It looks like my RPTV is finally being declared the lemon that it is, giving me store credit I can use either for a new RPTV or FP. We're moving into a new house this weekend with a nice basement that has total ambient light control, so I'm leaning 99.9% towards front projection.

I have three options--the Sanyo Z1, Epson Home 10, or Panasonic 300 (all LCDs). Haven't seen either the Epson or Panny in action, but there is a substantial $1000 difference in price that would help a lot towards a screen, mount and installation costs. I was totally unimpressed with the Z1 (screen door effect was awful), but this may have been an unfair first impression as I'm sure it wasn't properly calibrated.

Sadly the X1 isn't carried by the store, but I thought that machine was awesome (I tried to see rainbows but never could).

Anybody have experience with any of these, particularly the Epson vs the Panny? Yeah, I should really be posting to AVSForum, but I thought I'd try my luck here first.

Yes the X1 does not show any screen door unless you are less than 4 feet from within the screen...and then the screen door it is sooo tiny. The Z1 screen door can be seen at 10 feet. Calibration will not get rid of it. Soft defocusing will. The Panny has a technology which helps the screen door effect. It also has a higher res than the X1 and does not suffer any rainbowing as DLP have. You need to be within 6 feet to see screen door on the Panny. So since most normal viewing is 8+ feet... all is good. The Panny is I think more than twice the X1 though. It is a great product and if you can afford I would go for it. If it is too much maybe you can get a credit for other items such as...DVD player..SACD player...new preamp/processor..etc and then buy yourself a cheap X1 from Dell or local dealer.

As I said, I thought the X1 looked fantastic, but it took some tooth pulling to get store credit rather than just another RPTV, and they don't sell the X1. Sadly, the store is only a step up from Future Shop. While I could get gear like a new DVD player, Denon receiver, etc. I really don't need them and high-end stuff (amps, pre/pros) isn't carried.

In the end, the smartest thing for me to do is probably hold off yet another few months on paying down my line of credit and get the Panny with a decent screen. I've already done the "cheap out, then end up spending double for upgrades" thing a half-dozen times over with speakers.

I hear ya. Went and going through that now.

I'd go for the Panasonic. It's been on projectorcentral.com's Highly Recommended list for a long time now.