Why You Can Trust CNET Get an Epson Home Cinema 6100 1080p projector for $699
Once upon a time, this projector was celebrated for being one of the first priced under $2,000. Now it's a steal for less than $700.
Today's deal is a little weird. Awesome, but weird.
Fry's has the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 6100 1080p projector for $699, plus $10.44 for shipping. It's new, not refurbished, making this the best deal I can recall seeing for a 1080p projector.
What's the weird part? The Fry's site says it's "available for preorder," so there's no way to know when you'll actually get it. Hmmm.
Update: It now shows in stock!
Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained cheaply, right? Having just reviewed a similar projector priced at $1,500, I can safely say that nothing, but nothing, beats 1080p TV shows and Blu-ray movies projected on the biggest chunk of wall space you can find.
The Home Cinema 6100 is a 3LCD, three-chip model with a native 1,920 by 1,080 resolution and 1,800 lumens' worth of light output. It has two HDMI inputs (nice) along with composite, component, and VGA ports. It's a discontinued model, one that made its debut in early 2009, but so what? A good projector is a good projector.
CNET hasn't reviewed it, but Projector Central gave the Home Cinema 6100 very high marks, calling it "the brightest 1080p resolution picture you can get for under $2,000." Yep, back then it was selling for $1,800(!).
Fry's won't charge your credit card until the unit ships, so you have nothing to lose by getting in line, so to speak. And hopefully the whole preorder arrangement means the projector won't sell out. (Maybe Fry's is waiting to tally up the orders before placing their own order.)
If you're looking to cobble together a quality home theater on the cheap, this is a great place to start.
Bonus deal: Amazon is once again offering a $2 Amazon MP3 credit when you tweet about Amazon offering a $2 Amazon MP3 credit. The promotion says it's good toward album purchases, but I suspect you can use the credit for individual songs as well.
Bonus deal No. 2: If you liked yesterday's Back to the Future deal, you'll love this: Steam is now offering Ghostbusters: The Videogame (PC) for a mere $2.49!