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

Got one of these, but I really didn't know much about them at first. I wanted to buy a huge HDTV cause I love watching sports and playing PS3. Well, I went into Best Buy to buy a Mitsubishi 82in DLP. The cost of that tv was about $4500 plus an extra $1000 for a stand. I had the money to spend though. Then, the guy there took me in the theater room and showed me a Mitsubishi HC6500 on a 92in Projector Screen. It looked amazing and the quality was better when we compared the two, the DLP TV had nothing on the projector. Then, I went home and did some research and found that the Panasonic AE3000 was a better projector and I got an amazing deal on it with a 106 in screen. The total price came out to $2500 compared to $5500 for the 82in DLP and stand. So I bought theater seats with the money I saved. The projector setting was almost perfect, no adjustments really needed to be made. Blu Rays looked great, and the 1080P PS3 games are amazing. NBA 2K10 looks so amazing on a 106in screen and the game is in 1080P. I watched the Dark Knight and the new Wolverine movie on the projector as soon as it came and I thought I was on the movie set it looked so live. Sunday football puts you in the stadium and NBA games makes it feel like you are courtside. With my new theater seats, I am sitting in the luxury box. Why buy a 60in for $2500 when you can get a movie theater in your home for the same price.

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.
===============

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.

I saw this projector last night at friend house, words are not enough how to discribe this projector, we tried all sort of dvd's and blue ray, all i can say is wow, last year i unstall the 2000, but this one is much better in picture quality, i tried several one's, DLP, LCD but the 3000 is something great, you dont have to be in total darkness to see the quality of picture, there were some lights around and picture was amazing.

So I am overseas military and I bought this projector to work on my PS3 and XBOX because there isn't really anything else to do in your off time out here. This is the greatest purchase i've made. It's every bit better then any tv/projector i've ever owned

The clarity is second to none, I watched the Fifth Element the other day and it was amazing.

I would recommend this projector at any price, but 2500 is cheaper then any other projectors that are not even as good. Just compare the specs and the contrast ratio and you'll be sold.

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.