Posted: 6/4/2016 10:56:20 PM EDT
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My wife is interested in having back yard movie nights, projecting the movies on a sheet hanging on the wall. We don't really know where to begin and have a limited budget. What's the best option for something around $150-200? It would be preferable if it could hook up to a blu-ray player or an i-Device.
Any suggestions? |
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Quoted:
You'll have to expand your budget to get a projector that is worth a damn about 750$ to get one with a decent resolution This is really the best answer. It is worth saying that a lot of projectors have pretty expensive bulbs. A lot of the epson ones in that above range have a bulb cost of around 100 bucks(vs 200 or more). Anyway when looking at projectors you need to look at the native resolution. The really cheap ones are going to be like 800x600 resolution and look like crap for a lot of things. At very least you want a 720p one but really the 1080p ones have come down enough where they are the best option in most cases. |
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Picked this up for $420. I mounted it to a camera tripod and project onto a wall--it works great. It's my first projector so maybe I just don't know any better.
http://www.amazon.com/Optoma-ML750-Portable-Projector-Enabled/dp/B00GGGQHG8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465111913&sr=8-1&keywords=ML750 |
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Quoted:
This is really the best answer. It is worth saying that a lot of projectors have pretty expensive bulbs. A lot of the epson ones in that above range have a bulb cost of around 100 bucks(vs 200 or more). Anyway when looking at projectors you need to look at the native resolution. The really cheap ones are going to be like 800x600 resolution and look like crap for a lot of things. At very least you want a 720p one but really the 1080p ones have come down enough where they are the best option in most cases. Quoted:
Quoted:
You'll have to expand your budget to get a projector that is worth a damn about 750$ to get one with a decent resolution This is really the best answer. It is worth saying that a lot of projectors have pretty expensive bulbs. A lot of the epson ones in that above range have a bulb cost of around 100 bucks(vs 200 or more). Anyway when looking at projectors you need to look at the native resolution. The really cheap ones are going to be like 800x600 resolution and look like crap for a lot of things. At very least you want a 720p one but really the 1080p ones have come down enough where they are the best option in most cases. Well, again, it'll be shot on a sheet hanging on a brick wall outside with family jabbering and doing whatever around it. I'm not looking for HD quality projection so I can see the grass on a ball field. Honestly, this will be used probably once a month or so during the summer and warmer spring/fall months and then stored through the cold months. I can't justify much more than the budget we have now to have it sitting in a box in the garage. |
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OP: I'm not a purist. I get what you are going for. I bought a projector off of EBay knowing it would be outside, subject to the environment (tiki torches, fire pit, MO humidity) and didn't want to wreck a high end projector. As stated, bulbs can be extremely expensive. I bought a blow up screen from Target on line ($350) and a cheap set of speakers. My kids and their friends LOVE IT. Resolution is shit: Guess what? Kids don't care! We even used it during the NHL playoffs on the side of my house. It was a blast. Don't overthink it. |
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If you want to be able to stream from a tablet, wirelessly, make sure you get a projector, that supports what you are trying to do. The projector, we bought would only let you project what you could "run" through their proprietary app, instead of what you were "seeing on your tablet's screen. |
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Great idea.
My kids used to invite friends over on a warm summer night and project movies on a wall next to the pool. They would float around in the pool or camp on patio furniture and stay up late. They used a old Epson projector that my wife borrowed home from work......I don’t think that projector would be very expensive. The resolution was not great but it was certainly acceptable and the kids had a great time. They streamed content off a computer and used a boombox for sound. 
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Quoted:
Well, again, it'll be shot on a sheet hanging on a brick wall outside with family jabbering and doing whatever around it. I'm not looking for HD quality projection so I can see the grass on a ball field. Honestly, this will be used probably once a month or so during the summer and warmer spring/fall months and then stored through the cold months. I can't justify much more than the budget we have now to have it sitting in a box in the garage. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
You'll have to expand your budget to get a projector that is worth a damn about 750$ to get one with a decent resolution This is really the best answer. It is worth saying that a lot of projectors have pretty expensive bulbs. A lot of the epson ones in that above range have a bulb cost of around 100 bucks(vs 200 or more). Anyway when looking at projectors you need to look at the native resolution. The really cheap ones are going to be like 800x600 resolution and look like crap for a lot of things. At very least you want a 720p one but really the 1080p ones have come down enough where they are the best option in most cases. Well, again, it'll be shot on a sheet hanging on a brick wall outside with family jabbering and doing whatever around it. I'm not looking for HD quality projection so I can see the grass on a ball field. Honestly, this will be used probably once a month or so during the summer and warmer spring/fall months and then stored through the cold months. I can't justify much more than the budget we have now to have it sitting in a box in the garage. Sheets don't reflect well. |
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I'll repeat some of the above.
- Shower curtain is best. - Pay up a bit more ~$500 for the projector. I would be more concerned about lumens rather than resolution. - Remember to get some speakers too. You don't need subs and surround (yet) but you need hear the dialog over the dogs and pool noise and jets flying by... I have had 16.2 surround sound in the backyard so it sounds good without blasting too much up in the front. I have been doing this for years at my place and it makes a great date night, family event, or just watching Fox News while floating in the pool after work. |
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Get the highest lumens you can for what you want to pay. It could be 4K all day but if its low lumens it won't really matter.
That being said, I've used the $499.99 Epson that Best Buy has (720 with 3000 lumens) for the very thing you're looking to do and it has worked out great. |