The Epson won the best projector under £1k, so that suggests that What HiFi though it was better than the Optoma, as it was also under £1k. But you never know, it could be close between them. Have you viewed projectors before? Other than the cinema, or in offices / school / uni? The Epson is LCD, where the Optoma is DLP.
Now, I have no particular problem with either technology (I believe my Sony uses some hybrid of both). But some people are sensitive to "The Rainbow Effect" (RBE) with DLP projectors. I am, to a small degree, but I quickly got used to it with my Optoma HD65. Basically, I occasionally saw "flashes" of colours, like a rainbow, in the picture. For me it was quite rare, but for some it can easily be enough to mean that particular display technology isn't for them at all. For me it was most prominent with fast moving images, or when I had to move my head left to right or vice versa.
So, with that in mind, it REALLY does make sense to demo the Optoma, at least, before considering buying it. And best to take anyone who might regularly watch it with you (wife, kids etc). And try to get a demo of the Epson at the same time. Richer Sounds should be able to help here, or maybe some local hifi dealer might be able to help.
Personally, I'd just take the chance on the Epson, as it won the award, doesn't come with the potential for RBE, for either you, your family, or any guests that may visit, and it's in budget. But I did really enjoy my Optoma when I had it, and I kept it for 5+ years, despite only being a 720p projector at around £400, so was a proper budget offering. The picture was great to my eyes, at that time.
Is 92" all you can manage? I'm projecting a 120" picture straight onto a magnolia wall (complete with the kids felt-tip pen lines along the bottom). And it's great. A HUGE picture, and makes all the difference. I wouldn't worry about the screen, at least to start with, unless your planning to wall mount a TV behind it. Just paint the wall a decent colour for it, and project straight onto there. I do have the ingredients for the "projector paint" recipe I got on AVForums.
It's basically this:
4 parts (960ml) of “Johnstone's Covaplus Vinyl Matt Finish” tinted (NCS color code: S 0907 Y70R) paint from Johnstone's or Leyland Trade.
1 part (240ml) of “Auto-Air Aluminium Base Fine” (code: 4101) paint from Createx Auto Air Colors. (AAA)
The Covaplus Vinyl Matt I found a bit difficult to find, but can be substituted with any of:
Grey Steel1 00NN 31/000 ( it is the darkest one )
Grey Steel2 00NN 53/000 ( RGB(184,184,182) - N7.8 )
Grey Steel3 00NN 72/000 ( RGB(219,220,219) - N8.8 )
Grey Steel4 00NN 83/000 ( it is the lightest one - N9.3 )
The darker one gives better black levels, but at the expense of greyer whites. The lighter one better whites at the expense of darks. I think I went for equal mixes of Grey Steel 2 and 3 in the end personally, as I figured blacks were more important for my viewing material, but didn't want to compromise the whites too much. I made this decision at a time when photobucket actually worked, and the avforums thread was full of working pictures with all the different shades.
