As soon as I know which one I’ll be getting first, I’ll post. -art

I ask because I have a moviemate 30s. I found it to be better than the Moviemate 50 and 55 due to the contrast ratio. However, I’m wondering if the 540p on the Moviemate 60 is actually BETTER than 480p on my current projector. Will games or movies improve? I thought that games and movies only utilize 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p.

Can anyone comment on this?

Who says I “have to”? Actually, the first look blog is just about finished. I had been awaiting some answers from Epson, and they arrived not long ago. I’ll try to post the 8100 review in the next couple of hours. If I want to sort and use any of the photos I took last night (side-by-sides with the Mitsubishi HC3800), however, then I probalby won’t post until later this evening, as I have to finish the shoot, select the images, resize, place, etc… (these photo shoot sessions are a pain and take hours for each projector. Hang in there.
Here’s a teaser though. I was surprised, I had expected the 8100 to easily beat the HC3800 at black level performance. It was not the case. Yes the Epson at it’s best could do blacker blacks, but that only turned out to be on the very darkest of scenes (like a basic starfield, or a black transition scene. In most dark scenes, the HC3800′s black levels were slightly below the Epson.
Other than that, things worked out pretty much as expected – oh, one more thing. Mike didn’t end up with as many lumens as we expected on the 8100, but its a pre-production unit, so it wouldn’t be surprising if a production unit was 10% or more brighter. We shall see about that. Unlike the older 6100, color in brightest mode, was dramatically improved, and rather good. I can say this, there are a lot of interesting trade-offs between the Epson Home Cinema 8100 and the Mitsubishi HC3800, which seem to be the two “hot” $1500ish projectors hitting the market. The 8100 review should prove interesting, and the competitors section, even more so.
BTW, trying to get the HC3800′s competitors section done tonight, too. -art

I’m really looking forward to the Epson 8100 as that is one projector I’ve been holding out for. But lately, I’ve been reconsidering my options. Plasmas are getting DIRT CHEAP and LED LCD’s are looking good too. I’m drooling over a new deal every weekend. I’m starting to lean to getting a decent plasma for normal viewing AND a cheap 720 projector for dvd movies/sports instead of one or the other. This 705hd has my attention and I’m also considering the Optoma HD65 which I can get for +/-$600. My budget is about $1500 and it’s starting to look like one can have the best of both worlds for that right now. AMAZING!

Thanks for your time Art … I’ll be waiting for your review(s).

It’s important for me, to review, as well, however, there have to be priorities. Generally, the sweet spots of the market – basically $999 – $2999 have to get first priority, in general, then come most projectors below and above that price. There are always some exceptions, but ultimately, when I prioritize, more importantly is when units are available. The 705HD was the last of the new Epson’s announced, and likely therefore, the last available for review, regardless. The crunch is on for the next 60 days. after that, I have a little more “control”. BTW, I just received an Epson Home Cinema 8100, wasn’t even expecting that for a couple of weeks until I got an email yesterday, saying basically “surprise, we have one for you, and it’s on the way”. (I love surprises.) -art