Good Day Everyone

I have been playing hooky from the forum for a few years (4 to be exact). Just been busy with work, kids, life, etc.

Anyways. I have a Panasonic PT-AE900u that I bought new in 2007. It’s time to replace the bulb and they aren’t cheap for this baby ($400), and they only last for about 2000 hours.
I am thinking maybe I should put that $400 towards a new projector. Has anyone upgraded from the 900u?

I do like this projector but there are a few things that could be improved 1) it isn’t the brightest projector in the world 2) the image is a little soft 3) very expensive bulbs and short bulb life 4) blacks are good, but let’s face it, they can always be better 5) Some motion blur.

I borrowed my friends Epson 730, but wasn’t impressed as it was a very nice bright picture (almost too bright) but the blacks were horrible and much of the picture looked washed out.

Room is a dedicated HT room with no windows and screen is 135”.

I welcome your thoughts. Thanks much - Paul

Budget?

Have you checked out reviews/info at projectorcentral.com?

Great info there.

Welcome back, Paul!

I can't help with the projector question; just wanted to say "hi!"

So Budget - Best Bang for the Buck. I paid over 2K for the Panasonic 9 years ago. I'd like to think with the progress of technology, in 2015 I could get a better projector for less money. Even if I could get an equal projector with longer bulb life and cheaper bulbs, i'd take a look at it.

Projectorcentral is a terrific site, but I can't find any comparison to my Panasonic.

I have heard a lot of good things Epson.

Thanks - Hi Mark!

Hi Paul! I have the same projector you do, bought in 2006, so I'll be following along. You are right, you can get a better projector for around $1000, or less if you're a savvy shopper like tomtuttle. He just had a thread here on his search for his first projector. He got an Epson.

Why not just buy the bulb from Amazon? http://www.amazon.ca/Replacement-PANASONIC-Projector-PT-AE900U-HMHLamps/dp/B006VDWRJM

the bulb costs under $100 shipped from what I can see

Usually I'm all for saving money, but I've heard that off-brand cheap bulbs like this are a risky investment. I have no personal experience with them. I buy Panasonic bulbs through B&H Photo.

Somewhere, Mark's ears perked up.

::perk::

Also not a big fan of those bulbs. Best price I can find for a new OEM bulb is at Tigerdirect.ca at $365 + Tax.

Hi Paul! Welcome back!

I've always thought that Panasonic projectors were like their plasmas - nobody is ever sorry for having bought one. Frankly, if I could have gotten a PT-AR100U for what I paid for the Epson 8345, I probably would have bought it.

I committed pretty quickly to LCD rather than DLP. I see rainbows sometimes, and knew that - statistically - I was likely to be viewing with others who also might be bothered. In addition, the placement flexibility of LCD was important to me; the lens shift and zoom of the Epson mattered to my installation. AT MY PRICE POINT, the features I needed were only available from Epson.

I didn't research expensive DLP units to see if they had the zoom and lens shift I needed. I did find that DLP's are generally rated as quite a bit brighter.

I'm pretty sure that the Epson 730 you looked at is a 720p model, which also makes it brighter.

So, if you're stuck on a particular mounting point in your room, you should probably make some time to look at the calculator at projectorcentral to see if your throw distance can accommodate your image size and is adequately bright.

Since I have ambient light but a pretty short throw distance, I wanted to make sure I could get ~16fL and a 110" screen from about a 13' throw distance.

In addition to the Epson and Panasonics, people seem to really like Optoma and Benq.

Good luck! Have fun!

From a different way of looking at it. Worfzara is already going to chuck the projector out, so it obviously has ZERO value to him. If the cheep bulb lasts longer than 500 hours then he is no more in debt to the bulb over buying 1/4 of an OEM bulb. If it lasts longer then he is father ahead.

If the bulb lasts longer than 500 hours but totally destroys the projector then he is still ahead as he was planning on replacing the projector anyway and there will likely be better models out when the bulb and projector blow up.

If the bulb does not work as well he could probably sell the unit with a working bulb for far more money than a projector without a bulb + the $100 cost of the third party bulb. Again, he is further ahead.

Yeah, I went the "imitation" bulb route a few years back with my previous projector, and not only was it not as bright, but colors were off, and overall projector image was more "dull" and faded looking. Dealt with it for about 6 months before biting the bullet and getting an OEM bulb. Night and day difference, it was like having a new projector again. SO much better.

But like Matt says, you could try it, and if nothing else sell the projector with a working bulb. Of course if I was the buyer of the projector, I would hope for a certain level of performance, and if the bulb was not able to produce a decent image, I would feel a bit shafted by the purchase.

But if you were buying a $2000 projector for $350, would you really expect to get pristine results from the unit?

Then you would be another $250 up towards you next projector. and the person buying it might also be quite happy with the results they are getting from what they paid.

Honestly, I'd buy a new current pj, be happy and not waste time thinking about it, and buy a cheap bulb for the old pj for backyard movie nights with a portable stereo. Instant BBQ party HERO. Then you have great family memories vs a few hundred bucks!

Selling a super old pj is not even close to fair to the buyer. Cheap or not. They would be buying out of ignorance, and would feel quickly shafted once they learned a little.

Hi Tom

Yup, LCD is the way to go for me too. The Pany is/was a great projector for it's time and I don't regret buying it. I still have people refer to me as "The guy with the room" when I see them in the grocery store or bank. I always know I was pushing the 900u to it's limits with a 135" screen and only because I have no windows in the HT room could I get away with it. If I had to watch movies and play Xbox on this projector for another 5 to 10 years it would be far from the end of the world.

Since it is in a dedicated HT room and it isn't used every day, it takes longer to reach the end of the bulb life. My first bulb lasted 5 years. The 2nd one is more likely to get to 3.5 to 4 years as the kids are older and use the room more.

Bulb is at 1250 hours so I have multiple options

1) Keep the projector and pay the $400 in a year or so. Doable but not the most fun option

2) Sell the projector now for ~$250 add the $400 I would have spent on a bulb in a year and add the difference to get a new projector. I could also design and build a quick release ceiling mount and use the same unit for backyard movie night providing the new projector isn't too bulky (big and heavy).

3) Keep the Pany projector for backyard movie nights (not sure how well that would work, need to test) and buy a new projector for HT Room. Although I will still eventually have to buy a new bulb (probably when I am 80 though - LOL).

I think I like option 2 the best right now as it gives me the best bang for he buck.

So can anyone recommend a projector around the 1k mark that will fit the bill?

Hey Matt

You are right, the math works, except you are missing one piece of the equation. The non technical, non forgiving wife!

Murphy's law says that the bulb will die right in the middle of the Daytonna 500 party, or a girls movie night. My name is now mud because I was too cheap to buy the OEM bulb. This would require me to buy a 2nd bulb as a spare.

Ouch!!!

Nobody said that you need WAF. If that was the case, then you are doomed to an LCD screen and micro bookshelf speakers from BOSE.

Pjs are like tvs. Trust reviews from pro sites. Here is a link to help you narrow your focus. For $1K your best featured pj will likely be an epson. Best lens shift and mounting flexibility if that is a concern.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/home-theater-multimedia-projectors.htm

You "want" a new projector. That's enough justification.

Epson offers refurbs pretty much all the time, with stock that rotates. I'm not sure they have "the one" for you right now.

Visual Apex is also a good source. When I looked recently, I couldn't find a source for Panasonic refurbs.

Honestly, I'm not all that certain that a $1,000 projector is going to be an "upgrade" for you, except that it will be 1080p. It seems like to get something comparable to your current model, you might need to go up in price a little.

Use the old projector on this.

But is isn't a $2000 projector. It is a $350 projector on eBay WITH a working bulb. That is like saying that my JVC RS45 is a $2000 projector... Well I guess that it is since that is the lowest price that people are trying to sell them for today, but still probably not what it is worth, unless you account for me having an extra $400+ OEM bulb to go with it. One did sell a couple of weeks ago for $1900. Maybe I should sell mine and upgrade. I only paid $2600 a couple of years ago for it. LOL

My point is that my "$2000" projector isn't the same as the PT-AE900u and saying that it is a "$2000" projector. Several years newer technology, rated best 2D image for a sub-$10,000 projector both the year that it came out and the following year. Someone spending even $100 or whatever on a bulb for a projector that will only sell for $350, if that, probably isn't worth it.

Buy the bulb, use it for the outdoor movies that were mentioned already. Don't screw someone over with a low-grade fake bulb and pass it off as an original performing bulb. Or sell the unit for $250 WITHOUT a bulb and let the buyer decide. That would be better.

My take,

Its native 720...... Its ten year old PJ tech (ship date 2005.) No resale value. Its ok to keep stuff and run it into the ground for another purpose. More fun too.

Backyard movie hero! Thats where mines ending up when I upgrade in a couple years. Thanks for helping me decide everyone. oh, the moths I'll meet.

The PTAE8000 should be around $1400 these days....gets my vote. The image is incredible.

I learned a long time ago stuff is only worth what some some else is willing to pay.

In doing my research Tom is right. When we tested the the $700 Epson, the 10 year old 900u was significantly better (not nearly as bright but better blacks and more film like). To get a projector today that has the same calibration options and lens shift would be over $1500 dollars.

I'm looking at the Epson 3020 and 3500. Best Buy Canada has them both on sale to the 25th of June ($1249 & $1499).

Thoughts on either of these?

That's OK. Hockey is as good a reason as any for a Canadian. Odd spelling though...

If you're going to keep it until it dies or gets incredibly old like you did the Panny, why not just go for the best projector under $3K (HW40ES) and call it a day. You've certainly got the room and it would be an upgrade to the Panny.