Replies

I was wrestling with the same decision last summer and decided to bite the bullet and go with the projector.

I started to go with a 120” screen, but (never thought I would say this) it was just too big. We went with a 106” screen with seats at about 13-feet. I also added 7.1 sound system at the same time.

The projector is a 1080p Epson 8350 (about $1100) and the screen is an Elite “Sable” (about $299). The picture is amazing!! Blu-Ray discs are even more so, as in: “count Gandalf’s nose-hairs” clear. We could not be more satisfied with it and I don’t know how it could be noticeably improved. We have a two year-old 50” flatscreen in the family room and the projector on that 106” screen looks better than the flatscreen.

Projectors *do* like a softly lit (or dim) room and we had to add some window shades to control late afternoon sun glare and a dimmer switch for the lights. But that was it. I like it just light enough to read; wife wants it movie-theater dark — the screen image looks great either way.

We started with nothing but a Blu-Ray player and a bare room. For the projector, receiver, speakers, sub-woofer, screen, ceiling mount, cables and shipping, we were right at $2600. Additional costs would be for whatever hardware and install related stuff you needed. I was able to get it all in one big bite, but there’s nothing saying you can’t piece it together over time. As for the install, I did it all myself over a weekend.

I did do a lot of hand-wringing, researching reviews and vendors online. I wanted best-bang-for-the-buck and looking back over my parts list and the prices I found, I think I did pretty darn good.

We do have a Wii connected to it and the last party had about 20 teens playing some kind of dance game and they had the whole house shaking. Just have to stay back from the screen about 5 or 6 feet to be under the projector’s path.

The prices of flat-screens are coming down, but even so, you might be looking at about a 55” or smaller screen in your price range for a really good unit. If that size works for you, get the flatscreen. If you want something larger than 60”, then you might want to consider a projector as the bigger the flatscreen, the faster & bigger the price rises. A projector & screen at your distances can do 72” up to 120” or more for about $1500 +/-

I decided on a projector because the room was so large, I was looking at a minimum 60” flatscreen. At the time, that would have been $1500 to $2000 for a 60” flatscreen. So, the projector allowed me to go *much* bigger for about the same cost (for the video solution).

Both technologies are only getting better and better as time goes by. The first question you need to ask is what size screen do you want? If that size indicates a projector, then the only other “show-stopper” would be if you can control the room lighting. If you can NOT control lighting, then the biggest flatscreen your budget allows may be better. If you CAN control lighting, I would recommend the projector.

As for bulb replacement, they are typically rated at something like 3000hrs. In our case, the projector is not the main TV and we only use it for movies, ball games and parties. We will probably replace the bulb in about 3.5 to 4.5 years. I would imagine we will replace the projector with something more current before we would need another bulb beyond that. But if you are going to have it turned-on all day every day, then bulb-life would be another cost consideration.

Good luck with it!