Thank you. However, I was talking about LED and not LCD. The LED models use significantly less power, supposedly make less noise, and the lamps last for 20,000 hours (avoiding hefty maintenance costs, and perhaps issues with product or parts obsolescence), or so the claims say.
I have seen several at Media Markt (Kriens), but there is no in-store demo. Some demos have been posted on youtube, but it is hard to judge image quality from there (due to differences in the demo'ers screen or settings or focus, their camera, my computer monitor, etc.) Many reviews have been posted online, but they mostly appear to be written by product reps or AV salesmen, so I have trouble putting any faith into them. A (believable IMO)review for the Optoma 500ml says that it is great, but that the computer to beamer hook up did not work and that the company support couldnt solve the problem
1000 CHF is a bit more than I would like to spend...i am hoping to stay under 600-650 CHF. I had seen a no-frills LG LED beamer for just a few hundred $ on amazon, and would give that a try, but it does not appear to be sold in Europe. The lumen count does not matter that much to me, as it would only be used at night or in a fully darkened room. The screen size i'm hoping for is approx. 80"x50"(200cm x 125cm) Is anyone out there using an LED beamer for at home use?
When I bought it I though:
-Too big
-Too heavy
-Not very cool design....
-Not sound included
(why everyone is recommending the TW3200???)
Now I now the answer. Is 100% awesome. I would ask for it to be perfect... 500 lumens more. But I tell you that I'm enjoying every single second I use it.
And on top of everything the lamp is not to expensive to be changed (Ebay).
I have it set in the eco-mode and is incredible. It's a bargain and its GREAT.
In fact, the Epson is rather on the bright side for home cinema, and all the guides I have read tell you to turn the brightness down.... In a fully light controlled room, a lot of dedicated home cinema projectors only put out about 500 lumens anyhow! This maximises the contrast... basically, if too much light is shining on your wall, blacks become washed out.
OP, LED projectors are still not a mainstream product. Few would so far recommend them for dedicated home cinema. This optoma that you mention is a fledgling product and more for salesmen giving powerpoint presentations... it is not even full HD.
There is so far basically only one full scale attempt at an affordable LED projector, the Viewsonic pro9000, and this is outside your price tag.
I recommend that if you want a cinema in the home, you need to up your budget slightly to around the Epson levels. A full HD 80 to 100" diagonal experience ought to worth something, or? Maintenance costs are not really high. A typical bulb will last about 3000 hours... thats equates to 3 hours every single day for three years straight, and most people do not use their projectors that heavily.
I recently had to decide what to do.... keep going with my old lcd projector, buy a decent new one, or buy a budget new one to wait for practical LED hybrids.
I chose to buy the budget (the Epson) and wait a few years until LED's are more mainstream.