Panasonic PT-AE700U Home Cinema Projector - Projectors, Receivers, Speakers — Audioholics Home Theater Reviews and News

Product Details

Description:

The PT-AE700U is the most impressive home cinema projector ever from Panasonic. Compact enough to sit on a bookshelf, it is packed with advanced features designed to bring you a whole new level of home theater enjoyment.

Quick Glance

Native Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (Widescreen), 4:3 (Standard)

Interfaces: VGA Yes

Resolution: 1280 x 720, 1920 x 1080

Projector Type: LCD Projector

Brightness: 1000 lm

Contrast Ratio: 2000:1

Summary

Product Title: Panasonic PT-AE700U Home Cinema Projector

Manufacturer: Panasonic

Power Score: 4.1 | 16 Reviews

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Product Reviews (12)

I love this. I've got it for a...

Strengths: Great picture, great price and virtually no screen door effect. I'm completely satisfied with the set up and ease of use. Forget about a plasma (too small), this is the only REAL home theater.

Weakness: None, really. Occassianal artifacts in fast moving pictures, but this is minor.

I love this. I've got it for a 120" Da-Lite remote controlled electric screen, Yamaha home theater stereo, with 11 Polks speakers all around and a Toshiba upconverting DVD connected via HDMI. I've also hooked it up to my Shuttle PC via VGA connector (still great picture) and HD box provided by my cable provider. The picture quality is great, and greater in HD. I researched projectors for several...
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By woodms1963 - Jun 25, 2005

I did a lot of research before...

Strengths: Brilliant Colors, Long Throw Distance, Very accurate geometry, great price, one type of every connection.

Weakness: Could use more contrast but it is only noticeable when comparing to a CRT.

I did a lot of research before making this purchase and although I prefer the picture of some of the newer DLP projectors, my wife and I both suffer from DLP rainbows and other eye fatigue issues. So, among the LCD projectors at 720p or above, the Panasonic won hands down. The most significant advantage of the Panasonic is the throw distance.
My room is 16' by 23' with 18' ceilings. This made ceiling mounting a very expensive solution so the extra throw distance allowed me to place the projector behind the couch around 18'. Ideal distance according to Projector Central. I do wish it was a little closer to the screen while watching standard definition material due to loss in resolution but is fine for DVD and HD watching.

Setup was straight forward and the auto setting for resolution works flawlessly. After calibration using Digital Video Essentials, I can honestly say that the Panasonic projects some of the most accurate colors I have ever seen from any source. Coupled with a Denon DVD910, the picture is as close to HD as I have ever seen. DirecTV material in HD beats it out but only on live material or special event programs like NG or concerts.

I have a complete wall of windows so light control is advised with this projector but it will tolerate a considerable amount of ambient light. I am using the component input for DVD and HDMI for HD. I can not speak for composite or S video quality.

I bought this unit for $1800 from Projector People after a $200 rebate and free shipping. With a picture that looks beautiful all the way up to 120", it will make all your friends with rear projection wish they had spent half as much for twice the quality and twice the picture size. You will never be able to watch rear projection ever again. You have been warned.

My only wish is that I could go down to a smaller picture size for standard definition programming. Their just is not the signal necessary to blow up a SD picture much larger than 50-60' without serious loss in quality. At 18', I can not get down that small from this distance.

System:
Klipsch RF7,RC7,RS7,RSW15
Denon 3805 AV Receiver
Denon 910 DVD Player
Panasonic AE700u
Sony Wega 27" SD TV
Kenwood CD Player
ProScan VCR

By westcott - May 20, 2005

This is a great product. Got it...

Strengths: Easy to use. Good picture quality. Great black levels for an LCD projector. 1000 Lumens is good for a moderately bright room. Has all the latest connections, including HDMI. And, its very quiet.

Weakness: I haven't used it enough to notice any weaknesses yet. I wish it had a DVI connection however. And adjusting the screen may cause people some problems.

This is a great product. Got it from ProjectorPeople.com, which I highly recommend. They provided excellent service and genuinely cared about my order. About the projector. This is my first HT Projector I've purchased, so I don't have much experience with them. I did spend many months doing research on them. It came down to the Sanyo PZ-3 or the Panasonic AE-700. Both seemed good, and had...
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By Anonymous - Apr 30, 2005

While I'm still exploring all that...

Strengths: Exceptional picture quality, easy to set up, long throw lens, lens shift feature

Weakness: None so far

While I'm still exploring all that this projector is capable of, so far it has been nothing short of amazing. From out of the box to shining onto the wall took ~10 min. HDTV and DVD sources were displayed with phenomenal clarity and punch. The long throw lens (projection distance) and lens shift (projection location) features allow great flexibility for projector placement. While a darkened room...
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By economys - Apr 25, 2005

I only have about 27 hours on my...

Strengths: Exceptional picture quality for any projector, and significantly lower in price than similar projectors. Very flexible in regards to installation with it's throw range and lens shift capabilities.

Weakness: None really. The lens shift toggle was a little stiff, but it only takes minutes to set it up. Some tweaking of the picture with the easy to use menu helped improve the picture quality.

I only have about 27 hours on my projector so far and I have been totally amazed at the picture quality watching DVDs and HDTV. The picture to me actually looks better than my 57" CRT RPTV. I have a light controlled room with a 129" DIY screen and sit about 12 feet from the screen. There is no Screen Door with this projector and also I have not noticed any Vertical Banding, which has been a minor...
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By conehead433 - Mar 29, 2005

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