I visited Kuanghua over the weekend to look for an LCD projector.
Prices seem to cluster around two levels:
NT$ 40,000 for 800x600 resolution
NT$ 70,000 for 1024x768
I’m leaning towards the Benq PB2120 (NT$ 44,900) and the Benq PB6100 (NT$ 39,900) – both are 800x600. There were Epsons, Panasonics and Sonys. I think Benq was the least expensive.
Can anyone give me any advice on these models or recommend a store/seller here in Taipei?
What’s your application area? PC / presentations only, hometheater or both?
I did a load of research all over the web and I decided on the Panasonic AE300 aka L300U. Now for the same price they have an even better one the AE500! I paid about NT$60,000. Nice picture for the price. I was going to buy one that cost NT$180,000 (Sharp Z10000), but found this one to be almost as good!!! AE500 is now the favored by so many of the people in the Sub-US$3500 projector market.
Check out this site for their Sub-US$3500 Projector forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/
I might sell you my AE300 for a good price as I want to upgrade. If price is a concern, maybe you should take me up on the offer. You could get a perfectly fine projector with hardly any lamp hours on it (you can check yourself) and even test it out before you decide. Let me know what you think.
PC and presentations only.
I would have preferred the higher resolution, because these presentations will primarily be medical screenshots, but I already set low expectations for a price (approx US$ 1,000 only)
If there are any happy or (unhappy) Benq PB6100 owners, please post here 
Hobart, cheers on the offer. I’m PMing you now
Honestly if you will be using this for screenshots presentations and for PC displays, then this projector may not be the best for you. This projector is small and light, but there are smaller ones. This projector is especially good at being used for DVD’s or for HDTV. The picture is beautiful with video, I am not sure how it is with stills. You should get a cheaper projector. Another thing is that my projector is bright, but you might want a brighter one than mine and sacrifice the blacks and the contrast in order to show the stills with some ambiant light when you are giving a presentation.
Here is some info on the Benq 6100. Looks like a good choice.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/benq_pb6100_pb6200.htm
http://www.projectorcentral.com/recommended-home-theater-projectors.htm
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=861195&sortby=&sortorder=
BTW: My projector in the US is also called the Panasonic PT-L300.
Hi Hobart,
This is very kind of you – thank you for posting these links. I’ll look to buy the projector tonight or tomorrow.
Cheers,
gus.
Gus,
The Benq is made in Taiwan. You MUST get a cheaper price. You must get at least the same price as the USA price of US$999 (NT$33,000)!!! Actually it should be cheaper than that, since it is made here! I have a stack of cards of places that I went to buy my projector. Before you buy, check back here! I will post later tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.
BTW: Guanghua is NOT the place to buy a projector. You need to go to the Home Theater area or pick up a PrimeAV magazine from 7/11 or Eslite and call the guys with ads in there.
I called a couple of shops that were in the magazine, but they didn’t sell the BenQ. Maybe because BenQ is a computer brand name and not a HIFI AV name like Sharp, Yamaha, Panasonic etc., it is actually best to buy it in GuangHua market or Nova. Anyway, don’t pay more than US$1,000 as that is the retail price in the USA now and Taiwan should be cheaper.
The part of town that sells AV/HiFi equipment is the East Side of ZhongHua Rd. around KaiFeng Rd. and on other parallel streets to KaiFeng. The whole area is kind of like a mens shopping area as that is also the best area to buy digital cameras (Bo Ai rd and KaiFeng St.). You can find Plasmas, projectors, amplifiers, speakers, video cameras and so on. Often I go there with my wife and she shops on the West side of Chong Hua rd. in HsiMenTing for womens stuff and I shop on my side of street.
Sure the BenQ 6100 is made in Taiwan, but it doesn’t mean it’s cheaper here. First of all you can pick it up in USA for USD999 and there is a USD100 mail-in rebate, so the price is USD899.
However in Taiwan there is a 17% sales tax, which we never see, we only see the 5% (if we want a receipt). Also most Taiwanese companies are dumping in USA…
My company makes a lot of CE products and our prices locally are much higher than those overseas…
If you want to buy the BenQ I recommend you to go to USA and buy it there, but according to BenQ the US version doesn’t come with the bag… for 10k NTD lower price, who cares about the bag?
I was going to buy the 6100 myself, but later I met a guy working for a competitor and I can buy their latest unit for 1000USD end of this month… That’s the best thing in Taiwan, connections… then you can get for employee prices (however BenQ don’t have offers for employees… so no need to look for “friends” there).
You don’t need to go to the USA to buy at USA prices. You can buy Shui Huo or grey market goods. I can’t believe the 6100 is selling for more than US$1000 in Taiwan. Hey PeiAn, have you really tried to buy this one? After 11 years here I think you can negotiate well, do you know about ChungHua Rd AV HiFi area? Do they sell it there? Did you check PrimeAV magazine for someone selling it?
Anyway, I am set on the AE500, going to sell my AE300 but doubt anyone here is in the market for a projector. Will try Taiwan Ebay.
May I ask why you choose the PT-AE500? I hear a lot or reports about faulty units returned to the dealers (in Europe) and the projector seems to miss the lens shifting feature which limits it’s installation options.
The picture quality is said to be very good however.
[quote=“Rascal”]@Hobart
May I ask why you choose the PT-AE500? I hear a lot or reports about faulty units returned to the dealers (in Europe) and the projector seems to miss the lens shifting feature which limits it’s installation options.
The picture quality is said to be very good however.[/quote]
Picture quality was why I purchased it. Too many cheaper projectors have screen door problems. Actually, I have the AE300 now. I still haven’t bought the AE500 yet. As far as lens shift, do you mean zoom or keystone correction?
Yeah, I heard for its price the AE500 beats even some more expensive units.
There is quite some concern about smaller bugs and faults though, and Panasonic in Germany does not seem to support the dealers very well, so most have kicked that product out of their program, selling it only on request.
The Sanyo PLV-Z2 was mentioned as an alternative, though it’s slightly more expensive (EUR300-400).
Lens shifting refers to a feature where you can adjust the projected picture (horizontally and vertically) relative to the position of the projector, it’s different from the zoom or keystone correction.
BTW: if you are interested there is a test of the Panasonic and Sanyo in the April issue of the (UK based) Home Cinema Choice magazine. Picked it up at Kinokunya (or however you spell that …).
Both came out somewhat evenly, the weakness attributed to the Pana were slightly muted colors while the Sanyo was said to suffer from a slight chicken-wire effect. Both were highly rated though, considering the price.
How much is a lamp replacement for the said unit?
I am looking at a projector for possible use as home theater and pc use for comfort of large screens, but $$$ are somewhat limited! Ha!
Your recommendations are useful.
Kenneth
About the projector prices and other computer goods prices. You will not get USA prices here as a previous post mentioned due to the dumping that Taiwan is involved in when it comes to IT goods. I own a medium sized computer export business which has been running for 20 years and the retail market here is definately noticeable more expensive here due to taxes and lack of volume sales as compared to the US. To set all this straight, I just bought a PB6100 which btw is not an LCD but a DLP Projector, (amazing for home theater at 120 inches for the price), and I bought it direct from BenQ itself as I have many established ties since we happen to distribute some of their products worldwide. My cost was $36,000. If you find it selling for a retail price for less than $36,000, I’ll personally buy the projector for you. And $36,000 is equivalent to $1100 while it can be had in the states for $900. Just because it’s made here does not mean it’s going to be cheaper here.
Cheers.