So I was talking to a few friends today about my cinema setup at home and a lot of them were saying that they would love to do the same, but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg. This got me thinking, and a quick browse around the Internet quickly revealed that you no longer have to spend big to get the cinema experience at home. Only a couple of years ago High Def projectors were over £1000 for starters and this for many was too much, especially as the recommendation would be to only use this for the likes of sports, movies and gaming. Believe you me Pat Butcher on a 9ft screen isn’t pretty.

So how about the Optoma HD65,  which is a 720p capable projector for under £400.  Now just because this is cheap in money terms don’t think that you are getting a sub-standard projector. Depending on throw distance you could achieve a screen size of up to 7.6m (diagonal) which is more than enough for even the most cinema hungry person. You also get a host of connectivity options, including HDMI 1.3 (that’s the latest standard) which is a  fantastic addition for a sub £500 projector.

Bulb life is also rated at 3000 hours which is an important factor when considering a projector, especially if you, like me, are putting in a number of hours per week in front of the screen. Given it’s lumens rating as well (1600) you could also expect to get away with watching content via this system, in a reasonably lit room, again another consideration when choosing a projector.

So now you perhaps have no excuse for bringing the cinema experience home. And of course the likes of GTA IV look fantastic on a large screen. So what you waiting for?

Posted on April 30th, 2008 by nigel