Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Infocus LP640 Projector

Hello All.

Long time no speak....virtually ofcourse.

I am looking into a Infocus LP640 XGA projector for my little home theater with massive sound thus far.

Anyone have any thoughts, advice, and or other tips on this unit....including what screen would work best.

I am on a limited budget, which is why this projector makes sense at the $1000 US it costs...so I wont have too much left for the screen. I would prefer a 16:9 HD type screen...something easy to mount on a wall.

Thanks ALL.

I guess I'm wondering how you plan to use the projector? If your going to be watching any HD material at some point, you might want to consider a native 16:9 projector, especially if your thinking about using a 16:9 screen. Now, a 4:3 projector will work and the image will have to be scaled. I prefer to use a projector that will match my screen aspect ratio.

You might want to spend some time on projectorcentral.com I have a Sanyo Z2 and love the performance, and the Z3 and Z4 are now out. Panasonic also makes some nice models.

For a grand, I think you can find many options. You can also make your own screen, that is what I did, not hard. Or just use a white flat painted wall.

I do hope to watch some HD material on it at some point.
But this LP640 is about 1k US with 2200 lumens...I thought it would do the trick nicely. I guess I have to do my homework on the aspect ratios being native.

Thanks SirQuack.

Anyone else have any advice?

Just an fyi, high lumens is not what you want for a HT environment. Yeah, for an office work presentation situation you want this, not for HT. HT projectors are designed for just that environment, normally high contrast and lower lumen levels. ProjectorCentral has a list on the first page of HT projectors. To many lumens(punch) will drowned out the vibrancy of the colors. If you have a light controlled room, you don't need high lumens, unless you want to go blind. I think my Z2 is 800 or so lumens, and I run it in low lamp mode to conserve the bulb.

Thanks SQ.

Luckily this room is in a basement. One entry into the room has no door but very little ambient light passes through. I am sure 1000 lumens or less will be ok.

I did look at the Sanyo Z4 which seems adequate and nicely priced at $1699 with a free 2nd bulb and a free 92" screen.
I may just take the plunge and buy a universal ceiling mount to boot.

Thats the plan now.

****Also working on upgrading my ep500 (11months old) to a new EP600 so I can really break some stuff in the china cabinet at home. :-)

hey where you live....if you are upgrading the EP500 what are you selling it for ?
I may be interested in it later, I am only building a room 15 x 24 x 9 and two of these will do the trick , unless I get the siesmic's

Hey Troy, if you read the forum guidelines you will see we are not to discuss "selling" or "wanted" items...sorry dude.

Elite electrical projection screens are pretty cheap and the quality in not bad. Its about half the price of DaLite at about 80% the quality.
101" diagonal 16:9 Electric for $220
http://quadloft.com/concerti/mini-DSC_1168.htm
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=625&Nav=|c:280|&Sort=3&Recs=10

Saturn

Well I ended up buying the Sanyo Z4 (dont have exact model number) to project on a wall for now. It comes with a coupon for a spare bulb and a DALite 92" screen. So we will see the result.

Also upgraded to the ep600 for some foundation shaking.... Speakers are in Tenessee right now...so we will see if they make it to New Jersey in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Cant wait to try the projector out....should be a fun weekend.

That sounds great! I wouldn't mind getting your impressions of the Z4 whenever you get to use it.