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[twistedsymphony]

I've had a home theater setup with a projector for about 4 years now. My first projector was Barco 500, an old clunky CRT, it had a great bright image but needed constant calibration and only supported SDTV.

When I graduated college I bought a Boxlight Raven, it wasn't as bright but it had a nice sharp picture, accepted component video and of course needed no calibration, not to mention it takes up a whole lot less space.

The Raven is a decent projector but it doesn't have a native HD resolution. I also find the image to be a bit dim at times and it doesn't seem to POP off the screen how I'd like it to (and how the CRT used to look). A few other bothersome points is the black levels (seeing as it's DLP isn't darkchip ANYTHING   ) and since I moved into my new home the throw distance has come into play, as even with the projector all the way back and zoomed all the way out it still wont fill my screen.

I've often told myself  I was just going to wait it out till the bulb died and hopefully by that time they'd have $2K-ish DLP LED projectors in 1080p.

It turns out I'm getting a pretty decent tax return (about $1600), So I began thinking, HMM I could easily afford an Infocus Screenplay 5000 (about $1200) Seeing as that has a true 720p resolution as well as digital inputs with HDCP (which the Raven doesn't have). Looking at it's specs to refresh my memory it has a fairy poor light output and contrast ratio... even worse then my Raven.

I decided to search around projector central for projectors within my price range (sub $2K) that offered true 720p resolutions and I came up with this list:
Sanyo PLV-Z4
Panasonic PT-AE900U
Optoma HD72
InFocus ScreenPlay 5000
Epson PowerLite Cinema 200+
BenQ PE7700

all of them are around 2K with the exception of the Infocus wich is substantially cheaper ($1200). One projector on that list stuck out like a sore thumb, meaning it seemed blow the rest right out of the water.

The Optoma HD72, reading up on this thing it seems like a fantastic projector and If I were to buy another projector today I'm sure this would be it.

Here's a comparison:
http://www.projector...74&pid_135=3167

But here's my problem... It's $400 more then what I've got coming to me, $400 that I don't don't really have to spend. I also would rather not spend my entire return, it'd be nice if I could buy something and have some $$ left over to save.

So I'm asking all the projector people out there. Is the price of this projector REALLY worth it, considering what I have right now? Meaning I have a projector now, most of my complaints are really just me (neither my GF nor any of my friends see any of the problems I see with the picture   ) Added Resolution aside (I can live with 800x600 for now) is the extra contrast ratio, brightness, black levels, and throw distance worth it?

As for my current projector, I probably can't get much for it. There are NONE on eBay right now and last time I saw one it only went for $550 (and that was MONTHS ago).

Just trying to get a 2nd opinion as to if I should wait for either the price to come down or for something new to come up and save my money for now, or if it's worth the extra cash to grab this thing while it's the hottest projector under $2K

[woofis]

it seems like a really nice projector, but to tell you the truth, the infocus is 800 bux less and the differences between them arent that big. ive owned 3 projectors and they've all been infocus. since you said its not a necessity(sp?) i would go with the infocus. the optoma has a really good contrast ratio and the lamp life is good aswell. in conclusion, if you got the extra money and are really into great picture get the optoma. if you wanna save some money and still get a great projector get the infocus. (BTW) i dont remember where i saw this but there was an article saying that there is little to no difference in the infocus 4805 and the 5000, so you can save some more by getting that. ive had an olf infocus(dont remember the model) an infocus x1a and the 4805. 4805 blows them all away.

[DaGamePimp]

In the $2K price range the best units out there would be the Mitsubishi HC3000 and the new InFocus IN76 (both of these can be found for around $2k if you look) . These are both 720 native DLP Projectors using the DarkChip 2 tech with the latest TI chip . The HC3000 can do double duty at 1280x720 and 1024x768 since it uses the newer 1280x768 DMD . The InFocus IN76 is said to be locked at 1280x720 even though it uses the 1280x768 DMD . Avoid the Optoma HD72 unless you only want it for gaming and HD sports , the white segment on the color-wheel is not something you want for Home Theater use as it effects black level . The Optoma HD72 is also having random setting reset issues (see AVS forum) . Avoid the Panasonic AE900 unless you don't mind the image being slightly dull (less sharp than other 720p native projectors) , due to Panasonic's smoothscreen technology . I would honestly stay away from the InFocus SP5000 as well since it has terrible contrast and black level (even with ISF level calibration) . The BenQ 7700 and the Toshiba clone suffer from premature lamp failure at an alarming rate (they claim to have it nailed down now but there has been no proof as of yet to back this claim up) . The Sanyo Z4 requires serious tweaking/calibration out of the box but does offer a decent image once you get there and it is sharper than the AE900 . Keep in mind that the latest LCD projectors do not match the over-all image quality of the latest DLP units , most LCD's suffer from poor black levels , poor black detail , and less contrast than DLP . If you want to keep the cost down then I would look into the AE900 or the Z4 before the SP5000 since they can both be purchased for about $1500 (after rebates) .

Best of Luck and I think anything you go with from that list will surpass your current projector ( but then I am certain you already know that ) .
--- DGP ---

[twistedsymphony]

@woofis while I agree that the 4805 is a great projector, it's really not much different then what I'm using right now, the differences would be negligible and I'd be spending a whole lot of money for little to no improvement. Also the SP5000 seems to have very poor contrast, brightness, and black levels, worse then my current projector and those are the areas where I'm displeased with my projector the most.

@DaGamePimp
wow... thanks for the informative post, I did see both the Mitsubishi HC3000 and the InFocus IN76 in my search but both were far enough out of my price range that I didn't take them under consideration.

both the Sanyo and the Panasonic look like great projectors but I think I'd much rather have a DLP.

after reading your post I think I'd be wise to just save my money and wait for the price on either the HC3000 or the IN76 to come down a few hundred dollars to a price I can afford.

Thanks again