Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

Just thinking out loud, probably not going to get one soon but if I DID, wondering how I would set it up. I looked up the specs and most of them weigh about 10 pounds, which doesn't seem like much. Not sure where I would put the projector though- my living room is really too small for a table in the middle to hold it though I could do it if I had to, it would then need to be pointing up at the screen and be adjustable for any geometric distortion. I could mount it to the back wall somehow but I'd be afraid of it falling, plus I'd be sitting right under it and any fan noise would annoy me. Mounting from the ceiling would be nice but not sure if I could do that and not piss off the landlords, at least be able to undo any damage when moving out. Wondering how others do it. Is fan noise even a problem on current projectors?

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

I have some experience with both an expensive 5,000 lumen "pro-sumer" Sanyo 1080p projector and a cheap Vankyo 720p projector in an apartment. I'm not a high-end minded enthusiast, more of a "good enough" type but I used a white vinyl pull-down 90" bedroom blind which was mounted into my ceiling. Doing this helped with flexibility of having a screen anywhere in the apartment while easily rolling-it-up when it's not in use.

As for the projector itself I found using a tri-pod being very handy and flexible as well having the ability to move it around as needed. Most projectors do have a tri-pod-mount-sized hole on the bottom to screw into a typical tri-pod.

For sound, I have a sound bar and a Blu-ray player set-up under the screen and then just run a 25-foot HDMI cable across the floor (or can be tucked behind furniture) which plugs into the projector that sits about 8 feet from the screen.

Surprisingly, I sold the higher-end Sanyo and kept the cheap Vankyo. The Sanyo's 5000 lumens was too bright for a small space making the black tones look washed-out grey. The bulbs were expensive to replace ($200+) and last 2,000-3,000 hours. Being 10 years old I had to replace one of the fans which caused the unit to over-heat. This had to be professionally serviced (ie. lots of $$$).

The Vankyo costs about $130 new, had richer-looking blacks, a LED bulb (good for 50,000 hours), it's smaller and requires basically no maintenance. The fan was more noisy than the Sanyo and it has to be used in a completely dark room to give you a quality picture but it's low maintenance and less worry that the much better Sanyo unit.

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

I'd rather have one too bright than too dark, as I've heard some projectors can't match the brightness of flat panels. I wouldn't be getting a cheap one though, I've seen those at Walmart lately- I'd get a good home theater projector and just have it permanently set up in one place as my only display, with at least a 100-inch screen, biggest that would possibly fit.

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

The 5,000 lumens for the Sanyo projector I had was based on it being designed for large venues such as school auditoriums, churches, lecture halls etc., not for an 8' X 12' apartment bedroom. I could have used a grey screen (as opposed to a white one) which would have improved the washed-out appearance.

One thing I did notice with both projectors is that they made DVDs looks better at 90" projected than they looked on a 40" or 46" 1080p HDTV. I had several DVDs that were plagued with mosquito noise on an HDTV but appeared much cleaner on the projector.

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

I did one years back, a 1080p $700 Optoma. You can't do a "clean" install in an apartment (but who are we really kidding about this being a clean apartment), but you can do it without causing any more damage than hanging a couple pictures. I built a small, lightweight wooden housing to mount the projector mount to; then installed that on the ceiling using two wood screws into a stud. The housing/mount/projector shouldn't weigh more than 15-20 pounds and a stud with two wood screws can handle that easy. For the screen, I built that myself and used a two french cleats to hang it. Again, just a couple screws in each cleat and those were spaced 4-5' apart. Then just run your HDMI and power cables around the room and up the wall to the projector.

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

I agree projector set-ups are not very practical in a regular living space as they require 100" of clear wall space and 8 feet of clear floor space between the screen and the projector. Add in wires running across the floor for speakers (especially 5.1 surround) and it can get rather cumbersome. Most projectors lose visual quality even with ambient light no matter how many lumens it throws-off.

Projectors are really suited to a dedicated room for the purpose of watching movies in the dark, much like a movie theatre. I also find that an HDTV in the living room is a much more social way of spending time with family and friends unlike a projector which is a more formal and solitary viewing experience, sitting in the dark and watching the screen. I wouldn't want to watch the 6:00 news or a sitcom in a dark theatre room.

Since most LCD and DLP projectors have an estimated bulb life, you find yourself very aware of how much you're "wasting". With an HDTV you can leave it on as background noise and not worry how much life of the TV you're using-up.

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

What about the ?

They seem to be an easier solution for apartments

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...607cc159df.jpg

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

I wish stores had those actually on display and working. It's been impossible to shop for this stuff lately. I would need it to at least be watchable with light in the room also- I normally watch things with the lights off anyways but need to have that option. All bulbs have a life so would just always make sure I keep a replacement ready to go, and watch things either the best possible way or not at all, even the news.

Re: Who's got a projector in an apartment?
 

This is a good point. Most of my movie viewing was in the evenings and at night, where I wasn't concerned about ambient light. During the day, with the blinds shut, it wasn't the best viewing...but still watchable for more casual stuff.