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View of DIY mounted Sanyo PLV-Z7000 projector.
Basketball game projected onto Elite Manual screen with the Sanyo PLV-Z7000 projector.
View of Elite Manual pull-down screen concealed with a valance.
Tim Anderson
Sanyo PLV-Z700 owner since January 2009
"After borrowing a Sanyo projector and screen twice for my annual NCAA Men's Final Four Party (this year was #10) I knew I had to have my own. I also knew I was on a tight budget. I called the Projector People and was lucky enough to have Sarah Buss-Fonk answer (though from the comments I've read from other customers, great service is the rule and not the exception with everyone at the Projector People).
I live in a small (1800 sq ft) old (85 years) house and so my options for placement of a projector and screen were limited to one room: the living room. The room is about 14 x 20. Sarah advised me of my options for a projector that would project an image 20 feet to the screen within my screen width limitations and my price range. I purchased the Sanyo PLV2700 projector, an ELIM100UWH screen and a 25' Extreme HDMI cable. Total price with shipping was just under $2,000. The 3 items arrived exactly when Sarah said they would.
Setup was a breeze. I've been tinkering with audio equipment for 40+ years (who among you remembers HeathKits and DynaKits?!), so getting this going presented no special challenges. And, when all else fails, read the book! Really, a beginner could set this up with little to no help.
To minimize the visual impact of this system in my living room (and on my marriage), I made a valance to mount in front of the screen and painted it the same color as the walls. It doesn't exactly make the screen disappear, but it's not too obtrusive. The shelf that the projector sits on is stained and varnished to match the woodwork in the room. Running the cables inside the walls wasn't a realistic option, so I just bundled them neatly with zip ties and ran them along a door frame up to the projector.
I had an older (something like 12 years) Sony Pro Logic 5.1 AV receiver that I had intended to use for the audio, but the rear channels had gone bad. Because of budget constraints, I bought Sony's entry-level 5.1 AV receiver for around $200 and Sony's cheapest subwoofer for another $95 at my local Best Buy. The other speakers are ones I've built over the years from kits purchased from Gold Sound in Colorado. It's hardly audiophile sound, but is quite adequate for the time being. For TV tuning, I use the DVR that we got as part of our cable subscription. A Sony upconvert DVD player is making do until I spring for Blu-Ray. I also connect my laptop to the projector via S-video cable for slide shows. The image quality of slides is mediocre at best, but it's a fun and convenient way to look at photos with friends.
I spent about another 10 bucks to buy some sheets of 1/4" thick black form board, which I cut to fit the windows of the room. Not very elegant, but cheap and very effective for darkening the room.
All in all, I couldn't be happier with this setup. If you don't count the cost of my old speakers that I'm re-using, my total investment is about $2,200."
