New projectors versus New TVs

[IceMacMac]

I have paid zero attention to projectors since I bought one 5 years ago. An article on MacWorld caught my attention and I've been looking around. WOW. Three times the lumen for 1/3 the price.

Can anyone who owns a recent model share some experiences? I am thinking of selling my old one and buying a new one.

I would be using mine 50% for Keynote corporate presentations and 50% for home entertainment.

 

[TheGrudge]

The projector I have is about 2 years old. I can't even remember the model # but it's an Epson and it does 720p. It replaced an old DLP projector I had (Infocus X1) when I bought it.

I guess my point is, while they may not be quite as good as a new TV (though the higher in price you go the closer you get!), they are still exceptional for the price. I find the colors don't quite "pop" as much as say an LCD or Plasma TV, but the real estate you gain more than makes up for it.

And if you look around there are deals to be had. My Epson came with a free spare bulb.

 

[brucewayne]

I have a Sony 46ex710 (LED LCD) and a Epson 8350, and a comparison depends on where you will be watching it.

The 8350 is one of the brighter projectors you can buy, and its watchable during the day, but the 'blacks' are only as dark as the screen is. Its cool to watch news or TV shows, but I would never sit down for a movie during the day. In a dark room, I'd say the color representation and contrast is about the same as the flat screen. The Sony obviously is better during the day but for movie night its a bit small (especially 2.35:1 cinemascope movies).

Not sure the projector you are looking at, but if it is a business projector, they maybe giving up some contrast/picture quality for more brightness. In that case you might not be happy with it in a home theater environment.

Maybe keep your old projector for the presentations, then get a new projector or LCD/Plasma for your home depending on whether you prefer a large screen in the dark or a smaller screen anytime

if you go to projectorcentral.com there are reviews and information that can help you make your decision.

 

[IceMacMac]

I pulled out my Mitsubishi projector and googled the specs. I was very, very surprised to see that the same model number is still being sold.

I had mis-remembered some things about it. It is much brighter (2500 lumens) than I was thinking. So maybe there hasn't been as much improvement in 5 years as I thought.