Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Front projector

I am looking into getting a front projector but don't have much to spend. What is the best projector for $1200 or less. I have learned a lot on this message board and thank you for your help!

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Projectors

Infocus X1 seems to be one of the often liked "budget" options. My coworker has one and likes it.

Jazz

I have been looking to get in to front projection too. The best projector I can find in that price range is the Epson Powerlite Home 10 ($1299.00) www.epson.com, the native aspect ratio is 16:9 and the brightness is 1000 lumens. The resolution is a bit low however the picture is great. Good luck

I would think about a panasonic L300U, those have come down in price now that the 500's are out.

The X1 is a great budget option. My neighbors have one in a dedicated room and it looks great. Screen size is approximately 96-106 inches.

I believe that Saturn has one on here. I'm sure he'll be along shortly.

Yes the X1 is a great option. It is hard to beat in price and quality. Careful matching of screen is important with the X1. The X1 has a fantastic de-interlacer...the Faroudja chip...upscales and clean up the picture signal.

Another 2 options is the Benq 6100 and the Optoma H30.

I prefer DLP projectors (versus LCD projector) as all above projector are. They have great contrast ratio and color.
But heed that most projectors work best with a light controlled room. Any sort of lighting would wash out any projector setup.

I have been happy with the X1 for the past year but have recently sold it...and upgrading to the Optoma H30 in a couple of weeks...new place has more lighting constraints and need a much higher lumen output projector that the Optoma can produce.

Saturn
http://www.spacelofts.com/x1/

ps: a trial is in order with any projector if possible. Some say rainbows are more prevalent with DLP projectors but I would rather have some of that SDE (screen door effect) or vertical banding that are seen in lower end LCD projectors.

I just was looking at an Infocus "screenplay 110" last week. You can get a brand new one for $2000 on their website and probably less from dealers. It looked really good playing Spiderman at the store. It the cheapest projector I've seen yet with native widescreen resolution. It is ideal for the DVD format and apparently does well with a high def signal as well. Is has a dual mode chip so it is optimized for both 16X9 or 4X3. From what I saw I was really impressed.

There is a lot of great info at projectorcentral.com.

One that hasnt been mentioned but is a very good budget projector is the Sanyo Z1/Boxlight Matinee 1HD

Very nice 1/4HD projector.

The current consumer level projectors are
Infocus X1 - 2x color vheel w/ DCDi, 800x600 ($8xx from dell deals that come up every now and then)
BenQ 6100 - 3x color wheel , 800x600 ($900 after rebate)
Optima H30 - 4x color wheel, 800x480 (I think there is a firmware update to unlock to 800x600) $1300)
Infocus 4805 - 4x color wheel w/ DCDi, 800x450 ($1500)
They are all DLP projector with very good contrast