Mitsibushi 3800 vs. Epson 8100 vs. Panasonic ae4000

[slperson1]

I am trying to decide between the following:

Mitsubishi 3800
Epson 8100
Panasonic AE4000


I was set on the Panny until I notice it has about half the lifetime on the lamp as the other two. The Mitsubishi 3800 is on sale at visualapex right now for $1500 with an extra lamp, which would give it 4x the lifetime of the panny. My two major concerns are the lamp life and picture quality. Am I losing much on picture quality with the Mitsubishi?

[BarkingGhost]

I'm having a difficult time finding anything on the lamp life other than it is rated 2000/3000 hours in full/low power mode, AND that the number of hours on the projector+lamp itself is rated at 2000 hours (1-2 years, whichever comes first).

The lamp itself can be had for $400 at the same resource you presented for the projector, or 10% less at B&H. I have no idea how well you demand of your display solution, but it sounds like lamp lifetime is above everything else in terms of lamp quality, how said lamp will change over time (and it will), how it works with the projector's light-engine compared to other solutions, etc.

So, have you actually seen any/all of these projectors in person? If not, then deciding on the cheaper lamp solution (longer running lamp) may present to you a worse case scenario in the form of a bad image. Good luck!

[Johnny-Drama]

I am having the worst time deciding. It's pretty well down to the 8100 vs HC3800 because of price issues. I haven't demoed these projectors but I'm worried about rainbow effecting on the Mits because it's DLP but the 8100 is monstrous for the size of my room. I've never seen rainbow effecting before but I hear it's super annoying but I also hear some people don't ever notice it.

There's a sale in Canada right now for the Mits HC3800 that comes with a 35FT HDMI cable, a ceiling mount and of course, you can get the free replacement bulb for $1790 CAN which is only $120 more than the Epson but you get all the other goodies.

I was settled on the Epson but then I saw more of this deal and was reading more but there's just so much info out there and it's becoming overload. Also, the bulb replacement expires at the end of the month so I have ot make a choice quick. Let me know what you decide and if others have any thoughts, do share. I think I'm leaning towards the HC3800 just because it's a sweet deal.

[Trogdor2010]

Other than the weird warranty and slightly less bright, the Panasonic AE4000 is an enitrely different league of projector compared to the Mitsubishi and Epson projectors you've mentioned, and it's price is highly competitive, only a few hundred away to get it from the other projectors. I actually regreted getting my infocus projector (It cost $1200, but I would have saved it if I knew about the prices) because of what the Panasonic offered. The other 1080p projectors you've mentioned are very good performers for their prices, actually consider them if budget is an issue, but not only you get features that even higher end projectors lack, you get performance that is difficult to believe for it's price.

Of course considering the extra bulb the Mitsubishi offers, I would still consider the Panasonic, but I won't discourage you from the mitsubishi, but you might consider how much time you are using it. If you are not taking care of the projector (Not vacuuming it, shutting it down without letting it cool, using it casually) The bulb expectancy that is rated will not live up to it. Also bulbs tend to degrade after around a 1000 hours of use, which in many cases lose half of it's brightness.

[GTP]

The 3800 is available for a lot less money at http://theprojectorplace.com/[/url] or Tiger Direct with 15% cash back and 30 day return. The best way to decide on these is see them for your self. I prefer DLP's pop and sharpness over the blacker levels of some LCD PJ's for instance. It's a very small percentage that are afected by rainbows on DLP....and this problem is over dramatized on the net. The Epsons, and about every other pj have problems of there own.

[Jim L]

This projector also has:

• superior optics
• much greater pixel density (no pixels visible)
• silent fan
• excellent blacks and contrast
• very smooth film-like image
• panel alignment feature
• sealed light path (no dust blobs)

I was considering the others myself, but I'm glad I went with the Sony.

It does have a higher MSRP ($2999) but I got mine from Best Buy for $2639 using the 12% off coupon.

Granted, it does not have the motorized focus/zoom. But I would rather do this manually and have the $ go into higher quality optics and image processing. The BRAVIA processing is superior to my Panasonic plasma.