For the price, with Lens shift, the Epson will be very tough to beat. Sure, there’s an even brighter Panasonic – the new PT-AR100U, but that’s priced around $2000.

As to gaming, I’m not sure, but one of my gaming bloggers measured the 8700UB (the big brother, with better blacks – my personal fav, for under $2K if you could find one at an acceptable price. While the Epson’s aren’t the fasting things around for gaming, they are apparently fast enough. Scott S, one of my gaming bloggers, owns the 8700UB (which should perform as well as the 8350 – noting that the more dynamic features, the greater the lag time, so CFI, for example (smooth motion) also adds a fair amount of lag. Scott S, is most pleased with it for gaming, even though even less lag would be better. He’s serious about it, builds his own superfast computers, and plays strictly PC’s not consoles. I figure if it works for someone who has spent huge amounts of hours playing games at top levels, it should work for the rest of us.

The 8350′s blacks are “good”, but not “ultra high contrast” like the 8700ub (who’s blacks with the iris off, are roughly comparable to the 8350 with the dynamic iris working. That 8700UB is a step up for sure. The thing is, they are officially discontinued. Per a conversation with Epson, most dealers will be out in the next 30 days. That may mean you can find a great deal, or it may mean (since it’s so popular) that the few dealers that still have them, figure there will be plenty of demand. Failing that, for the huge difference in price, the 8350 only gives up those better blacks, CFI and their dynamic sharpening: Super-Resolution. For me, only the black level difference is really significant, between the two, the other extra’s are really minor for most. Either should serve you well.
The one other possibility is the now closeout on the BenQ W6000, another favorite of mine. There you can get black levels closer to the 8700ub than the 8350, and you’ll have your lens shift. This was a $2000 – $2500 priced projector for the last year and a half, but I see one of my advertisers selling it for about $1500. hell of a projector for $1500… Placement issues (less zoom range, etc.) notwithstanding, I would have to buy the W6000 over the 8350, budget allowing. BTW, the BenQ is exceptionally bright, but it’s lamp lasts only about half as long as the Epson’s so more cost down the road, (and it draws roughly 50% more electricity when running (for you green fanatics). -art

I am completely new to projectors here, outside of the one in my conference room at work, I had no knowledge of them. But with my 46″ LCD TV starting to go out, and the desire to go with something bigger, when seeing price vs. price between projectors and larger TV’s, it became obvious which direction I would be going.

I have finished out my basement myself, and decided on a projector at the last minute which leaves me with my hybrid entertainment room. I was able to finish out a hole in the back wall that separates another room, and run some hdmi cables back through the walls/roof there from my entertainment corner, as well as a power outlet, so the cords will be nice and hidden. The issue there was unless I wanted my screen at the floor, my need is something with lens shift as the ceiling at that back wall is only about 6.5′ high across the length of the room, vs. 8′ in the rest of it (ventilation runs through that little area).

My wants.
Lens shift
“good” (the word is very relative) black levels.
Enough brightness I can watch something with dimmed lights, especially sports. Ambient lighting is no issue at all, no windows in this room, but paint isn’t ideal on the walls (tan walls, white ceiling)
Budget of under $2000 all combined (screen plus projector)
Decent zoom features (hoping for 110 inch projected from 15′ away, but want the ability to adjust)
1080p for blu ray/PS3 gaming
Not having to get a new 200 dollar bulb every 3 months
Good responsiveness (heard lag on some projectors is bad when playing games)

My things I don’t really care about:

3D. I am a little interested, but wife gets that queasy feeling, not worth the extra money as of now.
Speakers/size/portability no need, got the surround sound wires in the walls, plenty of room at the mounting area.

So with that in mind, I keep seeing one name popping up here, and that is the Epson 8350, which was one of your award winners last year, and caught my attention and hasn’t let it go. I am wondering if there really is another option to think about here, or if I did convince the wife that another 500 bucks for 3d was worthy (upset at no lens shift on the 3010), what would be a few good options in your opinion based on my likes and needs that I could look further into.

Again, I love the site, and thanks so much for the help already

Chris

I have removed and reinstalled the new bulb and filter. The projector continues to ask for the filter to be replaced and then shuts off after 60 secs. I have combed the manual and talked to Sony a couple times. This has be going on for 6 months.

Any tips/solution short of the old Discount Tire (toss it through the window) would be appreciated.

P.S. the one year warranty expired 1 1/2 yrs ago.

Thanks for your help.

Well, in part, that’s why we do an annual report. That said, the 8700ub is only a minor update over the 8500ub. Check out the current comparison report, there’s enough comparing this projector to that one, etc. to answer your questions.

But the bottom line… The Epson can match the black levels or beat them of anything I’ve seen from Runco. On the other hand, every Runco I’ve looked at, produces more natural looking color and skin tones than any Epson post calibration… The Epson does a great job, but that’s Runco’s thing… gorgeous looking skin tones, great color overall. Every runco we’ve even looked at, looked great out of the box, even if brightness and contrast settings could use a little tweaking. Bigger differences though are brightness, support, etc. -art