I'm gearing up to gut my basement collecting room and turn that into my home theater(and as I do that my double parlor will become the new collecting room). Big question in my head is whether to go with a giant flatscreen tv (70 in) or a projection set up. Thoughts, opinions etc etc

Thanks
Joe

Budget, budget, budget!

It comes down to how much are you willing to spend and how big you really want.
If you can afford an LED 70", that would be my pick. I have a 73" DLP but only because I couldn't afford a 70" LED.
I love my DLP, don't get me wrong, but a true LED flat screen mounted to the wall is what I wanted, but couldn't afford or justify when I got mine about a year and a half ago. I think the prices now are decent so it might not be that big an issue if I were to do it all over. (I paid about 1050 shipped for my Mitsy DLP).

True projection requires a pretty dark environment to watch whenever you want, but in a basement that shouldn't be an issue. Projectors are great if they have enough Lumens (brightness) to make you happy where it will be playing. The more the better and do not skimp on the screen. The screen needs to be even, plumb, level, wave free and have a high reflective surface to really look good. You can get away with anything really, but you want the best picture possible within your budget. A good screen can run a lot in addition to the projector.

I haven't checked prices in a over a year, but if about 70" is my target for a screen size, I would go with LED just to eliminate the lumens, lighting and screen issues. An LED screen will look great no matter when you are viewing. Anything really bigger I think projection is the only way.
LED might cost a little more to run opposed to a projector on your electric bill, but I think it is worth it for a nice, crisp picture with little to no fuss.

My TV will be 2 years in October and I was thinking about doing a 70" or thereabouts if I can reel one in for under $1300 or thereabouts.

Anyway........ just my 2 cents...........

cheers!


Oh and I am curious to see what you go for and always love seeing home theaters!

Went from a big screen to a 55" 3D tv... Everything is better! Even if its not in 3D theres this cool little button on the remote that adds a 3D element to anything. The theater is fine but movies at home are even better. I cant wait to get Pacific Rim in 3D when It is released. You dont have to watch everything in 3D the tv just enhances the movie

TV all the way. Projections will be bigger but for definition the LED TV's are the way to go.

Here's what I got. Did research and overall it was the best TV for my price range

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-P65ST60-65-Inch-Includes-Glasses/dp/B00ARAHA4C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375282570&sr=8-1&keywords=panasonic+65+viera

Nice TV DB!

Plasmas will save a few bucks on purchase compared to LEDs (or at least that was the case in the past) and man, I love the colors on plasma. I saved about a grand on my last TV compared to the same size in LCD/LED at the time (about 3 years ago???). It was a great TV and has been retired to another room and keeps chugging along brilliantly!

The only downside is they run a bit hotter (give off more heat) and cost a bit more in electric consumption compared to projection based and LED based TVs but nothing major really. The heat isn't noticable in a larger room, but in a small area you can tell it is putting out heat.

My new 73" DLP (projection based) is 3D as well, but I personally can't watch any 3D stuff for more than 30 minutes at a clip as I get headaches with the glasses on.  I hear that new 3D tech may not have that effect but until they do, I will just watch live in real 2D! haha

Anyway......

cheers!

As far as quality is concerned then T.V. definately, but a home theatre reallyu deserves a Projector for the simple reason that.... it's a theatre and that's what real theatres have. The only problem with projectors is that if there is any light it suddenly becomes shit and hard to see, so it has to be lights off when ever using, but again, it's a basement right, so it's unlikely that the sun will be blazing through your window at tea time so that's half the problem solved.
My mate's cousin had a projector about 15 years ago, back when they where 3 grand a piece and we borrowed it one weekend and played Tekken on his entire bedroom wall and it was amazing!
That was 15 years ago, projectors have come along way since then and more to the point, they've come down in price big time as well, and they're HD.
To me, if you want a home theatre, go with projector and make the experience real, if some one stands up and casts a shadow, cool! Because that's what happens in a theatre (plus it will piss any of your mates off who are trying to pirate your new films   )

I've had my projector for 7 years now, do not miss my tv get 100" out of mine.

I have a 60 plasma screen and i am very setisfied with that. Never had a projector to compare to though. But my tv is great to wach movies on, i just have to hang it up on the wall and get some speekers to it then it will be 100%  

 

I bought a 55" 3D TV as well last year, love it. The normal 3D glasses are kind of a pain but I ended up buying a kit of glasses that come with smaller ones (normal size glasses), kids size and even 3D clip-on glasses which works great for me since I already wear perscription glasses. The nice thing is I can wear these to watch 3D movies at the theatre as well. Like mentioned above you don't have to watch 3D but is really nice, the bigger screen the better. You can watch certain normal channels/movies in 3D when you switch to 3D mode, not quite as quality as 3D produced movies but not bad. Actual 3D movies rock though.