Peter_Klim said:
Hi,
Anyone know of any reputable on-line dealers that sell Panasonic projectors?
In particular, the Panasonic PT-AE700U. It's MSRP is $2999 and most places have it for around $2K, with an additional savings of $200 due to a rebate.
Thanks guys!
Hi,
I got mine back in January (in time for the Superbowl), at ProjectorPoint.com. Back then, the going price was 2200, and they had it for 2K, so I got the 2 year extended warranty for 200, and ended up paying the same as others who purchased elsewhere.
I originally got a DaLite High Contrast Matte White (HCMW), 120 inch screen, however the room had to be nearly completly dark for the picture to look good (not washed out). So I replaced it with a DaLite High Gain 120 inch screen. This screen uses glass beads in the screen to reflect more of the light back at the viewer, rather than diffusing it in all directions like the other screen. This made a HUGE difference, for 2 reasons.
First, the extra brightness from the screen let me watch with light(s) on without the picture looking washed out, and now I also run the projector bulb in the Low mode, for extra bulb life (a second bonus of running the bulb in Low mode is the fan speed drops from quiet to virtually silent).
Second, I have a white ceiling and walls, and by directing most of the light back at the viewer, rather than at the walls and ceiling, you get much less picture washout from the brightness of the picture itself, reflecting off the walls and ceiling.
Overall I am still very impressed with this projector, the bulb has about 1200 hours on it now, so I use it a fair bit. HDTV looks incredible. You do get used to the picture size, and then anything smaller just looks small...
A friend recently got a new 60 inch big screen set, and when I first saw it my impression was, nice picture, but an awfully small screen (I didn't say this out loud though...). I think you will enjoy the projector as much as I do.
An additional bonus...by getting rid of the big box TV between your ML's, and having just the flat screen, your speakers will sound noticeably better.
Peter
