Panny PT-AE900 User opinions

Jez

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,073
Without going into too much detail this unit has caught my eye as an utter bargain. I have not really ever bothered looking at digital projectors but a big part of me really really fancies the whole tinyness of them, and the fact that they are zero maintenance and point and go :)

What do people think of this unit? Its specs look much better than i expected possible in a digital for the budget at 5500:1 contrast, and 1280*720 native, along with an impressive array of connectivity options, i could happily feed this at its native and scale using my current HTPC, so the high native resolution isnt that much of a concern SD wise, and ideal once HD material becomes more wide spread.

So, would you? They seem to be available for £1000 including shipping on "buy it now", i'd be switching from a decent 8" CRT unit, but would stand to make £2000 in the process which would be very handy as i am purchasing a house very soon, and i would have the ease of such a compact unit and never have to worry about convergence ever again! :)
 
This unit has caught my eye as well!
Especially at the price it can currently be had for online.
I'm trying to hold out for 1080P projector's to be released, but this looks like a quality stop-gap. As I don't think I can wait until later this year for the bigger picture!

I'll be watching this thread with interest! ;)
 
Why would you want a projector with a fixed native of 1920*1080 :eek: there will be nothing to feed it and all you will end up doing is scaling everything hugely. I wouldnt bother :) 1280*720 seems ideal for a fixed resolution for the moment.

What i am concerned about is the switch from my current projector, but i just dont think i can resist the combination of the cash i would make from the switch, and the fact that digitals are soo easy to use and move around if necessary etc. Not to mention that i would save space.
 
Check around for a review of the Sony Ruby. They have two versions, the cheaper being £6k and has a native resolution of 1920*1080. As for why, see the reviews, seemed to suggest it was awesome.

Ref the AE900, never seen one, but it's meant to be an improvement on the AE700, which is better than the AE500 that I have, and I think the AE500 is brill.
The only slighty downside is that I've compared my AE500 against an £8k DLP, against which it suffers from slighty motion blur on fast panning scenes. Without comparing it, looked awesome. I normally run a 93" screen where I presently live.
 
I have had an AE500 for couple of years and love it, would think the 900 is a good buy.
 
I have the ae500 here too. Very pleased with it really although the blacks could do with being better. The 900 has a much better contrast ratio which should help. Tempted to upgrade myself but can't really afford it at the mo.
 
I had a demo of the AE900 & Z4 with high def material

I'm getting the Z4 at the end of the month, free lamp voucher, 3 year warranty & no VB issues (I could see VB on the panny) swung it for me
 
I had an AE500 for a while, very good projector and I can only imagine the AE900 is fantastic, I sold it 14 months ago and replaced it for a Panasonic plasma.

Whilst the projector looked great and the image was huge I got cheesed of with having to close my curtains and dreaded the bulb replacement cost.
 
I think this is all going to lead to me having to have a demo, mcmad where did you demo those 2 units?
 
Jez said:
I think this is all going to lead to me having to have a demo, mcmad where did you demo those 2 units?
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I was lucky enough to be able to try them at home (blagged a trial from one of our IT equipment suppliers). so i could try it out with my HTPC & high def material.

Definately demo first though if you can, nothing like seeing it for yourself..

I was also trying to demo the HS60 but our supplier didn't have any in stock.

Dont get me wrong, image on the panny was fantastic, but I could see VB on the one I tried so thats put me off it, maybe it was just the one I tried that had it, not sure if its a known problem or not.

The image from these projectors is stunning in all honesty, I was blown away.
 
VB is the issue with the Pannys has been for several models although tweaking in the service menu can reduce this and as the AE700 showed electrical interference / leaving the unit on standby also can attribute. I have it on mine but its not severe, depends how fussy you are and what you expect from a 1k projector.

Owners of the AE700 moving to AE900 didnt see much difference, the better contrast is the biggest improvement. VB is meant to still be visible but depends on the unit and user it seems.

True the Sanyos are good too but AV Forums is full of reports from owners.


*Scaling on the AE700 is rather good
Ive tested native 1280x720 and 1920x1080i desktops (720p is much better for text) Also recently been testing MCE from a Laptop - X360 extender with the X360 possible to run 720p or 1080i output via component. So really lets you decide if the projector or the X360 does the scaling regards 720p or 1080i content.


Have to plan a day comparing my HTPC via custom resolution to this new way of streaming via X360 to see if any benifits regards HD playback. Ah but thats for another day.
 
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Apart from one very worrying occasion where my AE500 powered up and the image was very faint and a few dust blobs I've had no trouble at all with vertical banding or anything else, racked up close to 2300 enjoyable hours. The only negative thing image-wise is the juddery pan shots but I can live with those.
 
Thanks for the input, i really think i am going to have to demo one before i decide, as you say its a 1k brand new projector, its got to be a huge step down from an 808 :(

All i have to decide is whether the step down in quality is small enough that it wont bug me, as i am used to the 808 quality of image.
 
Goatboy said:
The only negative thing image-wise is the juddery pan shots but I can live with those.
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dont think thats due to the projector though ? sounds like pulldown problems with 1080i material ?

Definately demo a few units mate, there aint a lot between them but I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the image a 1K projector can give nowadays.
 
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