference between the LT150 and the LT150z:

-The LT150z has a zoom lens, so you can make the picture bigger/smaller as you need to. This is very helpful when you are mounting the projector, as you can mount it where you need to (distance from the screen) and then use the zoom to adjust the size of the picture.

-The LT150z also has econo-mode, where it drops the lamp output to 850 lumens. In econo-mode, the bulb will last 1500 hours; in normal mode, the bulb lasts 1000 hours. The LT150 bulb is rated at 800 lumens (less than the 150z in economode!) and has to be replaced every 1000 hours.

The only downside of the LT150z is that it is a little higher in price, but that price of $3108 is pretty good.

 

[Natalie M]

Ok there is just one more thing. Does the Lt150z incorporate the 16:9 aspect ratio? Because I cant see it mentioned anywhere.

Thanks

 

[Natalie M]

OK I have a couple PJ's to ask about. They are the viewsonic litebird PJ1075 DLP and the Toshiba TDP-P4 DLP. Does anyone use these, or have previewed these machines? If so, please tell me what you think. Or maybe check out the models I listed and let me know if I'm on the right track.

Thanks

Natalie

 

[Matt Stryker]

Does the Lt150z incorporate the 16:9 aspect ratio?

It is a 4x3 aspect ratio projector, but when you send it a 16x9 (DVD at 480p or HDTV at 720p or 1080i) signal over the component connection, it will do the 16x9 squeeze. You still get full resolution, just like you would on a 16x9 projector or TV.