A much better projector deal

[vf4 player]

I've been seeing alot of projector deals from dell recently and I thought i'd share a much better projector deal with everyone here.

Its for a Sony VPL-CS5. It an SVGA projector and features 1800 Lumens of brightness the contrast looks to be higher than 1000:1, bulbs last about 2000 hours. The unit is around 5lbs and a gloss white finish with stainless steel. It features motorized lens cover and motorized tilt. The build quality is simply unbelievably good and accessories for the sony projectors are very easy to find, unlike going through third party ceiling mount companies to find your projector model.

Tiger Direct has this unit for $1449 with a FREE extra bulb as a cover only special to their catalog. The bulbs are usually about $300 so this brings the effective cost of the projector down to $1149 for a 1800 lumen sony projector.

I have used four projectors now,

Older Sony CPJ-D200 projector (the only infra-red wireless projector made)
Infocus lp425z (award winner) 1000 lumen DLP projector
BenqSL703S (this is the same as the $3000 optoma dlp unit) This is my travel projector, a 3lb 1100 lumen DLP unit. BTW I bought this projector for $1250 online its a great projector for computer use so far composite video doesnt look great and theres some motion trailing, I havent tested component video yet.

The sony is by FAR the brightest and the best, easily beating the 7lb. Infocus 1000 lumen DLP projector. Factor in that the ceiling mount matches the glossy white color of the sony unit and you really have a classy match. I bought the ceiling mount (PSS-C5) from A matter of Fax in NJ for about $250 and it came with everything including an extension that can drop the height of the projector down to about 2 feet from where you hang it. Its just great that the celing mount matches the color of the projector, its the little things that make you notice the build quality sony puts into the design of their products.

At $1449 with free bulb its an incredible deal for almost 2000 lumens. Just having a motorized cover for a fixed installation adds great value to the projector. It's very annoying to remove a lens cap from a projector on the ceiling.

VF4 Player

[Apex]

Here's the link to it:

Sony VPL-CS5 at TigerDirect (http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=26399296&siteid=38366399&bfpid=L250-3054&bfmtype=computer_equipm&bfinfo=999)

[vf4 player]

It's odd the guy in the suit in one of the pics looks like he's holding the projector under his arm lol. The unit measures 11 1/4 x 2 5/8 x 9 (inches) its small and slightly larger than most of the ultra compact dlp projectors.

[johnnymk]

They also list a 60 X 80 inch screen for $149.99. Think it's a good deal or should that item be bought locally?

[Apex]

They're both good projectors, depending on what you're looking for.

One thing to keep in mind for this one:

1. It's a SVGA native projector (800x600). So, you can't show DVD's in full resolution. You need at least 852x480 to be able to do that. However, in practical terms, this may not matter, as it's very close.

2. It's a LCD projector without MLA technology. Without MLA, the fill factor on each pixel is about 40-60%. In general, the lower the resolution, the more the fill ratio matters. I'm on an XGA native projector (1024x768) with MLA technology, and I can still see the pixels.

3. Sony's highest performing LCD projector, the VPL-VW12HT has a contrast spec of 1000:1. In practice, it's actually lower than that.

On the plus side, LCD projectors appear brighter to our eyes than an equivalent DLP based projector. Thus, a 1800 ANSI lumen LCD projector like this one, may appear brighter than even a 2100 ANSI lumen DLP projector.

The best advice anyone can give is to go out and spend some time viewing an LCD projector and a DLP projector. That'll tell you what works best for your eyes. Once you get that down, it's simply a matter of picking the best model in that technology within your budget.



johnnymk: probably not. With this Sony projector, you're going to want a gray based screen, not a matte white based.

[cloudhme]

Any other good place to buy?

[attgig]

there's the CX5 for about 2k with that free bulb