Help buying projector Under 700

[daizy]

HI!! I am looking to buy a projector preferably under $900.Can you somebody please tell me what would be the best bang for the buck -I really want to have great picture quality and usually watch movies from my laptop on it.

i was hoping to get a high resoultion atleast supporting HDTV if possible.

Your help is highly appreciated.

thanks

[Ratman]

Under $700... or under $900, that's pretty tough for an HD projector.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/optoma_hd70.htm
http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/projdtls.asp?itemid=21278&itmname=Mitsubishi+HD1000U&sid=POST
http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/projdtls.asp?itemid=21246&itmname=Hitachi%20PJTX100&tab=specs#tabs

Here's some others, mostly non-HD:
http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/under1000.asp

[mjones73]

Projectorcentral.com is the best place to look for what's available and what actual prices you can get them online for.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/home-theater-multimedia-projectors.htm

You want something at least 720p native for HD, as Ratman stated, you won't have much to pick from at that price range.

[daizy]

for most of the movie watching that I do , that is DVD's that you get from blockbuster - is it even practical to get a HDTV projector? I intend to keep the projector for atleast 3 to 4 years maybe - so i have two questions
a. would the movies today look better on a HDTV projector
b. if not then would we start seeing more and more HDTV comptiable movies in the market in the next year or so ?

thanks for replying...

[Ratman]

What "size" are you intending to project? There are large RPTV's (DLP, LCD) that may better suit you desires and still look great.

"Movies" (legacy DVD's) will look fine, but not like a theater (resolution wise) since they are all encoded at 480i.

There are two new formats for High Definition DVD's, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The players are priced around the same budget as the least espensive FP units you are seeking. ;)

Either way... you may want to save a few $$ since <$900 is low to meet your expectations.

[Home_Theater]

Aw - just get yourself a BenQ PB6100 (though discontinued they can still be found for around or even under $700) and a progressive scan component DVD player an you'll be happy with your Blockbuster DVDs. The BenQ is native 800x600 but has a great image through the VGA connector so you will also need a component to VGA cable - get it from monoprice.com -- cheap but quality cables :)

[d6500k]

Sony just announced 2 Pj's (720p) that will have MSRP's of $1200/$1000.

Street prices will probably be a bit lower. Shipping dates in early summer. Keep an eye on the Sony site for further info.

Doug k

[mrroybh]

Hello, do you really need a HDMI receiver if your projector has HDMI.

[kevinw]

Hello, do you really need a HDMI receiver if your projector has HDMI.
Only if you want your audio to come through a HDMI cable. otherwise use an optical from your source to your AV reciever.

[Home_Theater]

Only if you want your audio to come through a HDMI cable. otherwise use an optical from your source to your AV reciever.

Note that a LOT of receivers with HDMI in&out merely pass-through the signal to your video display and do not actually sample the audio. With those you also need to run an additional cable to your receiver...

[Ratman]

If you use an A/V receiver as a "switching" unit for HDMI video and audio, there's no need to run an additional cable for audio from an external source.

I'm not aware of any A/V receiver with HDMI inputs that doesn't detect digital audio.