Home > Consumer Reviews > PT-AE3000U LCD 1080P Proj 60K:1 1600 Lumens HDmi/component/svid

UPDATE NOV 14, 2009.
I have been using this projector for over 1/2 a year. I would not hesitate to buy it again.
DO strain relieve your cables to protect the connector board assrmbly.
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First, the negatives:
It does not have a 12v screen trigger (important if you have a motor driven screen). Odd ommission.
It is 1600 lumen - the room DOES have to be darkened for good viewing.

Positives over the competition:
30 degree digital keystone correction
Individual horizontal and manual lens offset - can be 100% above or below the scree and also even with the left or right side and still center picture in the frame (that means you do not have to line the projector and screen on centerlines.) Keysone adjustment will allow tweaking. You do need to be level, though, or get a mount that allows horizontal tilt.
Menus are intuative and vast. There is a lot you can do in setting up. Or nothing if you wish.
Remote is simple and works well when you point it at the screen (>30 ft range)
Very consistent screen brightness.
Histogram setup capability (not for the meek...)
QUIET! Cannot overstate this. MY chair is seven feet directly below the projector and you have to strain to hear the fan.
No noticeable ozone production - cheaper, higher wattage can produce noticebale O3 with these strong UV lamps. This unit has a well shielded lamp assembly. Only 160 watts. Uses less enegery than a plasma TV.

Recommendations:
1) USE ONLY CAT 2 CERTIFIED HDMI cable. Do not be fooled by Class 2 - that is an electrical code certification that designates the toxicity of fumes in a fire (a good thing), but has nothin to do with performance. CAT 2 is certifed for 340 mhz and can carry a signal 50ft. Otherwise use a repeater.
2) Don't buy a spare a bulb. Wait until you really need to (ie when it stsrts ahowing degradation at 1800 - 2000 hours.) An OEM bulb from a dealer is warranted for 30-90 days after purchase, not service. These things do have an infant mortality of a couple of percent. You may be buying a $350 lamp that fails in 20 hours and you cannot get warranty, because it's been sitting on a shelf for two years.
3) mount to joists or a stringer board affixed to adjacent joist. This thing is heavy.
4) get the Peerless mount sold here on Amazon - amazingly good mount! If you need extension get a 1 1/2 to 1 1/4 pipe adapter a 1 1/4 floor flange and som e 1 1/14 pipe, paint it and hange it - a lot cheaper and heavier duty that the Peerless accessory. Black Precision Gear Projector Mount (PRG-UNV)

Thanks for reading my review.

This is a fantastic projector: 1080p, smooth, bright, quiet... but huge, like the size of a laptop bag. I got it to replace a Panasonic AE500-U that was 4 years old, the 3000 is about three times the size of that projector. If it's to be ceiling mounted, that won't be a big deal, but I had my 500 mounted in a hush box with plenty of space around it. The 3000 won't even fit in the box! (The lens on the 3000 is much bigger than the lens on the 500, making photos misleading--see my comparison pic in the customer-added photos.) The lens shift feature is great but a little clunky (it doesn't allow adjustment in fine increments). Likewise, the electric zoom and focus have a weird lag-then-leap way of moving that makes it difficult to adjust precisely.

However, once you get these annoyances out of the way, the 3000 provides an incredibly smooth, bright picture with very quiet fan noise and great picture adjustment functions.

I looked at almost every projector that is comparable to this Panasonic. I spent nearly 6 months researching every bit. I finally decided on the PT-AE3000 and I wouldn't go back in a second.

I am coming back for an edit after about 50 hours of screen time on this projector. I have been comparing many movies that I own to their Blu-ray counterparts and I will tell you that this projector still rocks! Reasonable 1080p that blows the doors off of most of the other projectors with price tags of 2 to 3 times this one. Don't buy anything else...

this is a fantastic proj. right out of the box but with a few minor adjustments it is almost perfect.the cinema modes with a da-lite hipower screen with everything set on eco mode is plenty bright enough to satisfy anyone even with the lights on it is very watchable.i highly suggest the high power screen if you can manage to set it up with what it needs which is the light path as center of the screen and the proj lens as close to your head as possible.you will be completely satisfied.
best proj out there for the money without a doubt

Well balanced bright film like images .I have a 1.1 gain 2.35:1 115 inch screen and I use it for watching movies primarily. Motorized zoom, lens shift and memory are great features. Good value for money compared to Epson. HD Sports images a little soft, but still very good.