Greetings,

The new bundle is out, it consists of the following games:

Botanicula

Machinarium

Samorost 2

Kooky

Windosill

To get all five games, you have to pay more than the current average, which at the moment is $8.85.  Info on all the games is available through the link below:

The Humble Bundle

Don’t forget that a portion, or all of your payment goes to charity.  You get to decide where you want your cash to go.

Until we meet again,

-Ebenezer

Greetings,

Tickets are now on sale for this years Comikaze on September 15th-16th.  This is now the official convention of the spectacular… Stan Lee! Tickets can be purchased at the following link:

Comikaze 2012: Shock and Awesome Tickets

I went last year, and had a great time.  It is reminiscent of the Comic-Con San Diego of a few years ago, before it got so packed you felt like you were at Disneyland on the 4th of July.  Don’t get me wrong, the attendance at Comikaze was high, but it seemed Comikaze planned out the space vs. people formula much better than Comic-Con SD.  Comikaze is true to the roots of what a Comic convention should be, and that is what I really loved about it.  I was a bit rushed last year, and only had a few hours on Saturday to spend there.  I will be attending both days this year, so I will have more time to soak it all in.

It will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, there is ample parking and the parking is affordable (only $12).  Not to mention you can currently get a Saturday/Sunday pass for $20.  If you only are interested in one day, the tickets are $12.  So, for less than the cost of a movie, popcorn and drink you get an entire weekend of entertainment!

Some of the costumes are pretty amazing, there are also a ton of artwork and merchandise booths.  As well as celebrity autographs and panels for comic books, movies, television shows, etc..  They even have a tattoo artist section.  Don’t miss out, there’s something for EVERYONE at Comikaze.

-Ebenezer

Here are a few pictures from last year:

Greetings,

First off, let me say for $1,000… I LOVE this projector!  The color, sharpness, and brightness of this projector are fantastic.  Not to mention there is virtually ZERO lag time while gaming.  I played some Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Battlefield: Bad Company, Left 4 Dead, and The Sims 3 on the PC.  On the PS3 I played Brutal Legend and Fight Night Champion.  Everything looked great, the only knock I can give this projector is the black level isn’t going to knock your socks off, but it is VERY acceptable.  Keep in mind I am coming from an Epson 8700UB, which is over twice the price of the Panasonic PT-AR100U.

I found the color was what I would like to call more “real world”.  The Epson gives a dramatic “pop” to the color, which is a little over the top.  I also watched about 20 minutes of Gamer, Knowing, Star Wars, and Return of the Jedi on Blu-ray.  I wanted to experience all aspects of how this projector would perform in a non-theater environment.  While watching Star Wars, and Return of the Jedi I found the color was more believable, and realistic.  I did miss the black levels of my Epson 8700UB though.  I have beige walls, and ceiling.  I also deal with ambient light, which this projector had no issues handling.

I would buy this projector in a second, especially with the street price of $999.99.  I haven’t seen anything in this price range that has impressed me as much as the PT-AR100U.  It is one of the best bargains out there, I was even debating on buying one as a secondary projector…not that I need one.  LOL.   If you are looking for a gaming projector, and/or to use in a living room/family room environment, then you found it.  It has everything you would ever want, at a super low price.  Well, let’s get to the meat of things:

The Good:

Virtually no lag for gaming (see lag tests here)

Very good, natural color

Very bright (link to lumen output here)

Street price of $999.99 (AMAZING!!!)

Great remote – brightly lit buttons and not too large

Very good build quality, very solid

Great placement flexibility, horizontal and vertical lens shift

The Bad:

Black levels aren’t bad, but could be better

No 3D, if that’s your thing

One year warranty, but this is a budget projector

Lamp life

The Ugly:

A bit on the noisy side, but that’s what surround sound at loud volume is for…right?

As Art stated in his review under the light leakage section here, there was a dust blob visible on black screen.  I thought it was the black out cloth I was using for a screen, but alas it was a dust blob.  It may have just been an issue with this particular unit, it wasn’t noticeable once I was watching a movie, or gaming.

If you are a gamer on a budget, this is the projector for you.  If you are the dad (or mom) on a budget that wants to impress his (or her) kids with a huge screen for family night movies, then this projector is for you.  A sports fan who likes to have a lot of friends over with the lights on to watch the game, this one’s for you.

I will suggest an extended warranty, as this only has a one year warranty.  If you are really on a budget, at least get a third party lamp warranty.  Most of them cover two lamp replacements, and are available for about $80-$100 which covers a three year period.  Just make sure you buy through a reputable retailer.

I am giving this projector an award, because I am amazed at what you get in this projector for $999.99.  I am as cheap as they come, and I think this projector is worth every damn penny!  I bestow upon the PT-AR100U, my More Bang For Your Buck award!

Greetings,

Lag results are in, and they are VERY good!  This LCD keeps up with all the DLP’s I have seen, perfect for gamers.  No 3D, but with virtually no lag…who cares?!?!  I have put in minimal gaming as of yet, but it looks good thus far…review coming soon.  See for yourself:

Greetings -

We spent two days at Wonder-Con, and as far as gaming is concerned, it was more of the same.  Nothing really new, just more of what I saw last year at Comikaze.  They do have tournaments, and a ton of free games you can play, so it’s worth going for that if you’re an avid gamer.  I would highly suggest going, especially if you have not been before.  WonderCon was really affordable as well.  Tickets were only $20 for Saturday and $10 for Sunday.  Half price for people 13-17, and seniors.  Kids 12 and under are free!  Just looking at the costumes is worth that price, but you get a lot more than that!  As usual, I have quite a few pictures to share.  My photography skills aren’t the best, so don’t expect much…ha ha.  Here are a bunch of pictures for you to peruse:

Greetings,

I just got this big boy in, and I can’t wait to review it.  For the price it seems like a steal, but I will wait to get a few hours of gaming in before passing any real judgment.  It’s very bright, has lens shift, and is designed for gaming, at least that’s what the specs state.  All that for a $999.99 street price.  Yeah, it’s not 3D, but at this price…who cares!?!?!

Greetings,

I really wanted to love this projector, but… I just walked away liking it.  I really enjoyed my time with the Vivitek QUMI.  Maybe it was the fact that the QUMI was half the size of the PLED-W500, and that made it more impressive.  The PLED-W500 is brighter than the QUMI, but I found I enjoyed the overall picture quality more on the QUMI.  I put a lot of hours on the Viewsonic, I practically beat Fight Night Champion and Brutal Legend on the PS3 in the time I had it.  I also watched about half of the movie Knowing on it.

After all the time I spent with it, I was just pretty “mah” about it.  When I had the QUMI I projected a 60″ screen while reviewing, with the PLED-W500 I went with a 70″ screen.  Don’t get me wrong, this projector is perfectly acceptable, but there wasn’t any “wow” factor.  This projector is also street priced about $150-$200 more than the QUMI.  I don’t see where the extra brightness warrants that much higher of a price tag.  I also noticed that there was a lot of lag time in between the PS3 switching resolutions, which was VERY annoying.

It also has an automatic keystone feature, which I found to be bothersome.  If you move it, then it will keystone and you’ll have to wait for it to level out before it switches back.  It takes 5-10 seconds to readjust.  I would rather adjust manually if I felt the need.

I am cheap, as you have probably figured out by now.  So, hands down I would recommend the QUMI over the PLED-W500, just based on price alone.  Based on picture quality I felt the QUMI also had a slight edge.  Brightness definitely goes to the PLED-W500, so if you want a larger screen then the PLED-W500 is hands down the winner.  Let’s move on to the meat of things…

The Good:

Bright for a LED projector

Portable

Easy to set up

3D capable, though not on the 3D Vision compatible list

Plays content from mass storage such as an SD card/USB drive

Comes with a carrying case

The Bad:

The built-in speaker is not great, but at least there is sound

I found the automatic keystone feature more of an annoyance than a help

The Ugly:

Time between resolution change was pretty painful

Price

No audio out, so you are stuck with mediocre sound

I am hoping to get another projector in the near future, but I am not sure what Art will throw at me next.  I am going to Wonder-Con Anaheim in March (for my birthday).  I will post a blog here about it, and post any game news that I see while there.  If you have any questions about the PLED-W500 post a comment and I will get back to you.

Until we meet again…

-Ebenezer

Greetings,

I have a few unexpected things happen over the last couple of weeks.  I was hoping to have this review up last week, but then life happened.  From what I have seen so far, I really like this little guy.  This time around I will be using my PS3 for gaming, and streaming etc..  I really enjoyed my first pico projector, the Vivitek Qumi, I am hoping this one will impress me just as much.   The price is a bit too high for my taste, but I will reserve judgment on that until I put some real hours into it.

-Ebenezer

It consists of Edge, Osmos and Anomaly.  If you meet the average price paid (currently $5.65) you get World of Goo too, here is the link:

http://www.humblebundle.com/

Buy Two Pre-Owned Games, Get Two More Free

I know I am a bit late, but late is better than never…right?  Best Buy pre-owned games are cleaned and inspected to assure full working order. Grab two games and get two additional games for no extra charge.
Items may ship separately.

Link to the sale