Panasonic AE700 Vs Sony VPL-HS20

[wozza]

They both appear to be good Projectors.. But I don't know which is better. Can any of your "Projector People" provide any insite into this? I'm looking at spending not much more than £1500 on a projector, althought I do really like the Sony VPL-HS50, and am tempted to go for that... I'd be looking at ~92" screen. I could live with smaller though!

While I've got your attention, where is the best place to buy a projector screen from? Best projector screens etc... Also, any links to good reading material you can provide would be a great help, as I don't really know squat about Projection!

Cheers, Will.

[Brandon B]

The 700 is a generation newer than the HS20. I would get that if you can't swing the new HS50.

My friend has an HS20, and while it is very nice, it is somewhat dim for my tastes. My friend has a larger screen than you are contemplating though, I believe a 106".

I have not seen the AE700, but have seen the AE500. From the many reports I have read, it is a very nice improvement in both contrast and to a lesser degree, smoothness over the 500, which I would put close to on par with the HS20.

Any reason you have ruled out DLP?

BB

[austriacus]

The Panasonic 700 is quite good, the only problem seems to be some banding.
Comparable is also the Sanyo Z3 (little bit more expensive), the Sony Cineza 50 is the up-to-date model. Thorough tests exactly for these models you can find (unfortunately not in english, but its technical stuff anyway) under cine4home.de. A DLP model recently announced with a HD2+ Chip is the Sharp XV-Z2000 whith a price expected around 4k$, very competitive price for this Chip but I do not know if they have saved the money somewhere else and if this is in your budget.

Regards

Felix Primetzhofer

[wozza]

Thanks for the help guys! I didn't purposely rule out DLP, i just didn't know the difference!

I'e done a bit more research, and am starting to lean towards the Sony VPL-HS50, has some great features, and a snazzy design... Still plenty of reading to go thought.. Will go investigate the aforementioned Projectors now.

Thanks again!

[Brandon B]

Friend just received his HS51 (U.S. model designation I guess) and the red panel was off by nearly one full pixel width.

Make sure you have an agreement with your seller about things like this before you buy. He is waiting to find out if they will exchange it.

BB