I wish everybody could relax a bit and not panic every time someone posts a horror story about some projector issue. EVERY piece of technology out there has issues, especially when manufactures are pushing the envelope of price and performance for market share. For every horror story, there are probably as many, or more, users like me that have had pretty good luck. The difference is nobody bothers to post when things are going OK. If all the rumors and horror stories were widespread and true, with all the lawyers in the US, I think we'd be knee-deep in class-action suits by now. If LCD, DLP, or CRT projectors were used for critical applications like medical, NASA, military, etc. you can bet they would be much more reliable at a commensurate high cost. Today, LCD & DLP pj's use various types of intensely bright lamps that produce prodigious amounts of heat. It's a challenge to make the filters, panels, and optical coatings survive the intense heat and light and still remain affordable. Projectors are evolving at a very fast pace. Manufacturers aren't totally stupid; they know how troublesome current designs can sometimes be. I'm confident they will switch to LED powered light sources ASAP to avoid the problems inherent in today’s projector lamps. Maybe I'm naive, but I'm optimistic that in a few years we'll see cheap high definition LED powered projectors that will be able to burn your retinas and last 50,000+ hours. Like PC's, they'll eventually be obsolete long pefore they are worn out... Perhaps I've been lucky, but I still use my 8 year old Sony VPL-W00Q, the first affordable native 16:9 (1068x480) LCD projector. It has 9,972 hours on it as of today, and still functions as well as such an old design can. It has no dead or stuck pixels. (I replaced the blue polarizer three years ago due to inherent poor cooling in this unit. The contrast is quite poor by today's standards. The fan is LOUD (and still doesn't cool the unit very well). Lamps last about 1700 hours vs. Sony 3000 hour claims.) Starting back in 1998, I frequented thebigpicturedvd.com, which hosted a forum for VPL-W400Q users. There, the same panicked users breathlessly posted the latest potential catastrophe, most of which never really amounted to much. I saw the same pattern of panic and uncertainty in postings just like I'm seeing here. There, eventually, most users accepted the limitations of the technology, and just enjoyed the projector, warts and all. For those who don’t like risk, don't buy a projector and stick with a direct-view CRT TV. Wait a few years, more reliable projectors will come along. As for me, I’m going to buy a new pj very soon (likely a Sanyo Z4) knowing that I could have problems, but the rewards of a big bright picture outweigh the risk for me…

Over the years, I've heard that some people recommend using projectors at the long end of throw range. I've not tried these, but theories I've heard are: 1. When set to maximum throw, the light is concentrated through the center of the lens, minimizing the effect of lens optics on the image. 2. When used with a high gain / retroreflective type screen (like my Optoma GrayWolf), hot-spotting is supposedly lessened due to the reduced acute angles of the incoming light on the screen. Light scatter is reduced for the same reason, made more important if your room isn't treated to absorb light (Flat black, etc.) 3. When at maximum throw, smaller lens shift is needed to align the image to the screen. Those things have to be balanced against other considerations of projector placement. For example, projector fan noise and heat make some users prefer to have the projector as far away from seating as possible. Projector placement can dictate screen type. Retroreflective high gain screens reflect light directly back at the projector. Preferred seating is as near the projector light path as possible. Reflective screens that reflect the light at the same angle away from the projector as it is from the screen are usually used for ceiling mounting since the vertical angles work out better that way. Low gain / matte screens are forgiving on placement angles. Hopefully others can comment on throw and placement issues they've encountered.