Toshiba MT700 R.I.P

Sigh..The Toshiba MT-700 HDMI input has failed on me three times. The picture would go in-n-out. It has also been sent to Toshiba three times and each time they have replaced the main board. Long story short, I am getting a refund. It will take about a month or so til I get my original purchase amount. I have nothing but praise for Toshiba for the way they have handled my projector issues. Fast repair service (with Toshiba paid overnight shipping and as little as three business days total turnaround time), almost 100% no hassle, and standing behind their products.

I have already replaced the MT700 with the Sharp XV-Z2000 from Costco.com (great price + no hassle return policy). With 1080p front projectors coming, there is a good selection of high quality 720p front projectors out there at very reasonable prices. The Sharp was actually the original DLP front projector I had wanted back in Jan 2005 but it's street price at the time was ~$1000 more than the Toshiba. Today the Sharp can be had for 66% off it's Jan 2005 street price. It's really an amazing value. The Sharp is the closest fit for me in terms of resolution, brightness, contrast, offset , throw distance, etc. However, one caveat is that the throw distance is in fact a bit shorter so that at the same distance back, a larger image is projected. The larger image size does not fit my current 92" screen. Ideally a 100" screen is a good fit but they seem to be only available on fixed frame whereas I am looking for a manual pull-down. I'll be swapping out for a 106" Da-Lite Model C High Contrast Matted White screen. I'll also need to adjust the shelf height. Viks is gonna love the fact that I'll be drilling more holes ;-)