Budget projectors?

Posted by: blythe on 20 December 2016

My very aged (11 years) Infocus ScreenPlay 7200 doesn't have HDMI inputs and I want to add Apple TV to the system. It's also only 720p rather than 1080p.
Therefore, I am looking for a budget priced, 1080p (not bothered about 4k) decent quality DLP projector, which will accept HDMI input.

One local dealer in Sydney has suggested I look at Epson, which is not a projector brand I've ever seen. 

Any thoughts or ideas?

Posted on: 24 January 2017 by Eloise

I have an Epson TW6600 ... very pleased with it.

Posted on: 24 January 2017 by blythe

Thanks Eloise. I'll see what my dealer suggests - he's been on leave for a few weeks but it's good to hear a thumbs up for Epsom :-)

Posted on: 24 January 2017 by Innocent Bystander

What price range are you thinking when you say 'budget'? These days you can get pretty good performance relatively inexpensively, though of course price depends on the requirements  including things like brightness, contrast, persistence, noise etc. Mine is a Benq, cost just under  £600 3 to 4 years ago, full HD, 3D capable. I use it with a 160 inch screen and am very happy with it, though at that size the room does need to be quite dark for best effect, though not blacked out. Better ones will give greater brightness or deeper blacks with the same brightness etc, and whilst not intrusive when watching a film, and not enough to affect speech or anything at any time, when the sound is off the fan noise is quite noticeable from its position on a short pole ceiling mount only a couple of feet behind me. I chose it based on reviews as best in class at the time, and haven't regretted at all - I would expect it to be cheaper now, or even better performance for the same money.

Posted on: 24 January 2017 by Kiwi cat

Ditto the Optoma projectors. I have a 4 year old one having replaced my Infocus because it was dying and did not have an HDMI capability. Even the basic optoma projectors are really very good indeed.

Posted on: 27 January 2017 by blythe

It'll be used in a dedicated room with no windows, so totally dark. 

It will be connected via my Yamaha processor which does all the HDMI switching and 5:1 audio. The screen measures 2560 cm across the diagonal - so about  100".

By "budget" I mean I don't want to be paying lots of thousands but I'm happy to pay circa A$3000-5000 (Australian) - so somewhere under £3000

Much as I'd love another SIM2 Grand cinema, that would be over budget!

I'm going to audition my dealer's suggestion of the Epsom. It's almost certainly going to be better than my 10 years + old Infocus ScreenPlay and if not, I'll look elsewhere.