The 2008 1080p Home Theater Projector Comparison Report is Posted
March 17th, 2008 Art Feierman
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Not complete yet, images not yet added, and not fully proofed, but there’s plenty there.
Best In Class $2000 and under: Panasonic PT-AE2000U
Best In Class $2000 to $3500: Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB
Best In Class $3500 to $10,000: JVC DLA-RS2
The report also lists Runner-Up awards and Special Interest awards.
Click for the 2008 1080p Home Theater Projector Report. Enjoy!
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March 17th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Let me be the first to critique your teaser
The AE2000U, please show me where it’s available for less than $2000. I want to order it before they fix the price.
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Where? Most places - as it says in the report, I subtract out mail in rebates, etc.
I valued the mail in rebate at it’s current $400, which I believe Panasonic told me was either just rolled out, or imminent when I spoke to them late Feb. The Blockbuster card, may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but, as I use Netflix, for example), I assigned it a value of about $200 rather than the $250 they say it’s worth.
Lastly, if you can’t get most online dealers to knock off $100, you aren’t trying very hard!
Thus $2699, - $400 -$200 - $100 = $1999.
Close enough, if my math was $50 higher, I still would have cut it some slack. The Epson’s, more expensive Mitsubishi, the BenQ and the Optoma’s all seem to net out about about $2400 and up (street).
Rebates seem to be the rage, with several companies offering various mail in rebates of $400 - $600+. That’s too large to ignore.
And despite rebates “ending this month”, most manufacturers continue to renew them, or only change them slightly. Many manufacturers are using rebates instead of formal price drops, so if anything, the rebates get bigger, rather than smaller.
Lastly, prices are going to change steadily over the next six months, as they always do, so my price points are only a snapshot for today. -art
BTW I only look at prices from “authorized dealers”, ignoring NYC camera shops, etc (where things tend to be less, but complications tend to be far more.)
March 17th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I stand corrected. Thanks for clarifying. I suppose I didn’t treat the Blockbuster gift card as a rebate. However, worse case, one can sell it. To add, it doesn’t help that the AE2000U is not very common in Canada
March 30th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Art, do you know why the black level of the 1080UB is so superior to other projectors using the same D7 Epson panels? It can’t be the iris tech, because the 1080UB also claims higher native contrast, right?
Whatever it is, do you think Epson will release it to other manufacturers in the future?
I’ve heard a couple of things, but, since I’m leaving for Japan next monday for a week, and will probably be visiting the Epson plant that turns them out, I expect I’ll be able to speak more intelligently when I’m back in two weeks! -art