[drphoto]

I'd been considering a wideformat RPTV for awhile, but Mike D's post about how much he likes his projector and the increasingly lower prices have got me looking at those. Here's the questions.....

1) I assume they don't have a tuner built in. How much do those cost and where do you get them? My Sony XBR tube unit has a separate tuner, but I suppose it's output is specific to the monitor.

2) Are line doublers neccesary? Is SVGA, or XVA (or whatever it's called) equivilent to 'hi-rez' viewing with DVD source? How much are doublers?

3) If the proj. is ceiling mounted, what do you do with the source units? Can the video cables be many feet long?

4) Are the $1200-$2000 projectors worth getting?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[sunshinedawg]

1) I assume they don't have a tuner built in. How much do those cost and where do you get them? My Sony XBR tube unit has a separate tuner, but I suppose it's output is specific to the monitor

Depends on what you want to watch.  I use a DTC-100 for OTA and Sat HDTV.  You can get a tuner at any Circuit City, Best Buy etc.

2) Are line doublers neccesary? Is SVGA, or XVA (or whatever it's called) equivilent to 'hi-rez' viewing with DVD source? How much are doublers?

Most projs these days have excellent onboard scalers/line doublers, check here for more info on a specific proj http://www.projectorcentral.com/ If you have a good prog scan DVD player, this is all you need for a great picture.

3) If the proj. is ceiling mounted, what do you do with the source units? Can the video cables be many feet long?

My panny AE-300 is ceiling mounted.  Since the DTC-100 ouputs only vga, i have a 25ft vga cable that looks great for such a long distance.  For Dvds, I use three RG6 Coax cables(cheap diy component cable) with RCA teminations, these also look great and are 25ft long.  I have a 25ft s-video cable that I got on ebay for $7 that I use fo my PS2.  I hardly ever use it, the pic quality isn't bad, but there is saying in the projector world: crap signal in looks even more crappy blown up on a big screen.

4) Are the $1200-$2000 projectors worth getting?

This is subjective, but if you have $1200-$2000 you will not believe the amazing picture you get for that price.  Watching HD, esp sports on a 110" screen is awesome.  My friends are amazed when I invite them over for the first time.  This is where i did my research when I was looking to buy http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=5700f9f08da66c10c3c1c8aafde22003&forumid=68

[Bwanagreg]

4) Are the $1200-$2000 projectors worth getting?

Absolutely. I also have a Panny AE-300, and I love every minute of it. DVD and HDTV look great. I think this is close to the current sweet spot in pricing, where diminishing returns start to really kick in.  Once you watch a movie with one of these things projecting onto on an 8 foot wide screen, with a good surround system of course, you'll find youself not wanting to go to a theater so you can see the film on a good system!

Disposable Income Warning: There is no going back.  

[Rob Babcock]

I've been using a Plus Piano for a couple years- there's better affordable PJs now, I suppose, but it's still got a beautiful picture.  And they're now selling for $999!   There's NO downside at that price!

You do need a tuner (I use a VCR), and a mount is a necessity.  Plan to spend a little coin on a screen.  But I could never live with a box tv again.

[EchiDna]

using a sanyo Z1 here for about a year... I almost laugh when friends invite us over for a dinner and a DVD... "watch it on your pitiful 52 inch tv?? are you joking???"

[chino]

I have the panny too!   Love it! True, you never watch a box tv again. I use it strictly for movies right now. For starters a wall would be fine but I got a Carada 1.78:1 screen when someone recommended it to me. You can go the DIY way if you're handy... yeah avsforum.com has lots of info. The only diy thing I did was the ceiling mount... cost me bout $20+ I think. I used long cable runs about 25' of component cables I bought from bluejeanscables.com good decent cables. All in all I spend around $2100 I think. Its all worth it trust me

[drphoto]

Thanks for the advice. I figure I'd spend $2500 or so for a RPTV, so this sounds like a good deal.

[Rob Babcock]

You do have to factor in the cost of bulbs.  At the level of use the PJ gets in my rig, the bulb lasts between 9 months and 1 year.  The first bulb crapped out at 550 hours ( ) but was replaced for free underwarrenty.  The current bulb has about 1600 hrs on it now (rated for 1000 only), and there's a spare sitting on a shelf in my dining room.  The Plus bulbs cost $265 or so, if I remember correctly- pretty cheap for a PJ bulb.