BenQ is an incredibly questionable brand in my opinion and has some significant quality control issues. But, if you don't get a bad product, the product you will have will work well and should be good for you. They definitely have excellent price points which are tough to beat.

The downside, in my opinion, is very questionalbe reliability, and if you have one person who has had good luck, then it means very little for you. As well, these are DLP models, with 2x color wheels, which can produce the rainbow effect (RBE) for some viewers which may not be desirable.

As well, you will have very limited placement flexibility, so you have to be sure it works in your environment.

For brightness, it is ALL about screen size. 5,000 lumens, is more likely 4,000 or less lumens in the real world, and under normal room lighting levels (flourescent classroom levels), you need no less than 50 lumens per square foot of screen space to properly light any screen. A 7.5' x 10' screen would be 75 square feet, and need about 4,000 real lumens minimum. 5,000 should be pretty good.

This is a list of projectors which have at least 5,000 lumens and cost less than $15,000 (MSRP)... You have picked the absolutely cheapest model on this list, and are wondering how good it is.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/projectors.cfm?mfg_id=any&res_id=any&ar=0&td=&is=&bll=5000&bul=any&cll=any&cul=any&wll=any&wul=any&prll=any&prul=15000&an=0&sp_id=0&dvi=-1&trig=1

I would probably take the Sony over it.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sony-VPL-FX41L.htm

Quote (speedy_gonzales on Mar 16, 2009 4:49:42 AM): After checking with your suggested model, Sony, to be honest, it’s beyond our budget. Still thanks for your suggestion.

I would have to say that if your budget affords you a Yugo, then there is little need to ask others opinions of things. You don't have choices, options, or alternatives with a zero budget.

If you have $5,000 for a new car, then you get the one car that you can afford, and asking if it is good doesn't matter if you are getting a new car and you have $5,000 to spend.

BenQ has decent customer service/warranty, but they have poor quality control. You could be very happy, or very unhappy with your purchse, but it is the only one which meets those specs at that price. Considering that your budget is that price, then that's what you get, and if it turns out to cause you tons of headaches... Then you will live with those headaches, because that's what your budget allowed. Likewise, if it works excellently, you smile because things worked out well for you.

I can only say that within the industry, BenQ has a pretty poor reputation, and mostly it deals with poor quality control on their products.