>>I bought myself an Optoma projector (3D ready) with my refund and had change left over. Satellite HD TV signal plugged in the back gave me an 8 foot 4 inch pic that is 49 inches high and cinema sound output. All this for less than one quarter the price of a flat screen tv of almost the same size. New bulbs are about $130.00 and last six to eight thousand hours. I like it so much that I bought some butter flavored popcorn to go with the package.
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>>For those interested, here's a link: http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-HD66.htm
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>What do you think of the picture quality?
>Are you projecting onto a special surface/screen?
>I see that the specs say 1080p but native resolution is 720p. How does that work?
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>I'm always thinking ahead to the day my 42" rear projection monster will die (it can't happen too soon) so that I can update to something much more advanced (not to mention lighter).

The picture quality is excellent. The picture may be manually focussed for sharpness. There are many adjustments in the software. I have satellite service which provides a signal (720 perhaps) for regular TVs and, for most channels, there is an HD(1080) wide screen format signal as well. I am projecting onto a painted (light gray) wall, but don't notice the wall's color influencing the picture. Some of these projectors detect the wall color and adjust the signal to compensate. The sound has a 'theater' style rumble too. If you need more, I could take some sample pics, or video, of the setup and the wall.