I’m partial to Panasonic, but that certainly doesn’t mean they are the best. I’ve had two now and both have been 100% trouble free. I’m not a lucky consumer, so considering my experience and luck; I think that says something about Panasonic’s projectors. I currently have a PT1000 and am looking at replacing it within the next six months, but I’m not sure what I’ll buy at this point. The projector that I would like to get is the JVC RS2, but with an MSRP of $7995, it may be too much of a stretch for me. The RS2 can be found for about $5500….still pretty high when considering how well the Panasonic PT2000, Epson 1080 and Sony VLP-VW40 perform at half the cost.
Two things the PT2000 has going for it that the others don’t….1) extremely flexible installation needs. 2) you can tweak the hell out it without having to hack into the service menu. Regardless of that, I think you’ll be very happy with either the PT2000 or Epson 1080. You just need to figure out if they have the options and functionality you want. If you do want to go with a constant image height set up, the PT2000 and RS2 both have a vertical stretch feature. I am not sure if the Epson has this or not and if it is limited to a specific resolution.
Screen selection is pretty important. You can go the whole DIY route, but I’d recommend just buying one and saving yourself some frustration. They are a pain in the ass to do….and you won’t end up with a high gain DIY screen, which is what you will want to get some more punch out of the projector. (there are no 1080P light cannons out yet, so you need some gain to compensate). If there will be ambient light in the room, you will want a grey or silver screen to help reject ambient light, but you’ll want to find one with a positive gain (some are negative). If your room is completely light controlled, go with a white screen. I use a Stewart Firehawk screen and love it. I can watch movies or sports with the lights on or the shades open, but it still works very well with the room dark. But, if I had no intention of ever using lights, I’d have gone with Da-lite High Power screen. The High Power gets great reviews everywhere. It has a gain of 2.8 that really gives images some pop, but that comes with a penalty…..a reduced viewing cone of 30 degrees. If you plan to have seats fairly wide, do the math and figure out what your viewing angle is. Another consideration is where you are going to mount the projector. High Gain screens are reflective, and some work with the projector mounted above them and others with the projector at seat level.
