[sstalder5]

So I just rented a house with my best friend, and we have almost no stuff to put in it. Right now I'm looking at TVs for the living room. We definitely want to go big but budget is limited. I've noticed projectors are about the same price range as medium sized TVs. Our living room would be perfect for a 70-80 inch diagonal screen covering a front window that we'd probably keep covered anyways. It's main use would probably be PS3 (gaming+netflix) and we're still deciding on whether or not we want cable. I could build a decent screen for the projector and ceiling mount the projector and picture quality would probably be pretty decent. Or for about the same price we could get a 42" LCD TV. Excellent picture quality, simpler setup, but not as big. Plus, unless we wall mount it it would take up floor space. Sound quality is not an issue because we'll be running digital 5.1 surround sound through the PS3. So do any of you monkeys own a projector? And if so, is it your main TV? What do you guys think?

 

[SkaredShtles]

I'm confused - didn't you leave NZ cause you ran out of money?

 

[sstalder5]

I'm confused - didn't you leave NZ cause you ran out of money?

I have work here.. Not great work, but work. And my parents are helping with the house.

 

[gonefirefightin]

here is the dealio....

unless you are always going have your living room resembling a dark musty cave you will have to spring for a bright projector. I would not buy anything less than 2000 lumens and try and find find something brighter. if your going to be gaming you truly need 1080i with at hefty amount of interpolation. (chat with the best buy nerds)

screen material also makes a huge difference in the brightness and contrast that the projector puts out.

if you are putting it over a window you will need some pretty good blinds or covering behind the screen material you choose.

The other thought to consider is the bulb life of projectors is still not the best. and they are pretty costly so if you do go with a projector set up make sure you always have a spare bulb on hand.

and ceiling mount will be your best bet since you can customize the ratio to fit the screen size you like.

it can be done on a budget but there will be alot of differences when you get into contrasts, ratios, and resolutions.

I absolutely dig my projector setup but have gone through a ton of trial and error and big bucks to get what I finally like.

my jerry springer final thought.

you will be disappointed in the performance of most projectors in the ambient light scenarios, but the lights out style gaming with a good resolution projector is radder than rad with a good 7.1 surround system

 

[sstalder5]

Looks like you covered pretty much everything I've been researching for the past hour in one post..

The front window would be completely covered by the screen but there would be some ambient light from the kitchen. I was planning on getting the screen material and making my own frame to put it on. I'll have to check out the living room again before I decide. It would be awesome to have a projector, but the way it's looking, we might be better off with a LCD TV.

 

[bean]

Consider plasma instead of LCD.

 

[DirtMcGirk]

You need THIS

It solves all of your needs, and its fvcking RAD!

 

[ICEBALL585]

You need THIS

It solves all of your needs, and its fvcking RAD!

That ****ing rocks!

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

i have a proyector (office/living room), a 3d led (tv room), an lcd (kitchen), a plasma (my room), and a dlp (old tv at tv room. still in service at the housekeeper´s room). all of them between 42" and 55".

plasma wins, hands down.
2nd place, is the 3d led. its pretty kickass, plus it has internet connection and lots of other ****.

proyector is the least favourite. it barely gets any use.

 

[jonKranked]

something else to consider - if you're on a tight monthly budget (sounds like you are), with TV's the size you are looking at there will be a noticeable bump in your electrical bill, so do your research regarding power consumption. I know plasma models consistently provide the best picture, but they are also the most power consuming technology.

 

[syadasti]

something else to consider - if you're on a tight monthly budget (sounds like you are), with TV's the size you are looking at there will be a noticeable bump in your electrical bill, so do your research regarding power consumption. I know plasma models consistently provide the best picture, but they are also the most power consuming technology.

If you are comparing a 55" LED backlit LCD and 55" Plasma the difference is roughly 100 watts (100 vs 250 watts). Turn one incandescent light off in your house while watching and you've made up the difference.

A 2000 lumen HD projector will consume even more power than either, around another 50 watts more than a plasma at around 300 watts and they have no speakers (not that flat panel speakers sounds great).

A rear projection laser TV beats all with a 75" Mitsubishi Laservue only using about 75 watts total calibrated.

You can save a fair bit of power by not buying a huge speaker system with inefficient amps.

 

[norbar]

Looks like you covered pretty much everything I've been researching for the past hour in one post..

The front window would be completely covered by the screen but there would be some ambient light from the kitchen. I was planning on getting the screen material and making my own frame to put it on. I'll have to check out the living room again before I decide. It would be awesome to have a projector, but the way it's looking, we might be better off with a LCD TV.

I'm curious what is your budget? Around here electronics is pretty expensive and I got a banging Toshiba LCD with great upscaling and very fluid picture quality for 650$. 40'' and that was quite quite some time ago. Unless you are going with a sub 1k$ projector you can easily go over 42''. 46 inches Toshiba screens are awesome. Just do some research. If you go with a few other companies and look around I'm sure there are models without some stupid flashy gizmos but with great quality and large screen size.


Going projector takes too much work and in the long run will be more expensive. Also with modern LCD screens you don't need to go LED. Stereoscopic (not 3d ffs) TVs suck anyway so don't pay extra for that unless there is no option.

 

[sstalder5]

You can save a fair bit of power by not buying a huge speaker system with inefficient amps.

Our closest neighbors are about 75yds away. That is not an option.

And Norbar I don't really have a set budget, it increases as I save up. I'm at about $350 right now but I'll probably cap it at about $500 if possible.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Save your money and go back to NZ. Or somewhere else cool.

 

[stevew]

You need THIS

It solves all of your needs, and its fvcking RAD!

so you don't want him to get any trim?

 

[sstalder5]

Save your money and go back to NZ. Or somewhere else cool.

I wish. I need to finish school while my parents will still help pay for it.

 

[norbar]

Our closest neighbors are about 75yds away. That is not an option.

And Norbar I don't really have a set budget, it increases as I save up. I'm at about $350 right now but I'll probably cap it at about $500 if possible.

500$? The projector lenses are stupid expensive so with that Budget I'd stay away. I'd say buy a bigger version of what I have - Toshiba 40XV733 (supposedly XV has better quality for fast movement so bike and action movies). It's cheap because the sound quality is crap but that's not what TVs are for. The picture quality is great and toshiba has one of the best looking SD picures on the market. Though I think the names are different for the US market, still you don't pay for the brand so you can get them 25% cheaper than Sony. That means 1-2 sizes up.

 

[SkaredShtles]

I wish. I need to finish school while my parents will still help pay for it.

So save the $500 and when you get done with school go somewhere cool. F**k. What the hell is wrong with kids these days?

 

[sstalder5]

So save the $500 and when you get done with school go somewhere cool. F**k. What the hell is wrong with kids these days?

Where I go to school isn't exactly an unfortunate place to live

But if it makes you feel any better I'm going to Patagonia when I graduate in ~2 years.

 

[norbar]

So save the $500 and when you get done with school go somewhere cool. F**k. What the hell is wrong with kids these days?

Tbh a year ago I also bought a TV and I'm 25 now but I'm a huge movie nerd. Would probably still do it if my father didn't support my biking hobby though I'd for sure go smaller. On a tight budget I'd get something 37'' for 350-400$. Maybe some refurb or something used for even less. As for the sound system - DIY is the cheapest way to go. Buy something cheap and pick it apart.

 

[stevew]

Where I go to school isn't exactly an unfortunate place to live

But if it makes you feel any better I'm going to Patagonia when I graduate in ~2 years.

your snow isn't soft enough for SkaredShtles tired old knees....nor are your mountains high enough....

 

[jonKranked]

Our closest neighbors are about 75yds away. That is not an option.

And Norbar I don't really have a set budget, it increases as I save up. I'm at about $350 right now but I'll probably cap it at about $500 if possible.

so wait, you want a reasonably large TV AND an audio setup... and your budget is $500?


edit:.... AND a ps3? unless you already have one that's half your budget right there.

 

[SkaredShtles]

your snow isn't soft enough for SkaredShtles tired old knees....nor are your mountains high enough....

This.

 

[dante]

so wait, you want a reasonably large TV AND an audio setup... and your budget is $500?


edit:.... AND a ps3? unless you already have one that's half your budget right there.

I could be wrong but I read that as the TV / projector+screen's budget was $500, as opposed to TV+surround sound+PS3+...

My vote is Samsung's 43" plasma. You can get it for $480, sports/video games look great on it, and the only downside to it is the fact that it's only 720p and the glare is pretty bad. If you can eliminate the glare and don't care that it's 720p, it's incredible.

Wall mounts aren't that expensive and can save you a ton of space as well.

 

[sstalder5]

so wait, you want a reasonably large TV AND an audio setup... and your budget is $500?


edit:.... AND a ps3? unless you already have one that's half your budget right there.

Have the PS3, have the bangin sound system. That budget is just for the TV. I might end up going with the Toshiba like Norbar was saying. Wally world has the 40" refurbed for $330. The less money I spend on a TV the more I can ultimately spend on beer!

 

[jonKranked]

Have the PS3, have the bangin sound system. That budget is just for the TV. I might end up going with the Toshiba like Norbar was saying. Wally world has the 40" refurbed for $330. The less money I spend on a TV the more I can ultimately spend on beer!

scrounge around online, you'll be able to find even better deals.

http://gizmodo.com/deals-of-the-day/

 

[sstalder5]

scrounge around online, you'll be able to find even better deals.

http://gizmodo.com/deals-of-the-day/

I hope you're aware that that link sent me to a giant remote control clownfish.. Come on I'm trying to save money here! Don't tempt me!

 

[jonKranked]

I hope you're aware that that link sent me to a giant remote control clownfish.. Come on I'm trying to save money here! Don't tempt me!

scroll the fvck down. there's a whole subsegment for home entertainment.

 

[dante]

scroll the fvck down. there's a whole subsegment for home entertainment.

And the cheapest TV is $750.

 

[jonKranked]

And the cheapest TV is $750.

the listings are updated daily. in case you miss the part of the link that said "deals of the day"

 

[IH8Rice]

And Norbar I don't really have a set budget, it increases as I save up. I'm at about $350 right now but I'll probably cap it at about $500 if possible.

if you are looking to spend $500, dont even bother looking at a fpj. everything in that price range looks like utter garbage, plus you need a quality screen too.
there are plenty of 1080p LCD's in that range that will blow any $300-500 fpj away.

I absolutely dig my projector setup but have gone through a ton of trial and error and big bucks to get what I finally like.

what problems did you have? screen matching and setup is fairly straight forward

 

[sstalder5]

if you are looking to spend $500, dont even bother looking at a fpj. everything in that price range looks like utter garbage, plus you need a quality screen too.
there are plenty of 1080p LCD's in that range that will blow any $300-500 fpj away.

That's pretty much the conclusion I've come to. Looks like I'll be looking for a ~40" LCD. Now I just have to pick one...

 

[norbar]

If you go with the Toshiba compare the different close sounding versions. They are often very similar and vary in screen and additional options by a lot. It may be 50$ retail (so probably less refurb) but when I compared it it was well worth it.

 

[syadasti]

I'd probably take a look at Panasonic's LCD offerings. Even their low-end stuff is pretty good - IPS panels, decent features, etc.

Out of your price range but the their new plasmas look pretty awesome.

 

[norbar]

They are quite good but I found my fathers Panasonic was considerably worse in SD. Upscalling was poor. Still a good screen if your source is of good quality.

If you want to geek out it may be an interesting read. It's 3AM here and I just finished working so I haven't read it all but it looks informative.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-led-lcd-tvs/1113353-lcd-matrices-differences-what-models-placed.html

 

[dante]

That's pretty much the conclusion I've come to. Looks like I'll be looking for a ~40" LCD. Now I just have to pick one...

Can you find 120hz at that price range? If you're looking at 60hz for LCD, I'd definitely look towards plasma instead as 60hz wouldn't be that great for games or sports...

 

[sstalder5]

If we get cable we'll go all out and get an HD box, So the input would pretty much always be HD

edit: @dante honestly I'm not extremely picky when it comes to TVs. Right now I play PS3 on a 19" Vizio LED tv

 

[norbar]

Can you find 120hz at that price range? If you're looking at 60hz for LCD, I'd definitely look towards plasma instead as 60hz wouldn't be that great for games or sports...

The one I mentioned is 100 or 120hz (drunk don't remember). XV vs RV that's the main differance. It should be super easy to get a 40XV733 under 500$ (or the US equivalent of it).


sstalder5 - if you are not picky just get something from the OEM screen producers or any crap that has 1080p. Spending a lot of money on something you don't care about makes no sense. Especially if it's for TV, not movies.

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

If I was your age and going to school where you do, the last thing I'd spend money on is a freakin TV. Put down the remote and start banging hippy chicks. Priorities man !

 

[DirtMcGirk]

Do you know how much beer $500 buys?