Question:
A friend has asked me to sort him out with a full Home Cinema setup, complete with projector. His budget for the projector is about £1500, is there anything other than the Panasonic AE100 worth considering at this price point?
Also for DVD input is progressive scan the only way to go (was thinking of a Harman Kardon DVD25) or can an RGB signal look just as good on a budget projector? Any help appreciated,
Cheers.
I think there's new Sony and Panasonic models coming out soon for around £1,500 - best look at the threads on avforums for these.
As for progressive scan, it makes a huge difference on projected images. NTSC is easy to get hold of but PAL is a bit more tricky (but not for much longer hopefully). I'm not sure how good the hack for the Harman Kardon is but in my experience, several of the hacked models by other manufacturers like Denon have some dodgy side effects. One thing you do need for progressive is an audio delay to avoid lip-sync problems. You could import the Philips 963 player from Hong Kong though rumour has it that it will be available in Europe soon.
Alternatively, go with the Arcam DV88+ ..... bit expensive at £999 but difficult to beat for reliable progressive PAL/NTSC output.
The AE100 is certainly the best quality projector you'll get for that sort of money, only thing I can fault it on is reliability, mines been sent back for repair twice since I got it in February both times with different faults (and I've heard of a few other people suffering the same problems), can't fault the repair service though it's only taken about a week each time!
Originally posted by neilalford
The AE100 is certainly the best quality projector you'll get for that sort of money, only thing I can fault it on is reliability, mines been sent back for repair twice since I got it in February both times with different faults (and I've heard of a few other people suffering the same problems), can't fault the repair service though it's only taken about a week each time!
Is that repair through Panasonic direct or from a third party? I suppose this means an extended service contract would be a good bet :)
Originally posted by powlest
Is that repair through Panasonic direct or from a third party? I suppose this means an extended service contract would be a good bet :)
I've gone directly through Panasonic, they normally try and get you to go through the shop where you bought it but I managed to get them to take it directly!
For £1500 he should be able to get one of the new Panasonic projectors coming out (the AE200 or AE300) from PriceJapan (http://www.pricejapan.com). These are meant to offer improvements over the current AE100. For further info on these projectors, try the avsforum (http://www.avsforum.com) and the avforums (http://www.avforums.com). There are quite a few threads discussing these projectors, and also a few praising PriceJapan's service :thumbs:
Also for DVD input is progressive scan the only way to go (was thinking of a Harman Kardon DVD25) or can an RGB signal look just as good on a budget projector? Any help appreciated,
Cheers.
Answers:
I think there's new Sony and Panasonic models coming out soon for around £1,500 - best look at the threads on avforums for these.
As for progressive scan, it makes a huge difference on projected images. NTSC is easy to get hold of but PAL is a bit more tricky (but not for much longer hopefully). I'm not sure how good the hack for the Harman Kardon is but in my experience, several of the hacked models by other manufacturers like Denon have some dodgy side effects. One thing you do need for progressive is an audio delay to avoid lip-sync problems. You could import the Philips 963 player from Hong Kong though rumour has it that it will be available in Europe soon.
Alternatively, go with the Arcam DV88+ ..... bit expensive at £999 but difficult to beat for reliable progressive PAL/NTSC output.
Answers:
The AE100 is certainly the best quality projector you'll get for that sort of money, only thing I can fault it on is reliability, mines been sent back for repair twice since I got it in February both times with different faults (and I've heard of a few other people suffering the same problems), can't fault the repair service though it's only taken about a week each time!
Answers:
Originally posted by neilalford
The AE100 is certainly the best quality projector you'll get for that sort of money, only thing I can fault it on is reliability, mines been sent back for repair twice since I got it in February both times with different faults (and I've heard of a few other people suffering the same problems), can't fault the repair service though it's only taken about a week each time!
Is that repair through Panasonic direct or from a third party? I suppose this means an extended service contract would be a good bet :)
Answers:
Originally posted by powlest
Is that repair through Panasonic direct or from a third party? I suppose this means an extended service contract would be a good bet :)
I've gone directly through Panasonic, they normally try and get you to go through the shop where you bought it but I managed to get them to take it directly!
Answers:
For £1500 he should be able to get one of the new Panasonic projectors coming out (the AE200 or AE300) from PriceJapan (http://www.pricejapan.com). These are meant to offer improvements over the current AE100. For further info on these projectors, try the avsforum (http://www.avsforum.com) and the avforums (http://www.avforums.com). There are quite a few threads discussing these projectors, and also a few praising PriceJapan's service :thumbs:
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