Budget 1080p PJs on Amazon

[OnaRoll]

Looking to spend maybe £300-£400 or a bit more for something decent that I can live with in the future but it's a minefield as it's an area I'm not familiar with.

It's for a rural house that i'm working on and I've stayed over the odd night so some Netflix/Amazon Prime in the evenings when the kids are over for a bit. I can't have a TV there due to not wanting to leave anything around when I'm not there.

I've only a bare white wall to project onto.

[Sparky137]

Before considering the make/model of projector you need to ascertain which ones will actually work in the space that you have (throw distance vs image size). Pick a couple and run them through this: https://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calcul... and you will get an idea as to what is achievable.

[C&C]

Sparky137 said:

Before considering the make/model of projector you need to ascertain which ones will actually work in the space that you have (throw distance vs image size). Pick a couple and run them through this: https://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calcul... and you will get an idea as to what is achievable.

Definitely follow this advice.

I went through the whole process of researching projectors around 12 months ago as I wanted to get my first PJ. The room it was to go in was around 12 foot wide, and I wanted to project across the room to a screen just in front of the wall. There were very few projectors that were suitable as the vast majority need to be a lot more than this distance away from the screen/wall to project a decent sized image.

I ended up having to look specifically for "short throw" projectors, of which there aren't that many.

There are "ultra short throw" ones that only need to be under 50cm away from the wall, but they have some limitations in that they really show up imperfections in the screen, so may not look great on a white wall.

I did eventually find a solution, which is a BenQ W1210ST short throw gaming projector. This is now mounted on the ceiling about 6 feet away from the screen, and projects an image size equivalent to a 110" screen. It's 1080p and to be honest, the picture really is excellent. It also has a low reaction time, so you can play games on it too. It may be a bit outside your budget - currently £780 on Amazon. I was lucky enough to get it when it was reduced to £680 for a week.

Obviously, there are likely to be others, but as has been pointed out above, your first step is to decide how big an image you want, and how far away you can position the projector, which will then dictate which models will meet your requirements.

Good luck!

[OnaRoll]

Yes I understand the throw ratios all good info thanks. I'm aware of the keystone adjustment too.

I was under the impression that most newer PJs would all have this and zoom too. Looks like my suggested budget isn't going to go too far.

I'm off the opinion now that if I were to buy something decent I wouldn't bother with a TV in future. I only watch the odd Netflix or amazon prime show. So big screen viewing it is.

Gaming PJ. Good call, I'll research that more. What's the onboard speakers like?

[Shuvi McTupya]

OnaRoll said:

Gaming PJ. Good call, I'll research that more. What's the onboard speakers like?

I currently have my eye out for a projector too, I am looking at the used market as i figure a decent projector from 8yrs ago at a couple of hundred quid is probably still a good quality thing.

As far as the onboard speaker goes, That isnt even a consideration as I just assume i would be running the audio out to a powered soundbar at the very least!

Added: With stuff like this floating about..audio is easy! https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/23765825...

Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Saturday 26th October 14:24

[C&C]

OnaRoll said:

Gaming PJ. Good call, I'll research that more. What's the onboard speakers like?

Onboard speakers - they are very good as far as onboard speakers go (compared to others I've heard), but onboard speakers are intrinsically limited due to their size and location (in the PJ).

I never use them, as I always put the audio through a decent 5.1 surround system.

[OnaRoll]

Thanks for the tips.

Don't want to much lying about the place as it's unoccupied and mostly a building site so onboard audio will have to do for now.

I've decided to up the budget so I'm going to wait and see if there are any black Friday deals going on.

[Shuvi McTupya]

OnaRoll said:

Thanks for the tips.

Don't want to much lying about the place as it's unoccupied and mostly a building site so onboard audio will have to do for now.

I've decided to up the budget so I'm going to wait and see if there are any black Friday deals going on.

I suspect you could find a used 720p projector with a built in speaker for £100 that you could pretty much treat as a disposable item if it is just for occasional use/experimentation.

Get a nice shiny new one when it wont be used in a building site..