At the moment I'm passively considering picking up a projector for my apartment that I'll be sharing with a couple of guys. I wouldn't necessarily expect anyone to know anything, but on the off-chance that any of you have used one or several and have some advice/recommendations, I would appreciate it. As far as stuff I'm looking for:
Standard 15-pin VGA input
RCA input (i.e. from a console/dvd player)
Any other input not necessary, but HDMI would be nice if I can get it without jacking up the price
Short projection range (minimum down to 3 feet-ish)
Not battery powered (or at least has a power cable)
That's about everything as far as real "necessities" I guess. Beyond that it would just be quality and obviously higher resolution is better, but having not really used many projectors at short distance, I don't really know what you need. I would like to get it for around $500 max, but depending on how good/if I can find really good bargains, I might go up a little, though ideal price range would be more like $300 (though with brief internet searches it's tough to find anything that low that seems decent).
I would mainly use this for movies, but also for gaming if I have the proper hook-ups.
Like I said, I wouldn't necessarily expect anyone to know anything, but it would be especially helpful if you have used one and can let me know what for and how it worked/if it was worth the price. Thanks for any help.