Customer Reviews
Excellent projector at a great price! 
2006-09-11
I purchased the Sanyo PLV Z4 LCD projector for my home theater which is in my newly-refinished basement. I had originally considered purchasing a big screen (55"-60") HDTV; however, when I looked in to the prices of the major brands (Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, etc.), I found them to be cost prohibitive.
I switched my focus to an LCD projector, and I began to research the major brands (Optoma, InFocus, NEC, etc.). Two specs came to mind- brightness and contrast ratio. The Sanyo PLV Z4 provides good brightness (1000 lumens-better than some, worse than others) and an excellent contrast ratio (9000:1). This high contrast ratio is what convinced me to purchase the Sanyo PLV Z4. Plus, since I bought it from an authorized vendor ($1600 on Ebay), it came with a free screen and a free replacement lamp (a $500 value).
My Sanyo PLV Z4 is hooked up to a switch box ($60 on Ebay) via a 20' HDMI cable (required for Hi-Def projection), which then splits and goes to my HD cable box and upconverting Oppo DVD player ($200 on Ebay). When I watch my beloved Red Sox lose to the Yankees in HD, you can practically see the tears in the eyes of the Fenway Faithful.
The audio is provided by a Harmon-Kardon AVR 635 receiver and is hooked up to a 5.1 speaker setup with a 10" Velodyne subwoofer. I installed a 106" (diagonal) 2.5 gain glass beaded Da-Lite pull-down screen at the other end of the basement, and it feels like I am at the movies.
Two films my wife and I saw recently, "The Island" and "The Lost City" looked and sounded fantastic on this system. "The Island," which has many special audio and visual effects, looked fantastic. "The Lost City," which is Andy Garcia's ode to pre-Castro Cuba, is filled with the sounds of Cuban jazz. The film looked great on the projection screen, and sounded better through the Harmon-Kardon receiver and vintage JBL speakers.
The Sanyo PLV Z4 provides an excellent picture and has two unique and useful features. First, it has an automatic cover that closes over the lens when the projector is shut down. Second, it has a side-to side picture adjustment to help place the picture just where you want it. This feature was critical when I intalled this projector, since it is mounted to a beam which is offset from the center of the ceiling in my basement.
If you consider the cost of a big screen HDTV ($3000 for a 46" Sony- which is less than 1/2 the size of my screen), add on the home theater ($2000), you are in for $5000. My system's picture is twice the size, and the sound is excellent. Admittedly, setup is a bit complicated, but you only have to do it once, and there is plenty of help available online.
Now, when I want to go to the movies, all I have to do is go downstairs.
Good Projector 2007-07-25
I had a Panasonic PT-AE100 before so I was coming from a 480p projector to 720p. I cannot say how nice it is to have the lens shift and be able to place the projector off center and away. The automatic lens cover is great so you don't have to worry about misplacing a lens cap. There are ports on the projector that fit an air duster tube so you can dust the panels if you should get a speck or bit of dust on a panel. Also, it is quieter than the comparable Epson 720p projector which one of my friends has. On a side note, I have not seen any kind of banding artifacts that I've read other projectors occasionally have. I've had it for over a year and I'm still very happy with it and it's still working like a champ.
I prefer using this to my 42" 1080p LCD - the colors are much better as well as overall picture quality. I use this primarily at home in the living room for Bluray, HD DVD, and HDTV. On occasion, I take it to friends' houses for movies by the pool (I bring a portable projection screen) or video games.
Well worth the money!! 2007-05-31
When my old big screen decided to die, I decided I wanted to go with the full movie theatre experience. After about 2 months of research I decided upon the Sanyo Z4 and what a great purchase it was. I have the projector roughly 14 ft from the 121" HC Screen. The image quality is fantastic using the HDMI connection. I have it hooked up to the DishHD and a upconverting Sony dvd player. If you search around you can find great prices on HDMI cables that aren't the ridiculous price monster ones.
Have the biggest TV of all your friends! 2007-02-03
I've owned a Z4 for about a year now and am still blown away by it. How can you not love a crystal clear 9' across picture? I have about 700 hours on the original bulb and it's still going strong. Here's some things you'll want to consider before buying a front projector, though:
- You MUST be able to control the lighting in the room a front projector is used in. You don't need a dedicated theater room like a basement or anything. I use mine in my living room and the drapes are enough. Just keep in mind that you won't be able to watch in a fully illuminated room like you can with a traditional television set. The darker the room, the better the picture. Ambient light is a huge factor.
- Your picture will only be as good as the signal you put into it. You'll want to invest in component cables(if not better). I used a composite cable at first. There's a huge difference with this big of a picture. Cost didn't sound like a big deal to me, until I realized I'd need 25' of component cable to go from the source to the projector. Painful, but worth it. Also, take a look at your DVD/Cable service. Again, your picture is only as good as it's input.
That said, I love this thing. There're a few concessions to be made with this setup, but I think it's worth it. A screen this size combined with a kicking audio system is truly an experience!
Sanyo wins my business 2006-12-14
I have had this projector for about a year, and as others have mentioned the image is great. It looks far nicer than any of the projectors I saw at local stores (Magnolia HiFi, Fry's, Bestbuy, Circuit City, etc).
The colors are bright and defined, the image is sharp. The lens throw is very handy. The image isn't washed out like older LCD or in store units. The black levels, while not as good as a plasma, are still plenty good.
I use it mainly for Movies and an Xbox 360. The image controls it offers are great, to switch from highly vibrant colors good for Video games and back to more realistic colors for movies.
I project approximately a 100" screen and sit about 10' from the screen. At this point I am just far enough away to not see pixels. Any closer and you can see them however. My room is not completely dark during the day either. I have blackout curtains in the windows, but some light leaks in and my walls are white, so even in moderately lit rooms the projector is plenty bright.
My projector did fry itself recently, but I have a feeling that is more the fault of my homes wiring. After having the projector Warranty repaired by Sanyo, I am thoroughly impressed. They provided me a Fedex tracking number to ship the projector to them next day at their expense. I had *my* projector back and working two days later after replacing the power supply, lamp ballast and a fan. That is one of the fastest turn arounds I've ever seen, second only to warranty support that ships a replacement ahead of receiving the broken unit. I will gladly do and recommend business to any company that treats their customers that well.
There are better projectors out now, but for the money & free replacement lamp this is an exceptional deal still. The only thing I could ask for at this point is 1080p, but 720p is great nonetheless.
Could not ask for more for the price 2006-12-02
This projector is better than I expected. In Hi-Def its amazing and in SD its still very nice. $1600 on amazon including a free replacement lame, I feel like I got a great deal. If you have the right room for a projector (size and light control are critical) its blows the doors off a 50 inch HD set for less money. I've yet to discover the downside after six months of use.
