(as an aside here, I made a promise to get a new bed before a new TV. In the circumstances, it was deemed ok to proceed. In fact, by spending half as much on the TV, the bed cost is probably covered. The bed should be the next major purchase within the next few weeks.)
So I placed my order, got my confirmation call, and all was well. Then we had weather. The tracking number showed it was on the truck for delivery, so there was little concern. I rushed home to attempt to be there by the time FedEx showed up to deliver.
I waited. And waited. I decided to check my email, and there was a tracking notice. "Failed delivery - no one present at home or office." B.S. I was there, and the apt office was open. I wrote in a complaint to the effect. The next morning, the tracking status had changed to "delayed due to weather."
In any case, I rushed home again in order to be there for the delivery. I was sitting on the couch (perhaps 10 feet from the door) when there was a knock. I immediately got up and opened the door to discover... No one there. I stepped out briefly into the cold, and there was no one in sight. No delivery person, no truck, nothing. However, looking down, I saw a box clearly labeled as a rather expensive projector sitting on my doorstep.
Now, look. You screwed up the first time by not delivering it, fine. You screwed up again by marking it as no one present to sign. I'm fine with a weather delay, although it should have been communicated up front and preferably in advance. However, that all goes out the window when you drop the box on my doorstep and run.
Anyway, I let it sit to acclimate to the indoor climate overnight. The next day, I unboxed it, took some pictures, and started watching.
I also ordered a 25 foot HDMI cable that came in the same day. It was $30. Monster wanted $300 for an equivalent cable. I'm all for good quality parts, but 10x as much? No thanks.
As my receiver does not support HDMI, I decided to just go the direct-to-PS3 route. I placed it up on the bookcase, and got to tweaking visibility. Once up and running well enough, I played a bit on the PS3 then went to watching Blade Runner.
Wow.
Amazingly clear, awesome image. I watched Blade Runner's Final Cut 2 more times for the commentaries, then switched to The Replacement Killers, which was another BR disc. It had extra/extended scenes I don't recall from other versions. Very nice. I followed up with Curse Of The Golden Flower, which is a bit like House Of Flying Daggers as far as color goes, so it was a good test. The extras on that disc were not in HD, and looked like it. Not finding HoFD on my shelf, I decided that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would be next. I was disappointed in the lesser quality on the DVD, but was pleased with the projector's performance.
I then went and bought a little 3 foot shelf to put it on in the corner on top of the end table so that it would be out of the way, centered, and a bit less skewed. Corner to corner, it's about a 72" image right now.
More pictures are available