In the market for a projector...

[KEEZY]

Guess who's back! Indeceezy is here!

I'm looking to get back into the HD era. I have been keeping my eye on those Slimfit Samsung CRT TVs, but they haven't dropped low like I thought they would. Spoon has me with the InFocus sp4805 on my brain, but I can't seem to find any of them on the cheap. Apparently the InFocus IN72 is the replacement for the 4805. Does anybody have any experience with this guy? I saw one on eBay, NIB, for $770 shipped. I don't have the money for that right now, but I'm hoping to make a move by the end of the year.

My alternative is to pick up an LCD monitor on the cheap. Widescreen with a pretty good response time is what I'm looking for. CC and BB have some that have caught my eye, as well as some Acers on Newegg. Blah, I don't know.

Anywho, keep an eye out for any good deals! If you see any projectors for sale on forums or anything like that, let me know! Thanks!

[MadBryan]

Go with at least 720p Kezzle. I'm not knocking the 4805. Have and loved it. I just love the Panny AE900 that much more. I will keep my eyes open for deals. Shouldn't take long

[SpOoNmAn]

770 NIB and free shipping is a great deal. You need to relax and save up a few more bucks my friend. Some go at that price used, and you dont get free shipping/insurance. I paid 1,600 for my 4805 when it came out summer of 2004, and its worth every penny. These new prices are insane for such a great little projector!

Are you familiar with DLP? Do you suffer from the rainbow affliction? If you dont know, find out before you buy. Dont spend a couple hundred on a small lcd monitor, you'll kick yourself knowing you could have saved a little longer and got a kick ass projector instead. Thats my viewpoint. And dont put this all on me, ask anyone that has or had the 4805, they will agree with me.

**Edit after seeing Bryans reply...

Personally, Id rather have the picture I get with the 4805 even though its not 720p native, compared to any LCD that is native 720p. My eyes just dont like LCD, whether its a tv/monitor or projector. It doesnt look right, same goes for Plasma. I know, I have issues.

Keezy you need to decide on which format your eyes prefer and go with it.

I agree with Bryan for the most part, if youre going to make the leap, now is the time to go native 720p. The cheapest 720p Infocus is 1,800 and up depending on where you look, so thats out of the question.

I dont know prices on the Panny so Bryan and I believe Jon are the ones who have those models and know quite a bit.

Im stepping out of this convo for good, my reponses will be the same as they have been for the past 12 months, lol. Good luck with whatever you get

[Jon Liu]

I don't think I quite got how much you are looking to spend on this front projector.

Infocus, despite any issues I have with them, is a very good company that puts out very good projectors. The 4805 displayed an incredible picture for the money. If the IN76 is a step-up from that, for 770 you can't really go wrong! With that said, I agree with MadB and Spoony, I would think that now is the time to go to 720p. Like I said, the 480p output of the InFocus 4805 was absolutely great but, I appreciated the difference when I switched to the Panasonic AE900. The smaller pixel structure in general from 480p to 720p was appreciable. Not to mention the technology in the Pannys, called Smoothscreen, made it so pixel structure is essentially non-existant up to even a couple feet!

You definitely have to weigh in the differences between technologies as Spoon pointed out. DLP has better black levels but, does have rainbow effect if you are susceptible to it, ultimately it's a bit more expensive than the LCD counterparts. LCD is good with light-output, I also found, personally I liked the colors on the LCD better than DLP but, like I mentioned before, blacks aren't as good as DLP but, it is cheaper comparatively.

Nowadays, LCD black levels are getting a whole lot better. From what I heard already the replacement to the Panny AE900... the AEX100 has even better black levels and improves upon the picture quality just a tad more with a slightly sharper image along with other stuff but, overall the margin of differences is closing between LCD and DLP!

It also ultimately depends on your budget, as well...

[KEEZY]

Yeah... I am not looking to spend a lot. Hell, I might not even get it at all. I had the Samsung pedestal DLP before, and had to sell it for multiple reasons. It will suck going from 720p to 480p, but lucky for me I am actually going from 480i to 480p. I wish I could go 720p with a projector, but 2 G's is too much for me. That will have to wait until I'm out of school. The more I think about it, the better the SlimFit sounds. A projector would be the balls, but I'd rather have quality than quantity. Playing on my old DLP and now playing on a CRT, I do notice a difference in speed. Even when I was in NJ, I mentioned to Wonder that GRAW ran a hint more smoothly on his CRT TV.

I'm hoping to attack on Black Friday. There should be some great deals going on. Does the internet have great deals on that day too, or are they pretty much standard? I guess with a projector on eBay, it's all about how the auction turns out. As far as price, I'd like to keep it under $1000, which makes things very difficult.

I agree Spoon, I need to decide what my eyes like best. For some reason, DLP didn't seem as bright, but I *guess* I'll have to wander around Best Buy for a while, driving my g/f crazy Thanks for the input everyone! Keep it coming.

[Jon Liu]

well, I'll keep my eyes peeled and post back here if I find anything of interest under $1k! Heck, you might be able to find a used Panny AE900 for around that price... dunno, just a stab in the dark.

[alter_ego_trip]

One thing that I don't think anyone mentioned is what type of environment will you be playing in. Is this going to be a dedicated room? If you have an area with a lot of ambient light you are going to want to go with a pj that has a good CR. Another thing to factor in is not only the pj but the cost of bulbs. At 400 a whack a pj is not a cheap toy if you do a ton of gaming. You also have to factor in the cost of a screen. You can make one yourself as a lot of us have done but it's something else to factor in. Don't get me wrong once you go that route you will likely never look back. As far as the LCD vs. DLP argument, that has become a razor thin difference nowadays. I have the AE900 and love it. SD is nonexistant on my 96" screen at 11'. With the new replacements coming out 1k for a 900 probably isn't too long a shot.

[Jon Liu]

yeah there are additional cost factors I guess that weren't mentioned before...

projector bulbs are a cause for worry and I can say that I always think about that whenever I fire up the projector but, hey... not much I can do but just try to enjoy it!

[KEEZY]

Yeah... I sleep in the basement (how stereotypical) and so light wouldn't be an issue. I would have to get bulbs, a screen and also a UPS so that the bulb doesn't explode if the power goes out.

[MadBryan]

Your bulb won't explode when the power goes out $50 for a BO cloth screen and if you used it for gaming and movies only that bulb will last a long time. Me I watch tv and cruise the old forum on mine. Even fell asleep a few time. Don't let the bulb thing scare ya off. Get the 4805 and when the bulb expires it'll be time to upgrade anyways. I'm keeping my old 4805 for outdoor stuff and lan parties. I just went on three day atv trip and took it for movies. It was a big hit shooting on a white bed sheet and a pirate copy of Jackass 2. I plan on getting a pool this spring and my daughter and her friends should get a kick outta some poolside video's.

[Jon Liu]

lol, if you went with a 4805, like MadB said, when it comes time to upgrade it'll be a no-brainer to just simply upgrade! I just can't imagine those people out there with the Sony Ruby and paying $1000 for a replacement bulb! Holy mother...

[KEEZY]

I swear, I read stuff and then I'm like... oh, I'll get the Tv, and then I read other stuff, and I feel like the projector is the way to go.

Should I risk it on the 4805 replacement, the IN72? How about whichever drops to $699 first!

[MadBryan]

Do you have a surround sound setup Kezzy? I remember your Samsung but don't know what you do for speakers. If you have a system than just do it dude. Xmas is coming just ask Santa

[KEEZY]

There was an IN72 on eBay for supercheap! But it got snatched up through Buy It Now. I do have a surround sound system, but it's not set up yet. The surrounds and center are all one set, and the fronts are huge speakers I got for free. After seeing that projector posted in the Peench's thread, I will have a hard choice when I do decide to pick something up.

[SpOoNmAn]

I know you'd have to wait longer but I'd definitely suggest you do just that and grab that Optoma for a couple hundred $$ more bro. Its got a better color wheel, same Darkchip(which rocks in the 4805) and native 720p? Plus the free shipping and a warranty thats twice as long?

[KEEZY]

Yeah... that's pretty sweet. I would have missed 720p, not gonna lie. I hope the free shipping holds up.

[SpOoNmAn]

I hope youre not making the Free shipping a deal breaker. These things only weigh 5 lbs and are cheap to ship. The difference is if you buy on ebay from someone, they will charge you 25 to 40.00 and rip you off. From a online store, itll only cost 10 to 15 maybe. Saving 15.00 isnt a huge deal.