RPTV...never again!

[Keith from Canada]

A few years back, an RPTV was a pretty decent investment...a good sized set for a moderate outlay of cash. Now, I am looking at front projection systems in today's market and I am astonished! For the price that I paid for my 47" widescreen just over 2 years ago, I could purchase an HT front projector and a 96" screen for LESS than I paid for my RPTV! I have seen a few of them in action (the Infocus X1 DLP projector and the Sanyo Z2 LCD projector) and was extremely impressed by their performance.

I am currently planning construction for my new HT (bought a new house that has yet to be built) and I will DEFINITELY be building it around the future purchase of a front projector system.

[depressed]

Good luck! However, you will need to consider a couple of things. Read the post here, you might find it useful:
Which TV? Woodman or Others

[Invader3k]

Definitely. If you are building a house and are going to have a dedicated HT room, front projection is the best way to go. For a lot of people though (like myself), if you have to put your system in your living room, a standard RPTV is sometimes easier.

A few years back, an RPTV was a pretty decent investment...a good sized set for a moderate outlay of cash. Now, I am looking at front projection systems in today's market and I am astonished! For the price that I paid for my 47" widescreen just over 2 years ago, I could purchase an HT front projector and a 96" screen for LESS than I paid for my RPTV! I have seen a few of them in action (the Infocus X1 DLP projector and the Sanyo Z2 LCD projector) and was extremely impressed by their performance.

I am currently planning construction for my new HT (bought a new house that has yet to be built) and I will DEFINITELY be building it around the future purchase of a front projector system.

[Widowmaker]

A few years back, an RPTV was a pretty decent investment...a good sized set for a moderate outlay of cash. Now, I am looking at front projection systems in today's market and I am astonished! For the price that I paid for my 47" widescreen just over 2 years ago, I could purchase an HT front projector and a 96" screen for LESS than I paid for my RPTV! I have seen a few of them in action (the Infocus X1 DLP projector and the Sanyo Z2 LCD projector) and was extremely impressed by their performance.

I am currently planning construction for my new HT (bought a new house that has yet to be built) and I will DEFINITELY be building it around the future purchase of a front projector system.

Congratulations on discovering the wonderful world of front projection. I recently bought the Epson Powerlite S1 LCD projector and I haven't looked back since. In addition to your other choices, you may want to consider its follow-up, the S1+. Also, one thing to watch out for regarding the InFocus X1 is that it does not accept 480i video sources in its VGA/component input; you HAVE to use a progressive or 1080i source. This may be a problem if you have a non-progressive DVD player or want to play PS2 games on your projector (most PS2 games are 480i).

BTW, what happened to the Panasonic? Did it die?

[Keith from Canada]

Congratulations on discovering the wonderful world of front projection. I recently bought the Epson Powerlite S1 LCD projector and I haven't looked back since. In addition to your other choices, you may want to consider its follow-up, the S1+. Also, one thing to watch out for regarding the InFocus X1 is that it does not accept 480i video sources in its VGA/component input; you HAVE to use a progressive or 1080i source. This may be a problem if you have a non-progressive DVD player or want to play PS2 games on your projector (most PS2 games are 480i).

BTW, what happened to the Panasonic? Did it die?

Many thanks for the input. I was actually thinking about the Sanyo Z2 however, it will be at least a year before the wife lets me even think about purchasing.

Than Panny is still running and looking wonderful thanks to the hands of Michael TLV. I just noticed that a calibrated Z2 looks just about as good as my calibrated Panny...the only difference is the screen size. For the same $'s, I could have had a 100" picture instead of a 47". That being said, I still love the look of the Panny!

[Rhino]

Anyone know how long the bulbs can be expected last in a projector? I teach at a university and use a projector every day, but obviously not like the ones designed for home use. Still, I know the bulbs in those things are really expensive (like $350-400) and I don't have any idea how long they can be expected to last. At that price I would hope a long time! I know the projectors for home use are different than the ones designed for presentations but I'm assuming the bulbs would at least be similar in life and probably cost at least as much, if not more.