Hello,
Has anyone heard if Panasonic is releasing a new projector?
I see there is a rebate offer for PT-AU900 U until the 31st of Aug, wondering if I should pull the trigger and buy now or wait for new model to come out and then buy the 900 as discontinued model.
Any thoughts?

Thanks
Dave

Good question. The current 900 series improved in a few areas over the previous model (the 700) that would make me look closely at possibly waiting.

Some changes over the past 2 models:
Item AE700 AE900
Brightness 1000 ANSI 1100 ANSI
Contrast 2000:1 5500:1
Noise 26 dB 25 dB

All other specs seem to be the same and the prices were similar at release dates.

I have a Sanyo Z3 (competitor to the AE700) and the Z4 (AE900 competitor) has some nice "upgrades" that at times I wish I had.

Item Z3 Z4
Brightness 800 ANSI 1000 ANSI
Contrast 2000:1 7000:1
Noise 23dB 22dB
Zoom 1.30:1 2.00:1

That extra contrast would have been nice. Other specs are pretty much the same as far as resolution, etc. I am not sure what the new models will have. I doubt they will do 1080p since that would raise the price a good amount. Probably brighter, more contrast again, but that helps with the black levels that a DLP with DarkChip 3 or something would be doing for more money, so they will continue to close that gap to some degree.

Good luck!

Quote:

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Hello,
Has anyone heard if Panasonic is releasing a new projector?
I see there is a rebate offer for PT-AU900 U until the 31st of Aug, wondering if I should pull the trigger and buy now or wait for new model to come out and then buy the 900 as discontinued model.
Any thoughts?

Thanks
Dave

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Even though the AE1100 will probably be announced at CEDIA 2006 Sep 15. It will likely not get any cheaper than all the current rebates it has going on right now. I say pull the plug (if you are in the USA) for the AE900. YOu get $300 worth of blockbuster rentals and a $400 rebate? You can't get any better than that.

IF you are waiting for a significant price drop. Don't be expecting one as they are already offering $700 worth of rebates!

If you live in Canada, the Z4 is what you want to buy because it is MUCH cheaper than the panny.

-Robb.