Epson - PowerLite Home Cinema 6500UB

1080p Epson and Panasonic LCD projectors from ~2008-2013 are an excellent value used. Great colors and contrast. The bulbs are cheap, and if you drop in a fresh one, you can get enough brightness for SDR content (50-75 nits). For Epson, the models to watch are the 6500UB, 8500UB, 8700UB, 5020UB, and 5030UB. For Panasonic, the models to watch are the PT-AE3000, PT-AE4000, PT-AE7000U, and PT‑AE8000U

The PT-AE4000 was a *great* projector in its day, and that’s why it still impresses people — especially in a dark room. For $60–$200, I’d say it’s a solid deal **if** the lamp hours are low or recently replaced. At the higher end ($300–$400), I’d personally start looking at slightly newer Epson UB models instead. Just keep in mind it’s a \~15-year-old projector: brightness is modest by today’s standards, parts are aging, and replacement lamps can cost as much as the projector itself. Totally fine for movies in a light-controlled room, less ideal if there’s ambient light. As for wall vs screen — a white wall *works*, but even a cheap fixed-frame or pull-down screen will noticeably improve contrast and uniformity. You don’t need ALR at this budget, just a basic matte white screen will be a big step up. If you’re open to alternatives, used Epson 6500UB/8500UB/8700UB or later Panasonic AE models are worth a look. New cheap projectors may be brighter on paper, but image quality usually isn’t comparable.

We all have opinions, I have a 120” Epson 6500 in the home theater and 77” G4 OLED in the living room. Still prefer to game on the projector due to the screen size and I’ve had the projector for 5 years now, size novelty still hasn’t worn off.

I think you have the right instincts here A 4k projector will do the trick. Heck I have a 1080p Epson I picked up open box and a denon avr that can do 7.1. No atmos. And it sounds and looks amazing So nowadays an atmos capable receiver and 4k projector ( even just led ). Will look and sound amazing Just need a few small extra back speakers if and when you decide to use all the extra channels

I don’t have a 4k tv even. I will probably get one soon But I am really impressed with how good even an 1080p Epson can project at 110” image that is totally cinematic So I think any 4 k Epson will be totally good I feed it an Apple TV I have a marantz cinema 70 which is their lowest powered one and use an extra 2 channel amp I have to power fronts. That room looks pretty big so I would go with something cinema 50 and still have the option to add extra power later.

Yes it is. Got mine open box in 500$. For anime it's a no brainer.

For $800 you’re looking at 1080p not even pixel shift. You’ll have to do the math on throw distance but an Epson 1080 or Benq 585 are decent machines

Lots of decent options. The Benq 2150 will look best but an Epson 1080 or 90 will have more pop but less refinement. Could be good for your use. It’s less bright and not requested 4k but the xgimi horizon pro would fit some people’s setups in that budget.

I have the Epson 880 and 1080.  They're both fantastic projector and some of the best values you can possibly get, especially in the 200 - $250 range, which is phenomenal value.  1060 is, as I understand it, similar to between the 880 and 1080 so I would absolutely recommend it.

For $1000 or less you’re either getting the cheapest lamp based 4K unit or a pretty nice 1080p model and solid state (laser or LED) is probably on the table. My no. 1 recommendation for a $1000 model USED to be the BenQ HT2060. I say used to because the price has gone up since this tariff insanity. Assuming you can catch a sale or deal on a refurb the HT2060 would still be my top pick. The reason: image quality. It produces a bright, crisp, colorful image with one of the highest native contrast ratios of any projector under $5,000 (my $3000 4K projector produces around half the native contrast). It’s 4LED so no bulbs to replace. 1080p/120Hz with 8-16ms of input latency and instantaneous pixel response which makes it perfect for even competitive gaming. The only negatives if you can call them negatives is it’s not a portable or ‘lifestyle’ projector so it doesn’t have built in streaming or a gimmicky gimbal mount. It’s an honest-to-goodness home theater projector with optical zoom and lens shift. Though it does have pretty good built in sound if you’re into that. I would recommend the H2060 for screen sizes of 90-120”. Any larger and you might want a brighter projector which at this price probably means going bulb. The BenQ TH575 or Epson 1080 are good alternatives. Neither will have the contrast nor will either be as colorful as the 2060 but you’ll get more output to push a larger screen or compete with more ambient light. The Epson in particular lacks the sharpness of the DLPs but is a certified light canon cable of driving enormous screens. https://www.avsforum.com/threads/benq-ht2060-4led-hdr-home-theater-gaming-projector-review-and-owners-thread.3270380/

The Epson hc 880, 1060, and 1080 are wonderful little light cannons and great quality for value. If I find one at that price I'm buying it for a secondary or movable protector They still won't compete with the sun but will work well at night/ late evening and they are physically small and easy to move

Try to look locally and find a used epson 880/660/1080/1060 or benq ht2050. They're old enough that they're probably around that price used and they have well documented response times. I sold my HT2050 for 250$ on fb marketplace last year. If you can go up to 500$ you can find an epson official refurbished hc1080 https://epson.com/Certified-ReNew/c/cc?q=%3Aprice-asc%3AdiscontinuedFlag%3Afalse%3AinStockFlag%3Atrue%3AproductType%3APROJECTOR

Maybe try and find a used Epson 880, 1060, 1080, 660. You'll need a lot of light for 200in, those are very high brightness 1080p projectors. Most affordable while still being designed for home theater use (vs office use). If you can afford 400$, Epson sells factory refurbs for around that much

Epson 880, 1080, 1060, 980 Benq ht2050 or 2060 Might have to look used or refurbished to get some of those in your price range

the benq will have better color generally and I think the response time is pretty good. The epson 1080 is a light cannon but color/contrast not as good, not sure about response time.

with cheap 100" 4k LED's available (walmart has a 98" Samsung for 1997 right now, costco has 98" TCL for 1599), maybe look at those before spending over $2k for a projector. Unless your screen is bigger than that, then a projector still the way to go since budget TV's max out at 100" right now (another couple years and you'll probably see 120" for $2k). Redoing my basement this is my dilemma - will stick with my 1080p Epson until the price comes down for 120"