Which HD Projector & Accessories?

[Just Passing]

Any thoughts on which is the best ceiling mountable projector at the moment.?

Are the noise levels acceptable? (i.e. needs to be almost silent).

What is the brightness / contrast like?

Lamp life?

Spare lamps easily available?

Cost of spare lamps?

Cost of mounting bracket?

How many HDMI inputs does it have?

Will it auto power on/off upon detecting a signal?

Appreciate your experiences. Thanks :)

Thinking of Mas.

[Sammy709Sony930]

Optoma HD200x or HD20x 1080p £744 for the former.

3000 hours on normal, 4000 on eco.

2 HDMI ins.

Outstanding mate, I'd recommend. I got mine and a 92" screen from Currys a few weeks back when they had a 6% off code, so around 757 for both.

[sideshowbob]

I've got a Sony VPL-HW15 (http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VPL-HW15&site=biz_en_GB). Paid £1800 inc second lamp (mail in).

Well regarded. 2 HDMI inputs. Unicol mounting bracket was about £150 - I've had the same one for my Panasonic and now two Sony's.

In use it's whisper quiet - that's not chavs at the cinema whispering about the queer looking bloke that's actually watching the movie quiet ... but more a mouse telling another mouse some juicy gossip sort of quiet.

Already had a screen - owl 110" electric job, bought s/h.

[Shingster]

I reckon the Sony VPL-HW projectors will be hard to beat in terms of noise output as they are very quiet indeed, got a VPL-HW10 myself and have no complaints bar the fact you have to manually focus and position the screen, so if you plan to mount it on a high ceiling it becomes a nightmare having to adjust for focal drift, or if you have a screen coming up and down but never at the exact same vertical position. Not really an issue if you're projecting onto a white wall though.

Low lamp mode should be bright enough for most modest rooms and it has a lamp life of around 3000hrs IIRC, I burned through my first lamp in just over a year! (I'm what you'd call a very heavy user! :D)

Price of a lamp again IIRC is around £250 brand new online, but they're the lamps inside the plastic casing that slots inside the projector, you already have a lamp inside with the casing (obviously) so you can actually go to a site like this one (http://www.myprojectorlamps.eu/) and by just the bulb itself for considerably less (£185). It's extremely simple replacing the bulb inside the plastic casing you already have.

[pip&pop]

http://www.projectorreviews.com/ gives some excellent, in depth reviews of various projectors.

Optoma HD20 was pretty good but other options in a similar price bracket seemed better...