[smirnoff]

If you remember I mentioned in another thread that I was getting a cheapo projecter, well I spoke too soon because they oversold the item and I missed out. Now I'm looking again. I posted this over @ avsforum as well but I thought I'd repost it here as well.

So I've never owned a PJ and I don't even currently own a TV, but I do own a bunch of DVDs and and have a big white wall at my disposal in my apartment. Budget is small... if I have to be specific < 1000$.

Here's what I'm working with.






Okay, so first of all feel free to laugh at my ugly red couch . Note, the couch is currently on the wall where the image will be projected.

Ideally I'd like a PJ that could be placed on the coffee table but that would only give it 6 or 7 ft to throw up an image. Is that adequate? What size image is generally comfortable at distance I'll be sitting? When I'm sitting on the couch imagining it, it seems like 6.5' to 7.5' would be reasonable. In the theatres I like to sit about 1/3 back from the front row.

Things to keep in mind, I'm only going to be watching DVDs with this thing. Also there's no screen to work with, just white wall. Handy though I may be I've got no tools or car available to me to consider much of a DIY option, and this being but a rented apartment I don't want to start drilling into the concrete ceiling to hang a screen (or PJ for that matter) or start painting up the walls. This is going to be about as modest a setup as you can get I guess.

So what projectors, if any, should I have my eyes on? Being that I'm not doing the HD thing should I simply be looking for 854 x 480 native res PJs? Or, even with my simple setup, would it be wiser to go 720p and some upconverting dvd player?

Thoughts, opinions, recommendations all welcome!

[b00gerflick3r]

The distance from wall to wall is pretty short. I doubt you could fill most of the wall with an image even if the projector was at the oposite wall. I have a Dell DLP projector and to get a 8' diagonal, i need to be about 15 feet away.

[tweakmonkey]

We get a 12 foot screen from a distance of about 10 feet (guessing) -- maybe it's 12 feet or so, but I'm not home to measure it.

My roommate bought one of these (Sharp Projectors: Sharp DT-500 DLP projector) for about $500 factory refurb on Ebay. It supports 1080i, 720p, and looks amazing.

[smirnoff]

That definitely worth noting B00ger. I was suggested the BenQ w500 over at AVSforum and aside from being a good quality entry level projecter it has considerable side to side and up down lens shifting abilities, so I could get the projecter right back against the wall and off to the side a little even thereby getting as much size as I can out of the thing.... I'll try to calculate exactly was screen size I'll manage.

[smirnoff]

Thanks dan, yeah I'm certainly not opposed to a refurb. And that sure is a good price... I'll do some poking around.

[smirnoff]

Well, I pulled the trigger on some gear:

BenQ W500 720P LCD Projector 799$ (review)



JVC XV-N670B DVD player 86$


And 25$ worth of cables.

Since I'm primarily going to be watching movies on my own, and my preference is for headphones (because of the isolation from apartment noises and sound quality bang for your buck) I'll be using my existing Bayerdynamic DT770s & the JVC SU-DH1 Dolby headphone gizmo that Jishory kindly helping me to bring over from the States.

I'll post my thoughts on Project Apartment Theatre For One after it's all come together.

[MSP]

My main concern with owning a projector is bulb life and bulb cost. What's the bulb in that one rated for?

[smirnoff]

For this particular one, it's a very reasonable 250$ approx. Rated at 2000 to 3000 hours depending on brightness settings. If I could get 800-1000 movie viewings out of it, that seems pretty good. I think somewhere in that review they calculated the cost per hour of viewing at 8.3cents.

[MSP]

Well, in my experience the hour ratings on bulbs are like the dealer published gas mileage ratings on cars. You'd probably more realistically get 1800-2200 hours, so 12-14 cents an hour is more likely. Still not bad. But I'd keep an extra bulb around though, cause sure as shit it will burn out in the middle of a Super Bowl party or something.