[Rob Babcock]

I recently bought myself a new PJ and screen; the PJ has been here for a few days, the screen just showed up today!   As many of you will remember I recently moved to Watertown from Sioux Falls and have had to start over with the video portion (left old PJ for my brother).  Nothing fancy, I bought a used Optoma H31 that has been ISF calibrated and an 84" Elite screen.  The Optoma is not an HD PJ, but it is native 16:9, utilizing the DarkChip2 light engine.  I'd strongly considered the Panny AE-900U, and I'll likely still get one eventually.  But having spent a bundle on my Canada trip and some other stuff, I decided to save a bit of $ (the Optoma was about a grand less).  With BRD & HD-DVD being generally underwhelming right now and there being very very little HD content in my area, I figured a good standard PJ was a good deal.  Besides, it was cheap enough that if I want to upgrade in a few months I won't have much into it.  Plus, I can probably get most of my $ out of it when I do sell it.

[Levi]

Congrats!  I have heard great rave about the Optoma H31.  Look here at Projector Central It does HD quality video.  ISF done correctly really makes a big difference.  80" wide...excellent with epic movies like the Last Samurai to a minimum.

[Rob Babcock]

As much as I love true HD, I'm not in a rush.  Eventually there'll probably be a lot of hi def DVDs of some type.  But until then I have several hundred SD DVDs to enjoy.  Watertown doesn't have a huge amount of HDTV, either.  For the low price the Optoma should rock, and of course up until I moved here I was using one of the earliest gen DLPs, a Plus Piano.  The Optoma is several Gens newer and native 16:9, too.

We shall see within a day or two.

[Rob Babcock]

Well, my new 'man cave'/cinema is coming along nicely.  While my new place is smaller than my old, it actually some advantages over my place in Sioux Falls.  Firstly, the small size means my pair of subs sounds like two pairs of subs!   Secondly, since it's just me, I can get as loony as I want with light control.   I have things blacked out pretty nicely yet the place doesn't look like a crackhouse.

On the minus side, while I love the Optoma H31, the Elite screen is underwhelming- it's much flimsier than my old Da-Lite, not completely flat and the color isn't that great.  Granted, it was very cheap, but in this case you get what you pay for.  I'll probably end up ordering a Da-Lite Perm Wall in Mat.  I think I'll also go with the 77" size; the 84" I have now is very impressive, and pixelation isn't an issue.  The main thing is I have to mount it about 6-8" higher than I wanted to to get it to clear the speakers.  I intended to mount it between them just under the line that marks the top but it's slightly too wide.

All in all I"m pretty happy.  It's great to have a PJ again.

[Rob Babcock]

My, things change fast in HT!    Although I planned to use my H31 for a year or so, I see the 720P Optoma HD70 will hit the shelves by the end of the month.  And VisualApex is taking preorders @ $999!   A true HD PJ for a grand new, amazing.  Maybe the best part is it sounds like it has the same mounting holes as my H31, so I should be able to basically swap an HD70 for my H31 in a few minutes!  Even the offset is similar.

What a great time to be into HT.

[Levi]

Congrats 2x! 

I can see the H31 will be for sale soon.

[Rob Babcock]

Yeah, I thought I'd probably stick with the H31 for a year or two, not a month or two!   I probably will sell it, although I've considered just putting it away as a backup.  Last night I watched a couple movies, the first ones I've seen since adding the 8th Nerve Response treatments alongside the existing Adapt corners.  As I hadn't watched a movie in a week & a half or two I'd almost forgotten how nice it looked, even with my crappy Elite screen.  Last time I was in SF last week I watched a DVD on my brothers old Plus pj.  And while it was good for it's day it can't compare to the H31.

I'd like to just buy the HD70 now, but it would probably be stupid to do so before I buy my new Carada screen.  Sucky thing is the screen will be about $600, which would cover 60% of the PJ!   Still, I think it will be money well spent.

[bubba966]

Sucky thing is the screen will be about $600, which would cover 60% of the PJ!   Still, I think it will be money well spent.

That doesn't seem so bad to me.

But that's probably because the last screen I installed/helped install in a setup cost as much as 10 HD70's. So 60% of one HD70 is kinda cheap in comparo...

[Rob Babcock]

Yeah, the Carada is about the only way to get a truly nice screen for under a grand.  I'm not even buying a very large one- mine will be between 77" and 80".  I'm planning on the Criterion in Brilliant White.