This was a common response from good friends of mine who were reacting to my statement “I sold my projector”. I suppose that the reaction would have been different and I said “I’m buying a new projector”, but I wasn’t.. until now.
In my Ampro Resource blog, I documented my 2nd CRT projector (my 1st being an Electrohome ECP 4100). Back in 2003 I had the upgrade bug and went from the 7″ air coupled ECP to the 9″ liquid coupled Ampro.
Early in 2005, I was finally getting to the final stages of finishing our basement – and was about to become a Dad. The idea of hoisting the 165lb Ampro onto the ceiling and the general care and maintenance of the CRT projector seemed like it was going to be more work than I was willing to put into the hobby. At the time, the Panasonic AE700 was my ‘choice’ projector. I narrowly avoided buying one, only dissuaded after seeing one in sub-optimal conditions at a local store. For the price, the image quality was far below what I had with my non-tweaked CRT.
At the end of 2007, the upgrade bug was back. I have less and less time to tinker with home theater stuff and 1080p projectors have dipped to the sub $3k price point.
Short version of the story: I’ve placed my order for the brand new Epson 1080UB – and am now playing the waiting game. Oh yeah, and the reason I sold my CRT before buying a new one – was to make sure I couldn’t back out at the last minute.. again.
Details on my buying decision etc, follow..