twist - 3:53 pm on Dec 6, 2004 (gmt 0)

How did you mount the projector, twist?

I bought a $80 audio rack from a store and set it on the second to bottom rack. Nothing special. I live in a apartment so ceiling mounting is out of the question but they do sell a ceiling mount, which would be very cool, for about $180 I think.

Assuming Draper being the manufacturer -- did you purchase direct or through a distributor?

I bought my screen through a big name online shop. My suggestion about getting a screen, if you go with a X2, would be to get a high-contrast grey screen. I had no idea how bright the X2 was going to be so I bought a white screen. Using a grey screen will give you darker blacks while losing a little brightness. LCD projectors tend to output less light so if you get a LCD I would suggest a white screen.

Just for reference, you should buy a projector first and get a screen later. I watched mine on just a painted white wall for months before deciding on what screen to get. The bigger your screen the less bright it will be. Depending on how much ambient light is coming into your room you may want to go with a smaller screen, like 80", to make the picture brighter. I wanted to get a 120" (10') screen but my front room is only 18' long and it was a little too big for such a small room. I mounted my retractable screen over my front window, so when I want to watch it I just pull it down and cut off most of the ambient light anyway.

I spent months on the avsforum asking questions before making all my decisions. Some things you might want to know. Fan noise can be a problem, the brighter the projector, most likely, the louder the fan. My X2 is somewhat loud but no louder than the HTPC, I am used to listening to fan hum, being around computers all the time. I think people who get projectors that haven't used computer tend to be put off by the fan noise.

Also want to point out that I bought a bottom of the line $1000 projector and am completely blown away by the picture quality. Watching movies on a rear projector has advantages that people tend not to think about. For example, unlike a regular TV your looking at a reflection of light, as opposed to light being shined into your face. It is much easier on the eyes to watch. There is also zero glare and you can watch from pretty much any angle. The X2 is DLP and doesn't have any of the burn in problems that RP-CRT's and Plasmas have. Bulbs last about 4000 hours, about the same time most TV's start losing their luster, difference is you can just buy a new bulb and it's like you just bought a brand new projector.

Also wanted to mention 'the rainbow effect' on DLP projectors because no doubt you will hear about this. If you are looking for it you will see it but once I bought the DVI cable I didn't even notice it anymore. I am the only one of anybody that has seen my projector that has noticed the rainbow effect, when I tell them they have no idea what I am even talking about. So don't be to put off by people complaining about the rainbow effect.

But please don't just listen to me, lots of kinds of projectors and people have many different preferences. The biggest thing people hate about the X2 is that unlike the X1 it doesn't have a faroudja chip which helps make signals coming through composite and s-video look much better, but I never use those inputs so I had no reason to get a projector with that chip.