Best cheap projector for small HT.

i'm with StylinLP, the sony Ruby has made huge advancements but that $1000. bulb is hard to swallow. IT's light output also drops really hard in the first 150 hours based on reports from different users. The 720P chipped machines are OK but the pixel structure is very obvious from my favorite seating position of 9 feet away from a 7 foot wide screen. Most digital users sit where I put my back row of seats.

sony VPL-VW100 bulb life
0 hours - 164 lux - 0% brightness loss
30 hours - 137 lux - 16.46% brightness loss
50 hours - 127 lux - 22.56% brightness loss
70 hours - 127 lux - 22.56% brightness loss (this is not a typo)
*87 hours - 120 lux - 26.83% brightness loss - DVI input
*87 hours - 107 lux - unknown brightness loss - HDMI input
**97 hours - 102 lux - 37.80% brightness loss
150 hours - 91 lux - 44.51% brightness loss

"The life expectancy is 10,000 hours pre tube rated" (Stylinlp 38)

Yeah 10,000 hours is how long the tubes will actually operate. You're talking nothing of actual lasting image quality from the guns!!! After 4000 hours, you're starting to look at a sacrificed, less than pristine image! The Blue/Green Gun's will really need replacing to keep up image quality, and anyone who has a high end CRT setup will tell you that! That said, yes, that's still longer than a digital bulb will last. Still, you need to pay someone to replace the guns, which costs money! You then still need a complete recalibration. And again, MOST people will need to pay someone to do both! The cost is at least more than simply replacing a bulb on a digital pj, with a simple tweak afterwards.

"Digital tubes are $500 or more and only last about 1,000 hours if that? ouch. Digital will break you." (Stylinlp 38)

Ah, not really. Most replacement bulbs are going to run $200-300 max, and digital pj's bulbs will last at least 2000 hours, and some 3k+. That's not so much worse than CRT projectors, which will likely need two guns replaced in not so much more time. Again, probably cheaper in the long run than a digital pj scenario.
Digital breaking you???...I don't think so. Yes, overall, when it comes to black level at least, crt's are better, all things equal. Still, add it all up, and it's hard for the average consumer to go CRT, when they'll be also dealing with used pieces and parts, which may or may not be available in the future, and we're already to 1080p digital pj's! The best 9" crt will barely do 960p from a 4x3 format. Again, not the average consumers best choice IMO

Stylin.... mucho thanks.... that all makes sense to me. If overall, I can't do this thing for under two grand +/- a tad, I'd likely not do it.

Maintenance and adjustments? Bulb life? If it isn't slam dunk easy, OSD adjustments in step by step prompts... it is not a candidate. At 6 to 10 hrs. per week at best, even 2000 hrs is fine by me... tha's four years of bulb life... but lets say three. Still fine.

HD? Just is not a concern. There is to date, not a remedy for the condition I have save an act of God. It's chronic, progressive, and fatal if I drive. you can throw all the "P's" up there ya want to... I ain't gonna see one of them... perhaps my guest will but to be quite bulnt about it, I don't care. Sorry to put it that way but that's the long and the short of it.

User friendly is most definitely a big deal for me. I have to instruct anyone and everyone I know about how to simply plug in cabling... in my circle of friends who unlike myself have way more dollars than sense, my efforts are seen as ridiculous. Consequently, here am I, and as the result of the info on this thread alone I am far better off than just a bit. As are all the others who view it.

I truly wish I could actually realize the better res of HD. I could at one time. That is not my lot today. In this simgular exercise of bigger is better, given contrast, and color vididness, I suspect a quite afforable item will be found to resolve the issue, thanks to the links herein, and the valuable experiences being shared here.

Thank you as always.