Need help picking first projector (College student, Max price $1000)

[booty900]

So I'm thinking about buying a projector for my room this year. What is a good projector for a good price? Also do I need a screen or would a white wall work? Just looking for some general advice on this topic. Thanks

[eNoize]

First thoughts are towards the Optoma HD20. Excellent little machine with beautiful 1080p picture and, in my opinion, one of the very best entry level projectors for under a grand. You can get it with free shipping through several sites. Or my recommendation, shop through VisualApex.com. They have some of the best prices and customer service in my experience.

As for screens, unless you want to take the time to paint your wall, I wouldn't bother using it as your screen. If you want to save the money, that's fine; it'll still work and give you a nice picture, but . . . Personally, you're better off with a simple manual pulldown screen from monoprice.com, but that's just me. Being a college student right now, the wall will probably suffice, allowing you to save money for something better later down the line.

[booty900]

The room it is gonna be in is 16'x10'. I'm thinking of putting it behind a couch on a self. How loud does it get? Will it be annoying during movies?

[booty900]

Also is there any opinions on Elite Screens? I'm looking at this one. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004O9TEJG

[eNoize]

Unless the projector is sitting directly above your head by only a foot, then you shouldn't hear it while watching a movie and the projector set to Eco-Mode. Above and behind the couch should be fine. Read this review for more detailed info.

And Elite screens make very nice screens for the price. You should be happy with it. Also, keep in mind the diagonal size relative to your seating distance and the width size relative to overall size of the wall, leaving enough space your speaker configuration. An 80" screen means you want to be sitting at around 9' away for optimum viewing.

[FreyTheater3D]

The room it is gonna be in is 16'x10'. I'm thinking of putting it behind a couch on a self. How loud does it get? Will it be annoying during movies?

I second the recommendation for an Optoma HD20, I owned one for 3 1/2 years, which I purchased at VisualApex when they were first released. I just sold my HD20 back in March, with only 1250 hours on the bulb, for $500... I had just upgraded to an Epson 3D projector for my dedicated theater room. So, you may be able to find a used one with low hours on the bulb at a good price if you don't want to spend full price for a new one, which is around $850 now??

One thing, you'll definitely need to project across the wider direction of the room if you want any decent screen size over 80" diagonal - using the 10' width of the room will only allow a projection distance of about 8.5', which will give you a very small screen that may not even be focusable - not sure what the minimum projection distance is wiothout looking at a projection calculator online. You'll want the projector to have a throw distance of 12-14 feet to work with properly...

[booty900]

Ya the distance from the projector to the screen is gonna be about 13 feet