Customer Reviews

Panasonic PT-AE700U High-Definition Home Cinema LCD Projector

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Don't be fooled by the low price of this projector. Until DLP HD+ Projectors drop to this price range there is nothing that can come close to beating this projectors value for money. The new breed of LCD projectors have come a long way in displaying BLACK close to true black with high contrast ratios.

I shopped around a lot for projectors and seen projectors from Runoco, Sony, Sim, Marantz, etc which vary in price from 3k to well over 15K. I wouldn't say this Panasonic is the best but for the price I am paying, I am really not losing much of quality gain. I project the picture on 100" screen from Carada (another value/quality company) and it did nothing less than 'WOW' many of my friends who watched movies on it.

The picture looks very bright and sharp and colors are very vivid. The build quality of the projector is also excellent. You will not go wrong with this purchase. With little tweaking, the picture quality can be improved a lot. You can find intructions to do that at avsforums another well known Home Theater forums. But, please make sure you know what you are doing before you attempt the tweaking.

This was my first projector. I researched a lot of different models and finally decided on this one because on paper it looked to give the most bang for the buck (my price range was $2000-$3000). I also wanted native 16:9.
After owning it for over a month, I'm quite happy with it. It has none of the flaws usually associated with LCD projectors. There is no "screen door" effect at all, and the black levels are very impressive.
I have the unit mounted to the ceiling (purchased RPA mount for $190) and project onto a 120" gray screen.
One feature that helped clenched the deal for me is the 2x zoom lens - I have the projector situated less than 14 feet from a 10-foot diagonal screen.
I had a little trouble with the mount I purchased, but the projector itself is incredibly easy to setup and operate. The joystick next to the lens lets you to control the horizontal and vertical shift without tilting or moving the whole unit. Remote is back-lit. Menus allow plenty of tweaking. You can store user-defined settings or use factory presets (like cinema, natural, dynamic, etc.).
I have the projector in a dedicated home theater room with no windows and keep the lights turned off while it's running. If I had to deal with ambient light though, I probably would have chosen a brighter projector since this one is only 1000 lumens.
I mostly watch DVDs on this, but also use it to watch cable and play video games - playing Halo 2 on this is an awesome experience!

If you want to setup a really super home theatre system for a reasonable price this is a great place to start. I have had this unit for about a week and have not once turned on my 42" plasma TV to watch a show. The picture quality is excellent whether you are watching the game of the week in HD or your favorite movie on DVD or HDTV. Placement of your projector is made easy by the front adjustment lens controls. This unit is ideal for projection from a bookcase against a rear wall. The room should have a modest amount of light control for decent viewing. The preprogramed projection modes seem to compensate for most media and room viewing conditions very nicely. I have installed an 80x60 electric ceiling mounted flat white screen, which matches well with this projector for light control and off angle viewing. I cannot think of a thing they could do to make this project better except maybe to boost the lamp power another 200 to 400 lumens for larger brighter rooms. But the current 1000 lumens are close to ideal for home theatre with a 92" diagonal viewed image. Picture quality is nothing short of excellent. This projector is a replacement for an NEC 156 which I have and will continue to use for PowerPoint slides. The NEC has never been the greatest video projector due to lack of contrast and scaling. However, the Panasonic AE700u's proprietary film imaging system consisting of dynamic iris, user controllable color management, smooth screen pixel edge elimination, and progressive cinema scanning with HD-ID is truely amazing, if not breathe taking to watch. A note of caution, the only problem I had was one of cables. I tried using some old video cables to connect this unit initially but had dropped signals and poor image. When connected with good cables (not great ones) this unit came to life. You can spend more and you can spend less but it will be hard to find a better image projector for your home theatre system.

I was happy with this projector for a year, then within two months of the one-year warranty expiring it went quickly downhill. The power supply went bad, which made the projector nothing but a $2000 paperweight. It's a very common problem with this model, judging from all the complaints on home-theater forums. It would power on and almost immediatly shut itself off, then try to restart over and over until the main power switch on the back of the unit got turned off. $400.00 to fix it. Right after that, my lamp went kaput after exactly 800 hours. So much for extending the lamp life to 3000 hours by using it in "low" mode. I hate to think how short the life would have been if I'd have used it in "high."
Unfortunately, I used my worthless Discover card to purchase this projector so I had no buyer assurance or extended warranty like I do with Visa. Way to learn the hard way! Goodbye Discover Card! Panasonic was no help either when I called. They just tried to push me off on their in-bed repair facility in Kansas.
Never again. I'll never buy or recommend Panasonic again after this experience. Beware!

when i decided i wanted a big screen tv i researched for nearly two months and could not find one that satisfied me. As an alternative i started considering a home theatre system using a projector instead. Bang for the buck was paramount. Enter the Panasonic pt-ae700u. After much consideration i decided to wait till i heard some feedback on the net about it. Great reviews and information on DIY screens that seemed almost unbelievably cheap lured me into the purchase. WOW, was i suprised at the picture quality this machine is capable of producing. I found myself scurring to upgrade my DVD player and switching to an HDTV tuner. For approximately $3000.00 you too can have a dedicated HOME THEATRE, Surround sound, DIY screen and all! There are several DIY screen plans available on the net for free...so what are you waiting for... go for it! The Panasonic PT-ae700u is worth every penny!
ENJOY!!!

I have been a proud owner of this projector for a short while over a year. I love the picture this projector creates. Bright, smooth images and the HD is awesome. However, there is a manufacturer's defect in the bulb. My bulb, after only putting 470 hours onto it, exploded last night. I'm finding case after case of this happening to people with this projector. I can only hope panasonic will do the right thing and replace my bulb at no cost. I'm sad to say that I probably won't buy another panasonic projector (and, from the looks of things, I'm going to be back in the marker REAL soon). I think I may go back to sharp, who made my original projector which I loved.

beware of this! you'll be very sad when your bulb prematurely goes "POP".

I purchased the PT-AE700U in early 2005, and have been impressed by everything about it, other than bulb life. This one is on its third bulb--all used at low power and high fan settings.
It is very enjoyable and satisfying to watch on a 12'/4' painted wall "screen". Everyone who has viewed it has been delighted with the HD picture, despite the fact that Blu-Ray is able to display more resolution than the native 720p of this model.
Easy to set up and use--and my feeling is the bulb issue is more related to improper on-off sequences and improper shutdowns. I now have it on an uninterruptible power supply and it is mounted on the ceiling. I have so far exceeded the life of both previous bulbs (the last had about 1000 hours on it before it grew so dim I replaced it).
SO--tbough bulb replacement is expensive, it is well worth watching movies and favorite TV shows on. Otherwise we can use our large LCD flat panel.

Don't buy this uless you want a disposable projector. Worked GREAT for a while, then a blue blob started on the right side of the screen and within 3 months took over the whole screen and it is now useless. Cheaper to replace than to repair the bad panel or polarizer...will go with Sanyo this time

I have owned this projector since May, 2005. The picture is fantastic.
The first movie my family watched was Star Wars episode I. Although a 1000 lumens,
the picture shows up excellent in the dark, and good in low light. But buy it from "Projector People" instead. Ask for Ross. They are not only cheaper than Amazon, but they absolutely back the product if you have a problem. Their Customer Service and Sales teams are excellent and knowledgeable. You can talk to a human being and ask questions and get real honest answers. No hard sell. I recommend this projector to anyone. For $1499, it is a steal. The one thing it could use is an auto focus or a focus from the remote. The Zoom is also manual. But in zoom mode, I can cover my 14x8 foot wall. Now imagine the Superbowl that large and in HDTV. This projector can do that!

Ive owned this projector for over a year now and I love it. The picture is fantastic and colors are perfect. This is the second projector ive owned and the best by far. I was concerned about the picture clarity compared to the dlp projector I previously owned. Soon after installing it I was blown away by the picture quality of this projector. The only thing I would change is to make a few hundred more lumens of brightness. But that can be made up with a more reflective screen. The picture shows up excellent in the dark, and good in afternoon light with the right screen. I use it as a main tv and have it mounted on the celing in my livingroom. With curtains that filter light a little the projector is up to the task for anything. I know two other people who bought one because they loved mine so much. None of us have ever had a problem whatsoever with the projector. One even has over 3500 hours on his original bulb! With hdmi, componnent, s video and composite inputs this projector has the ability to connect to anything. Overall this projector is an excellent value!