Panasonic 900U Projector

[mendacio]

Hi guys! So I'm a newbie to all this projection stuff, however-it has come to my attention that my parents might be better off with a projector for a home theatre room, considering we're building a new house this coming year. Anyways, I was on buydig.com (i think that's the address. lol) and they had the panasonic PJ goin for 1800 (i think?) and it has the rebate for like 400 bux and the 300 dollar movie rent card from blockbuster. SO, I was like, gee, this house won't be done til next year or something like that, but with the rebate considered, that would make the panasonic rather CHEAP-considering the solid reviews i've seen around the net. SO, i was wondering, what do you guys think i should do? Please give realistic answers.. :P haha. Do you think the panasonic isn't worth getting unless we use it immediately? Thanks.

[Azeke]

Hi Mendacio and Welcome to HT Guide :welcome: ,

I currently own the Panny 900U and it is a beautiful projector and well worth $1400.00 (after rebate), however my thought, I would wait since it's not going to be used immediately. This is basically due to the warranty Panasonic provides, only one year, which means your warranty would expire very soon after use, not good. I would think with the plethora of new 1080p projectors coming out soon, the price would not be factor. The rebate for this projector has been going on for a while.

Who knows within a year there will be other options to consider, the technology continues to improve and become more affordable. The Panny 900U will still be an option. Just my quick thoughts, I'm sure others will chime in.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Brandon B]

Panasonic is very likely coming out with a 1080 LCD unit soon, which will be a better choice, or a least drop the price of the 900 further. I would say wait as well.

BB

[sirbogey]

I'm about to buy the 900U in 2 weeks when I'm in Canada. When you say "soon", what do you mean by that? 1 to 2 months or longer?

[mendacio]

Thanks a lot guys-the advice was good. By the way, what do you think is the average longevity of the lamp inside the 900u? azeke, got any opinions on that? I heard from some peeps that the lamp goes out like in the first year...(sorta sucks to dish out another 400 bux for a lamp shortly after you buy the projector...) Anyways, thanks for the help guys.

[draganm]

, however my thought, I would wait since it's not going to be used immediately. This is basically due to the warranty Panasonic provides, only one year, which means your warranty would expire very soon after use, not good.

darn good advice, If I was going with a bub machine I would wait until the day before I planned installing/using it to buy. Bulb failures are the most common but by no means the only possible trouble you might have.

[Chris D]

I agree, wait, if you don't need it. If you can use it NOW like sirbogey, then buy it. I bought the previous version, AE700 when it had the same pricing and rebates as you're seeing now. About 6 months later, the AE900 came out with comparable pricing.

So yes, you're going to be seeing new projectors from every manufacturer regularly for the next several years, each better than the last. Just buy when you actually need it.

[Brandon B]

The 1100 is alleged to be slated for a CEDIA appearance.

BB

[Azeke]

Thanks a lot guys-the advice was good. By the way, what do you think is the average longevity of the lamp inside the 900u? azeke, got any opinions on that? I heard from some peeps that the lamp goes out like in the first year...(sorta sucks to dish out another 400 bux for a lamp shortly after you buy the projector...) Anyways, thanks for the help guys.

It would depend on your usage. I currently have ~ 640 hrs (since Feb) on my lamp, supposedly you are able to get an average 2500 hrs with this lamp. The projector is relatively new, therefore I am unsure of it's longevity. I haven't seen many people complain of premature lamp blows on the 900U, as I have have heard occured with the Panny 700U.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[George Bellefontaine]

Thing is, you only hear about the bad lamps ( the minority) rather than the ones that work properly ( the majority ). I have owned 4 lamp-driven projectors since 1992 and have never experienced a premature bulb failure. I do tend to replace them before the stated life because I do find the dimming annoying. If a lamp has 2000 hours I will replace around 1500 to 1800, depending on how dim the picture appears.

[Brandon B]

Thing is, you only hear about the bad lamps ( the minority) rather than the ones that work properly ( the majority ).

I deal with a lot of PJs George (hundreds), and there has definitely been a lamp quality issue for the last few years. It is not across the board all models and types of PJs, but it is there.

The prevailing theory (backed up by industry people) is that the large demand for lamps in the RPTV world stressed the supply ability of Philips and Ushio, and QC was slipped to make up the shortfall.

BB

[George Bellefontaine]

Sharp, Sony, Nec and Yamaha... all no trouble with lamps in my case, but I can see how a high demand for lamps may cause poor quality control in the rush to get them out the door and into the dealers hands.

[KeithM]

Thing is, you only hear about the bad lamps ( the minority) rather than the ones that work properly ( the majority ). I have owned 4 lamp-driven projectors since 1992 and have never experienced a premature bulb failure. I do tend to replace them before the stated life because I do find the dimming annoying. If a lamp has 2000 hours I will replace around 1500 to 1800, depending on how dim the picture appears.

Exactly. Nobody goes on a forum to vent that their lamp is working perfectly.

[George Bellefontaine]

Exactly. Nobody goes on a forum to vent that their lamp is working perfectly.

Yeah, Keith, that would be one for the books if it ever happened.

[Chris D]

Okay... I have an AE700 at about 1000 hours, and it's working perfectly.

[Brandon B]

Throw the books at him.

[George Bellefontaine]

Okay... I have an AE700 at about 1000 hours, and it's working perfectly.

Chris, but you have to say " and the lamp's working perfectly" before we can throw the book at you. :lol:

[Chris D]

Okay, "and the lamp's working perfectly"

Say goodnight, Gracie.

[Azeke]

Good night Gracie :tired: .

You may now toss the book at him George :g> .

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Whistler]

Panasonic is very likely coming out with a 1080 LCD unit soon, which will be a better choice, or a least drop the price of the 900 further. I would say wait as well.

BB

I do not think that will happen before 2007, Sanyo's Z5 will make use of D5-panels 1280 x 720p maximum. There also will be a 1080p version, but that one will cost a lot more. I would say go for the Panasonic 900U .

[Brandon B]

It's possible it may not ship before 2007, but it will be out at CEDIA in a few weeks, and I would put my money on a pre holiday ship date.

Sanyo is consistently showing themselves to be behind the curve, so I would not use them as a benchmark. They have just released a virtually unchanged model of my 4 year old projector (PLV70) where all they have done is added HDCP compliance and jazzed up the firmware bigtime. If they are sticking with D5, they are going to get their lunch eaten, even at the low end where they ahve done alright in HT.

BB

[Whistler]

I asked Panasonic, and they told me that there is no successor planned for the U900 at the moment.

[Brandon B]

The 1100 may not be a successor, but an addition to the line. Or maybe they don't talk about new products prior to the official announcement when they are still trying to move current models through the retail channel. Or maybe that rep doesn't know.

Regardless, it will be shown at CEDIA.

BB

[Bmac]

Just wanted to jump in

I've owned both the Panny 700 and 900(my parents owned the 500), and both are great projectors. I would however wait, because you can almost count on a new model. Panasonic is rather timely in their release of new models. The prices are great, and were very similar for the 700 and 900.

About bulb life, the 700 which I sold to my parents lasted about 1100 hrs, the Panny 500 they sold last about 3000-4000 hrs(haven't heard if it gave out or not). For size and WOW factor the FP's can't be touched(for the price IMO).

I love the panasonic product,but can't tell much difference between the 700 and the 900(had to throw that in).I wouldn't stop looking at Panny, and I wouldn't stop think about front projectors.

[Dean McManis]

I've owned 7 lamp front projectors and 1 lamp RPTV and all of the bulbs that I've used have exceeded their manufacturer's listed lifespan. I'm sure that there are some actual bulb failures due to manufacturing defects, but most of the bulbs that I've seen fail early (in business projectors) have been due to not allowing for proper cool down, or transporting shock.

I agree that sometimes forums often portray unrepresentative results because you only hear from the people who are having problems, and venting.

As far as choosing to wait for a new projector to come out or not, it depends on what the value of owning a projector in the meantime is worth to you.

There are always new models coming out, just like with consumer electronics and PCs.

And if you were considering to spend $5k-10K+ on a projector, then I'd agree to wait as there will be new 1080p FPTVs coming out in that price range.

But for a $1500 FPTV, I'm not so sure that there is going to be something else that's much nicer than the 900U in that price range over the next 6 months.

[Brandon B]

You can get the Sony HS51A/60 at BestBuy right now for something like $1700. You might want to consider that too. It is a really nice LCD unit, great contrast.

BB