Sanyo Z4

[Sithlord]

Hi all,

Well my brother has gone and made my dreams come true he has purchased a Sanyo Z4 projector for me :E . I have recently purchased a house and have always dreamed of having a big screen in my house. This is my first introduction into the realm of projectors and I have read almost every net review of the Z4. It is getting some excellent reviews and the price well my bro got it for $2590AUD (Australian). I need to purchase a screen most likely a 100" so I was looking at this one and wanted to know if it's any good here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/100-16-9-Motorised-High-Definition-Projector-Screen_W0QQitemZ190011731603QQihZ009QQcategoryZ109893QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

My viewing distance is approx 4.6 metres from the wall where the screen will be. If anyone has any recommendations for screens preferably in Australia I would very much appreciate it. The Z4 should be delivered by Friday this week with a ceiling bracket and a HDMI cable. Cant wait

[George Bellefontaine]

Congrats on the new PJ, Sithlord, and welcome to the front projection club. Once here, you can never go back.

Re: the screen. I am not familiar with that make and really don't know what makes are available in Aussie land. Myself, I've owned Da-Lites mostly and the fixed wall models to boot because my HT has always been a dedicated room.

[Brandon B]

They seem to stress the construction of the screen, but say very little about its optical performance. I would at least try to find someone who has reviewed the thing before I bought it, even at that price.

BB

[Chris D]

Congrats, Sithlord, moving up to the big boys!

[Lex]

The Z4 is a real joy, excellent. I'm loving mine along with my Z2.

Z2 does daily grind duty as TV reproducer. Z4 is saved for movie reproducing only.

Doug

[Azeke]

Congratulations, Panny 900U owner here. I have a screen that was being tossed at my job. I'm working on upgrading my screen, by purchasing a Carada 110 criterion BW screen from our sponsor.

Welcome to world of diagonal feet instead on inches.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Sithlord]

Thanks for all your kind words I'm pretty excited and have been wanting to get into projection for many years. I called the company that is selling the screen that I posted the link for above and spoke to a sales guy and he was great. They import them from Germany and are a flush white matte with 1.2 dot gain. The screen can be washed/cleaned with soapy water and the motor is whisper quiet. All up the screen weighs in at 15kg and very easy to install. He basically said that it's perfect for home movies which is all I will be using it for and I got it for $329AUD no postage as my brother is picking it up what a bloke ;x( . I've ordered a 10m HDMI cable from the guy who's supplying the Z4 and if all goes well, I will have everything on Friday. Fingers crossed.
opcorn:

P.S. Here is a bit more info on the screen:

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/cinamax/moreinfo.html

[Sithlord]

Well the Z4 arrived (At my brothers place) with ceiling mount. Here is a picture he sent. I cannot wait to get this bad boy to my place an install it. My screen arrived (last week) thanks to my brother so everything should be up and running this Saturday. I have an electrician coming to install a new fuse box and I was thinking of getting him to put a power point in the roof for the projector. I also would like him to feed the HDMI cable through the roof or under the house and out of the wall where my components are. Does anyone here suggest anything else I should be doing before the sparky comes? I want to be able to disconnect the projector from the ceiling mount so I can clean it and replace the globe when needed. I've just found a site that listed the mount (Brand LEEMC model PM4365) my brother bought and it says length adjust 430-650mm. This seems too long from the ceiling as my roof isn't a high ceiling so it's going to be too long. Can anyone suggest a ceiling mount that will not be as long? Any suggestions will be much appreciated. :T

Here is the site that has the mount listed:

http://kmpavt.en.alibaba.com/product/50034624/50159042/Ceiling_Mount_Kit/Ceiling_Mount_Kit.html

[Azeke]

Sithlord,

Just a quick thought, since you are ceiling mounting you want to install an electrical plug in the ceiling as well as a switch on the wall. I would also run extra cables, i.e. s-video, svga, etc. better to have them already run just in case you need them.

Again congratulations, I know you are excited, keep up posted on your progess.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Sithlord]

Thanks for that well here is an update. The ceiling mount isn't the one on that website that I posted it's totally different. It's perfect for what I need so no problem there. Now in regards to the HDMI cable I purchased it has been one drama after another with a resolution. In short it has gone missing in the post and the driver who should have delivered it last Monday, has had many complaints in the past and they (Australia Post) are getting evidence so they can fire him. Just my luck as I have the Sparky and an installer coming tomorrow morning to do the job and at the end of it I wont have a HDMI (10m) ready to use as no one can match the price I paid for the one thats gone missing which was $129AUD. All the others that I asked wanted to charge me $300+. So in the end I had to call a Hi-Fi company that I've dealt with in the past and they are going to courier a 10m HDMI cable to me should arrive later in the afternoon well after the installer has left. It's going to set me back about $230AUD not including the courier fee. The sparky is putting a power point in the ceiling and one for the motorized screen so thats fine. You can have the best layed out plans and still something as simple as a cable going missing can ruin everything. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to be there when it's all done and hopefully all will go according to plan. I am being reimbursed for the lost cable so thats good but I still have to pay for the new one in the mean time. I will try and borrow my brothers camera and will post some pictures of the final result. Fingers crossed I dont encounter any more problems or delays. Thanks everyone for their input and advice.

[dyazdani]

Maybe you can ask the sparky to run a "dummy" cable - a piece of rope, RG6, whatever and leave the junction boxes open. That way when you get your HDMI cable, you can possibly tie it to the dummy cable and pull it through. You may have to do some clean-up work, such as coil the excess cable in the wall somehow, but that shouldn't be too hard.

[Brandon B]

I'm just liking that they call electricians "sparky" in Oz. What do you call plumbers?

BB

[DelRay]

I'm just liking that they call electricians "sparky" in Oz. What do you call plumbers?

BB

I was thinking the same thing. :rofl:
Hey Sithlord. Let us know what you think as far as the pic quality with the HDMI cable. I have the Z3 with componet hook ups. I'm thinking about running a HDMI cable, and was wondering if its worth the extra cost. Nice setup BTW.

[Sithlord]

Hi guys. Well it's all done and overall it went fairly smoothy. Sparky arrived and the heavens opened up which delayed a few jobs. The installer was simply awesome he made it all look easy. The dramas continued with a new HDMI cable I ordered from the hi-fi shop the courier got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it to my place on the day. My contact called another 3 more courier companies and got one that would do it same day even though it was after midday. To top things off the hi-fi place spelled my street wrong and the driver got lost but luckly he had my mobile and he arrived in 20mins. Basically all the work was done and the installer and I were just sitting down waiting for about 2hrs for the cable to turn up. The guy said he had to stay as the cable had to bend around a few corners then go into the roof so it would have been impossible for him to leave a pully there for me to use. The sparky was just great and gave me a great price and as did the installer who should have only been there for 3hrs was there for approx 6hrs but only charged me for 3hrs. What a great bunch of blokes couldn't ask for better.

Ok as for the whole setup it looks amazing even out of the box the Z4 deliveres an excellent picture. I have only had about 3hrs to play with it so I will tinker with it more over the weekend. Also my Harmony 880 remote turned up this morning so I can now learn the remote functions that I have which will make it much easier. Pictures were taken by my brother but he said they came out blury. :cry: Oh well his coming over this weekend so I will take some good shots. As for what we call Plumbers that would be "EXPENSIVE". No we dont have a special name for them, but if it was me I would call them Water Boys.

[dyazdani]

Sounds like you had a pretty good experience. Yes, the Z4 looks very good out of the box. I bought the Avia disc along with it and ran through the basic test patterns. I really looks good now as far as color balance, etc.

[Sithlord]

Yes I need to get my hands on a calibration test disc that has hdmi support. I have one called Sound & Vision Home Theatre Tune up which I puchased about 3 years ago not sure if thats still worth using. I'm not up to speed with current setup discs so any recommendations would be most appreciated. I just programmed my Harmony to turn on my Arcam dv29, AV8, Sanyo Z4 and my screen. Very nice interface and easy to follow. I'm enjoying this :T


Ps: Lex can you offer some setup tips please as you have a Z4. I need help with getting a picture thats not too bright during dark scenes to day scenes with clarity. I'm finding that if I set the gamma around +4 day shots look great but dark scenes look washed out I'm finding it difficult to get a balance.I'm currently using Pure Cinema mode and I'm only using it for movies with a dark room. Your input will be most welcomed. ;x(

*Update: I found an excellent thread at AVS forum where they post all the settings they made to achieve a great picture. Some adjustments need to be made according to individual rooms and tastes but it gives you a great starting point.