Projectors

[wanderer]

I am building a house and am considering buying a projector for the main living room rather than a large screen TV. I have been looking at the life span of the bulbs which I can live with.
Does anyone own one that can recommend or warn about the down points?
What are good models/makes?
Things to avoid?
Where would you buy one in the North?

Any help is appreciated

[Main Street]

I am building a house and am considering buying a projector for the main living room rather than a large screen TV. I have been looking at the life span of the bulbs which I can live with.
Does anyone own one that can recommend or warn about the down points?
What are good models/makes?
Things to avoid?
Where would you buy one in the North?

Any help is appreciated

Personally I wouldn't recommend the projector for the main living room. Regardless of claims made, you pretty much have to block out ALL light in order to get a good watchable picture.
The projector is for a dark room or a room that you can black out. The family living room isn't usually fit for that purpose.

[grounded]

I am building a house and am considering buying a projector for the main living room rather than a large screen TV. I have been looking at the life span of the bulbs which I can live with.
Does anyone own one that can recommend or warn about the down points?
What are good models/makes?
Things to avoid?
Where would you buy one in the North?

Any help is appreciated

Hi here is a great article that deals with this issue. http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57344073-221/projectors-vs-tvs-giant-screen-pros-and-cons/
        I have an optoma themescene dlp which I use for watching movies/sports. Personally I don't think its a good idea to have the projector for the main living room, although with the advent of good short throw projectors and better performance in daylight conditions from newer models things may have changed. I had a large spare bedroom that I converted and was able to install a motorised screen and ceiling mount the projector and install a good surround sound system. 
        Epson, Optoma, Sony, Panasonic, BenQ and Sanyo are the main manufacturers. Optoma and Epson are now producing 3d full Hd projectors (you will need active glasses) at around the £ 700 - 1000 mark.
         Do your homework before you buy anything. Plan the room layout out.  Ensure you can run the correct GOOD QUALITY cables(hdmi,speaker etc) around the room ideal if you are building your own house as you can put cables in before finishing the room. If you are roof mounting the projector it will need to be centred with the screen. You will need a good support as these projectors can be quite heavy. Where are you going to put the screen? will it be motorised or fixed? these can really be heavy and will need good support. You will also need Sockets to plug all these appliances into close enough so you don't have unsightly power cables running everywhere. Wil the kids(big or small) want to play games on the console? this may also affect where you put the projector. Lots to think about! However should you install a projector with say 120" screen and good surround sound nothing beats it!
         

[CD]

I use a couple of cheap optoma projectors at work. I also have a load of expensive sanyo models. The optoma has a much cleaner/sharper image - very bright and suitable for watching movies in a dark room.

However, a friend working in the wholesale business recently told me that all projectors are currently giving lots of problems. Traditionally manufacturers have used Japanese parts which were well made using relatively expensive raw materials. After the Tsunami there a couple of years back, there was a major supply problem and manufacturers were forced to use cheaper parts from China. He claimed that they've been having a huge amount of projectors returned due to circuit board problems and that their suppliers were having problems fulfilling warranties, such was the glut of faulty equipment. So much so, that they have stopped supplying projectors at the moment and are referring customers to ebay!

Also be aware of the cost of bulbs for these things - bulb life is around 2000-3000 hours. It deteriorates after 12 months and costs c£100 a go.