Price Paid:  $580.00 from Ebay auction

Summary:
I bought this projector at ebay a few months ago and I am amazed by it picture quality. I am Still using the original bulb. It seems to last for a long time. I am using it on a smallish 66" widescreen because my viewing distance is quite close. I am only about 8 1/2 feet from the screen.

If you're thinking about getting a rear projection set, Don't! It is better to get a 32" - 36" TV for daytime watching and a front projector for nightime movie watching. Rear projection with with no lights can be very fatiguing. Front projection always looks more filmlike and easy on the eyes. And you can use a really large screen that no rear projection can match. For $580 dollars that I got it on Ebay, it is a steal!!!

Strengths:
Overall picture quality
No pixellation
No scan lines
long lamp life
True 16:9 projector
1080i capability

Weaknesses:
Blacks could be better, but this is an lcd projector.

Similar Products Used:
I have seen other projectors from these manufacturers:
Infocus, marantz, and sharp dlp projectors
Runco, Sony, and Vidikron CRT projectors.

Price Paid:  $3500.00

Summary:
In its day the best LCD Widescreen 16:9 projector around. Excellent product, only arguably bettered by the VW10HT and VW11HT later. Stereophile Guide to Home Theater magazine in Spring 1998 gave this projector an AA rating in their Recommended Components.

Slightly soft image with LDs but this is corrected by the razor sharp DVD images especially from my Pioneer Elite DV09 DVD player. NO DEAD PIXELS. SONY in their infinite wisdom actually built two microswitches for each pixel so that for a dead pixel to occur, this would mean that both switches would have to fail. As compared to my other projector the later VW10HT, which already has some pixel failure. I don't know why Sony did not have this switch arrangement for the VW10HT and VW11HT.

As the unit has a unique DELTA pixel arrangement pixelization in the image is almost invisible as compared to typical stripe arrangements which are used in data projectors, and my VW10HT.

The projector has a built in line doubler, the quality of which is incredible. As good as an external line doubler. All video signals are line doubled for amazing resolution. DVD at 480i is already amazing but images from HDTV at 1080i will blow you away with the depth and clarity of the image.

The main problem with the projector is the noise from the cooling fan, this not a problem with action movies but when you watch movies with lot of quiet scenes then you can hear the fan in the background. To improve on the noise level you can place the projector in a custom built box with 12V fans to provide additional ventilation. This helps A LOT, then the projector is really good.

Strengths:
Excellent image, delta pixel arrangement, contrast actually as good if not better than my other projector the SONY VW10ht and also NO DEAD PIXELS which are annoying.

LAMP LIFE 3000 hours as compared to 1000 to 2000 hours for the VW10ht.

Can take HDTV signals at 1080i, got to be seen to be believed.

Weaknesses:
Image at 400 ANSI lumens a little dimmer than the VW10HT, but then compared to CRT projectors at 100-200 ANSI lumens it is much brighter. I'd advise to use a high gain screen. No computer VGA input.

Similar Products Used:
VW10HT, VW11HT, Panasonic AE100 (good cheap projector but pixelization is a problem)

N.B. I have an extra brand new sealed PK-PJ500 bulb if anyone needs one as I don't think I will be needing it. P

Price Paid:  $4995.00 from mail order 3 years a

Summary:
I've been tweaking the VPL-W400Q for 3 years now. The blacks can be vastly improved by a dedicated A/C line, upgraded heavy power cord (preferrably containing silver)with an Audioquest RF clamp on it, silver video component cablels (Monster Silver Video is THE best, as verified by Joe Kane of the Imaging Science Foundation. BNC(RGB)fittings soldered are an improvement over using an RCA-BNC adaptor fitting. Another important setup concern is to align the projector lens perferectly parallel to the center of the screen, and the lens aiming out toward the middle of the screen as Sony indicates.(at least in the top 1/3rd). Do not align the center of the lens with the top of your screen. Sharpness will suffer, so will blacks. Your room should be pitch black. get rid of all light. If that is not practical, then the ceiling, walls and floor around the screen, 4-6 ft. in all directions, should be of a very dark color so as not to reflect light back onto the screen thereby washing the picture out. This makes a huge difference. Last but not least, unless you know how to enter the service sub-menu and are trained to adjust the bias and gain on the 3 LCD panels you will never see what the VPLW400 can do, which is absolutey stunning and much better then even the new VPL11 in black level, brightness and color/grey scale tracking. The VPL400 has a 250 watt bulb, the new VPL11 only a 200 watt. When you adjust the gain in and bias in the service menu, the result is a deeper black level, and 200% brighter image! I've performed the internal recalibrations for several VPLW400 owners and simply astonished them.

Strengths:
Uniform brightness, lack of pixelization, gery scale/color tracking, black level, high lumens once recalibrated, lack of video noise.

Weaknesses:
Noisy fan, not set up right by factory.

Similar Products Used:
Sharp Z9000, Sony VPLW11, Vidikron LCD's,
Ymaha DLP, Seleco CRT (the best, expensive and requires outboard Faroudja for best setup)

Price Paid:  $2800.00 from Medical Video Systems

Summary:
I bought this after lots of research and couldn't be happier. At first I was dissapinted because the image was too soft (couldn't really focus) and the color wasn't too good as faces looked pastel colored. Still, I kept tweaking it and find nice info at the Big Picture forum that helped a lot. I even started 2 threads there focusing on "contrast" and "focus" which based on the feedback seem to help other members at getting the best out of it. Heck, when I compared the stock image with my newly tweaked one, its like having a whole different projector. Blacks seem "blacker" thanks to the improved contrast, color rendition is great and overall the image has a lot more "punch" to it. Its really impressive what can be achive by just going into the service menu and tweaking. I am projecting a 8' wide image with a viewing distance of 11' and it looks great, no screendoor and great detail. I paid $2800 cause I got an extra lamp.
I sincerly recommend it as FP is really what HomeTheater is all about.
Regards

Strengths:
Great picture after tweaking it. Nice color reproduction, resolution and NO screendoor.

Weaknesses:
LCD equals no real blacks but after some tweaking you can get it to be good enough so no big deal.

Similar Products Used:
Sharp LCD, LT150 (DLP).

Price Paid:  $3000.00 from MVS

Summary:
This is a great projector for Home Theater. Before I purchased this unit, I was considering a RPTV and I'm so glad I went the front projection route, there's simply no comparison. Good DVD transfers look great and HDTV is simply stunning. Bottom line, this is still one of the best values in Home Theater.

Strengths:
Great picture, Native 16:9 LCD panels, good internal scaler for plug N Play

Weaknesses:
Blacks are more like charcol grey. Although it's not as big of an issue as many make it out to be.

Similar Products Used:
Various LCD & DLP units