Best deal recently on these was $649 at Staples, less a 10% coupon B&M + sales tax, if you could find one locally.
This deal is better: Circuit City has free shipping, no sales tax for most of us, and you won't have to go to the store, potentially missing a FW hot deal while you're gone.
The EX70 gets good reviews for image quality, high brightness, long lamp life, and versatility as both a traveling/presentation projector and a 720p home theater unit. Same unit as the Epson Home Cinema 700 (white case, whereas the EX70 is black).
I came very close to picking this up at $585 + tax (~$620). I just couldn't quite pull the trigger. My use is in a dedicated, light-controlled home theater that is not yet finished, so this probably isn't the best choice for me.
There is a good review here on the Home Cinema 700, which is basically the same projector (I think the EX70 has a USB connection, and is black, which may be the only differences):
It looks like they've run through their allotment of discounted units on this deal, but I wanted to follow up with two comments:
1) Fast service from CircuitCity.com. I placed the order on Wednesday morning, the item arrived via UPS this afternoon...and that was with free shipping (shipped from Illinois to Georgia).
2) The projector itself: I set it up to project on a non-descript, semi-gloss painted wall in a modestly darkened room during the evening. The picture is flat out incredible. Was watching Rutgers vs. Pittsburg football on ESPN HD via DirectTV in 720P resolution, and I couldn't take my eyes off the wall. Flipping around and viewing both HD and SD movies and TV programming was equally impressive. Great color, brightness, contrast and resolution. I had it in low power mode, with absolutely no need for the brighter lamp mode. Will try again tomorrow during daylight and update this thread. Projector is also dead simple to use.
For $599 (or even $649 at Staples/Office Depot/etc.), this is an amazing value. Add an entry-level home-theater-in-a-box DVD/audio system, and you have a respectable movie theater in your very own home for under a grand.
Cebu
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 16, 2009 @ 9:49p
Was looking at this, but decided to hold off for the PowerLite 705HD -- ($750msrp, $690 from eBay through Buy.com at the moment w/ bing CashBack). Main difference between the two is that the 705HD otuputs 2500 Lumens.
Also note that refurb EX70's can be had from the Epson Store for $539 w/ free shipping this week.
Cebu said: Was looking at this, but decided to hold off for the PowerLite 705HD -- ($750msrp, $690 from eBay through Buy.com at the moment w/ bing CashBack). Main difference between the two is that the 705HD otuputs 2500 Lumens.
Also note that refurb EX70's can be had from the Epson Store for $539 w/ free shipping this week.
That's a whale of a deal! Looks like they are currently out of stock, but if it comes back in I'd...oh, wait, I already have one.
Tumblebug
New Member
posted: Oct. 29, 2009 @ 7:28p
EX70 - This is a great deal on a great projector. I picked one up for my boy scout troop using the Staples deal and haven't been disappointed. We watched movies, played Xbox in HD, watched recorded HDTV, etc in an outdoor setting and this projector rocked. Detailed review can be found here: http://blog.tumblebug.net/2009/10/gear-epson-ex70-review.html
That's a smokin' deal. I would have gone for the refurb at that price if it was available when I purchased.
I've been living with this projector for about a month now, and I have to say it is outstanding. We've watched a bunch of DirecTV Sunday ticket football games in HD, some basketball, plenty of SD and HD programming, several Blu Ray and regular DVD movies. I've got a PC hooked up to it as well as a Nintentendo Wii. I'm projecting a 112" diagonal image onto a custom, wall-painted screen with a homemade wood and black felt frame. Everyone who sees it has their socks knocked off. One of my neighbors asked what I payed for the projector. When I said $600, he said "WHAT?!? How is that possible? I was sure you were going to say at least $3000."
Bought the refurb EX70 for $495 (thx macrohardt). It arrived today, here are my thoughts -
Excellent pic quality. The Panasonic models' SmoothScreen technology is more film-like IMHO, but this Epson is pretty close.
Brighter overall than the Panny.
Smaller unit, slightly less fan noise.
Built-in SD card reader shows pics straight from the card.
USB DisplayPort controller allows computer to show a display purely over USB (no VGA, DVI or HDMI output necessary).
Zoom is more limited. This is designed as a short throw PJ and from the back shelf in our room, the image is too big for the 108" screen
No lens shift
The short throw and lack of lens shift are big downers for me. Considering the $495 price it's still a very good value, especially for someone who doesn't need those features. The card reader and DisplayPort features are great for those who need it.
The screen size/zoom issue is easily calculated BEFORE purchase. Automated utility that will calculate distance/screen size/focus settings based on specific models cane be found here:
Yes of course, I should have checked the distance calculator. I didn't expect it to have such a short throw because 1) it has a zoom lens that makes short throw unnecessary, 2) it had glowing reviews which didn't mention the short throw issue.
Lack of lens shift and a short throw means many people will have to buy a ceiling mount, incurring extra cost. For those that can live with these issues, it's a great value as I wrote before.
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