Projector advice.

nantony98

Ive been looking into getting a projector for a little while but im a bit of a novice when it comes to home theatre. I will be using the projector mainly for films but also for occasional tv and video games. Ive made decisions several times on what to buy but have changed my mind each time and cannot decide. Ive been looking at infocus alot as they seem to offer good value for money
Here are a couple ive looked at
http://www.infocus.com/Products/Projectors/IN26.aspx
Designed for business use but good brightness and resolution but few inputs, no HDMI etc costs about $800
http://www.infocus.com/Products/Projectors/X3.aspx
Similar to above and about $800
http://www.projectorcentral.com/InFocus-X1a.htm
Lower resolution and spec in general but only $580
The projector will be connected to a Mac mini (for dvd photos etc) to sky and to xbox. Do I need higher definition ? Don't high definition devices need HDMI? Should I look at something else? Bear in mind cost. Getting it from america to save costs. They seem to be quite a bit cheaper. Please help.

Ghost Train

Getting it from america doesn't sound good. Delivery costs will be high. If something ever goes wrong with the projector, it's going to cost a lot to send it back for repair. You will/might have to pay a large amount to customs for getting it from outside europe.

You should check out komplett.ie and pixmania.com, they have a good range of projectors. Unfortunitely there isn't a great choice of places to buy projectors.

You don't strickly need HDMI. High definition can be feed to the projector using digital HDMI or DVI and analogue component or vga. Getting a projector with hdmi or dvi that has hdcp support might be wise, might be an issue with future hd-dvd & blueray devices. I would say get something with at least one digital in and component in

Do you need a high definition projector? Only you can answer that. If you want to cut costs get a lower res projector, it will be perfect for dvd and tv viewing. For xbox 360 and other hd content the higher resolution projector should look better.

For home theatre you should be looking at a 16:9 projector, it's like would you buy a square tv when all the new tv's are widescreen. Business projector will be aimed more at producing the brightest image, home theatre projectors will be aimed more a producing a cinema type image with great colour etc.

Beware the brightness/contrast ratio figure you see with projectors, they are not a good way to judge a projector and how they are measured will vary greatly from company to company.

I have an infocus projector and like the brand, the company is not doing well at the moment though so any warrenties from them might be questionable, as they mightn't be around in a year. The quality of their projectors seems very good though. They would be a more expensive brand I think.

If I was buying a projector today I would be looking at optoma hd70 as it's a cheap 720p dlp. If the e1100 price is an issue, i'd be looking at finding a cheaper 480p dlp from infocus or optoma, should be possible to find something around e700 price range, i havn't looked lately. I'd also be looking at the newer lcds in the same price range, I was a bit wary of dlp before I got my projector but I'm happy I went that way now.

Read as many reviews as you can about particular models available. Check out homecinemachoice.com, projectorcentral.com and avsforums.com

Cmar-Ireland

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