Need advice choosing a projector

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guitarguy6

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 29, 2007
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Hey guys, I'm looking to pick up my first projector and have narrowed it down to these 3. Benq W600, Optoma HD66, Acer H5360

I would like to keep the cost between $650 and $900. I will be using it %70 for gaming on my PS3, 360 and Wii and %30 for watching bluray movies. It must be 720p and I would like it to be 3D ready since I have a very high end gaming PC with nvidia graphics cards in it. The projector will be 10 - 12 feet away from the screen and I would like it to be able to project 100" and be able to use a ceiling mount. This will be in my basement where there are almost no windows so getting it dark will be easy.

I'm also looking into building the screen myself. I have found a couple good tutorials online and am wondering if anyone here has built their own screen and could share their experience. I'd like to keep the cost of the materials under $150.

Are there any other projectors I should consider asides from the 3 I have picked? I also read somewhere that the Optoma will get a dongle in early 2011 to make it 3D compatible with the PS3. Is this true? Will any other brands have a similar option?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers
 
I purchased a HD66 last month and couldn't be happier with it. I'm projecting about ~13' and have over a 100' screen (I haven't measured the diagonal, but it's positively huge). The only PS3 game I've played on it so far is Infamous. Playing on the big screen is definitely an unbelievable experience. Blu-Rays look amazing as well - I see so many more details that I missed when watching on my old 50" Sony TV.

For the screen, after reading on AVS Forum, I went to Home Depot and bought a gallon of Behr paint the the "Silver Screen" color. I painted the wall I'm projecting on with it and there is definitely a difference between it and the "builder white" wall I was projecting on before. It definitely helps with contrast. A "real" fixed screen would probably look better, but this works perfectly for me, and it only cost $25 for the paint :)

There is a huge thread on this projector over at AVS Forum. According to the folks there, Optoma does indeed have a converter box that's coming out Q1 next year that will allow 3D from the PS3 or a 3D Blu-Ray player. You can do 3D on it now via nvidia's nvision, and there is a recent post where someone has 3D Blu-Rays working from an ATI card as well. The box is rumored to retail around $400 and will come with 1 pair of glasses. I haven't tried 3D on mine yet, so I can't comment on that experience.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm still undecided as whether or not to get the Acer or optoma. I like the fact that the Acer is nvidia 3d certified and that it costs about $130 less :p Can the Optoma use a regular ceiling mount?
 
yes, the optoma should be fine with a ceiling mount, and the optoma is gonna be by far the better decision over an acer.
 
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