well, i just moved a few weeks ago and i've already bought all the new furniture i need, so it's time to focus on a new home theater setup. after many, many hours of research... i've finally decided to go with the panasonic pt-ae700u. my top four choices were: the ae700u, the dell 2300mp, the viewsonic pj551, and the infocus 4805.
the viewsonic and dell both had very impressive numbers on paper (especially for the price), but they are both designed to be business projectors and so i thought i'd be better off going with a projector that has proven itself in a home theater setup.
it was a tough choice between the 4805 and the ae700. dlp vs lcd, resolution vs brightness, etc... it all got confusing very quickly. in the end, i chose the ae700u because of the highly adjustable throw distance (thanks to a 2x zoom lens) and because of the higher resolution.
as for a screen, i'm going to temporarily use a Roc-Ion blackout drapery liner that can be bought at wal-mart.com for about $40 which will give me a screen size of about 120".
i'm not sure exactly when or where i'll get the projector from, but i'll report back once everything is set up. i'm quite excited.
