I've been a installer for nine years and haven't fooled with projectors at all and I have a samsung 55" led LCD and was wanting to get a projector I was looking at a epson 8350 and a stable fixed screen any ideas is this a good choice?
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The 8350 is the most popular projector on the market right now, and IMHO with good reason. I own the earlier 8100 and I find it to be a good choice for my needs. However, with any entry level projector, there are some compromises.
The 8350 provides a bright and consistent image. The zoom has a wide range of adjustment and the projector has a lens shift feature. The lens shift and zoom make it possible to install it in locations that would be impossible for otjher projectors. Colors are natural and can be adjusted to pretty close to NTSC standard.
The projector has 2 HDMI inputs as well as composite and VGA so you can hook up most anything you want.
Epson customer support is astounding and they will generally bend over backwards for you.
On the down side. The projector has a manual zoom and focus. It also does not have an anamorphic mode. This means that this projector works best with a fixed screen with 16:9 ratio. That's what many of us have and enjoy, but if you are looking for a 2.35:1 cinemascope screen, you should probably look elsewhere. Some people have reported a red staining in one of the corners of the image, but it usually only appears on black images. A bigger issue is that there is no convergence adjustment and a 1 pixel misalignment in horizontal, vertical or both is common. It drives some folks nuts just knowing it is there, but frankly, from normal viewing distances you never see it.
I'm not familiar with a stable screen, so I can't advise there. I use an Elite Sableframe 120" and am happy with what it does for the cost (around $300). Jamestown is another budget brand that is popular now. There is also a large group that build their own screens. DIY is pretty straightforward and the end results are generally better than cheaper commercial screens for a lower cost. I figure Dfergie will chime in soon on some DIY technologies.
I would recommend though, that you get the projector and project against a bare wall for a month. You will be amazed at how good it looks, but more importantly, you will then get a good idea of the right screen size for you and your room. 90" looks huge at first, but gets small quickly. I run 120" with seating about 11' back and it feels right to me. I did this by projecting images from 90" to 140" against the wall and finding the most comfortable fit.
Best of luck on your quest.
I've been using the 8350 as my main TV for several months now, and I am pretty happy with it. It's a great 1080p projector for such a small price. See my comments in the following thread: http://www.satelliteguys.us/televis...31718-$1299-1080p-projector-epson-8350-a.html
jayn_j's overview is spot-on, as always. The only problem the projector has developed over time (in addition to the red staining) is a couple of dust blobs (not too distracting, but noticeable, once you know they are there). Not sure how to get rid of them without getting inside the projector. I guess I should've cleaned the filter more often...
If you are new to projectors, one thing you need to be aware of is that unlike other TV sets, projectors require a much darker room, ideally total darkness for viewing movies. You can watch news or sports with some ambient light in the room, but the picture will be washed out. The darker the room the better!
jayn_j's overview is spot-on, as always. The only problem the projector has developed over time (in addition to the red staining) is a couple of dust blobs (not too distracting, but noticeable, once you know they are there). Not sure how to get rid of them without getting inside the projector. I guess I should've cleaned the filter more often...
If you are new to projectors, one thing you need to be aware of is that unlike other TV sets, projectors require a much darker room, ideally total darkness for viewing movies. You can watch news or sports with some ambient light in the room, but the picture will be washed out. The darker the room the better!
I run a sheet of melamine in my small HT room with a Mitsubisi HC1500 (73") & a homemade screen in my Bedroom (110") with a Mitsuishi HC3800, the melamine has hot spots but works pretty good, the diy uses a white material and was very inexpensive to make, I'm happy with it.
