comments:
With that budget I’d keep it simple . You’re in a basement so I’m assuming you’re going to try to keep it dark or fairly dark while using . Look at the TCL A1S , I’ll leave a YouTube link to a review so you can see if it’s something you’d be interested in . It would be new so it comes with a two year warranty I believe,it’s lcd based and the lcds are rated to last 30k hours . So no lamps to replace , less money on maintenance.It has google tv built in and the best part is it’s $300. Get a 100 to 120 inch matte white screen ( A1S will go up to 150”screen size ) with over 1.0 gain and should be under $450 for both depending on the type of screen meaning , Manual , automatic or framed etc . Add any low end surround system of your choice from amazon or Best Buy for $150 to $300 so it sounds halfway decent . You’ll have to decide what you want to do furniture wise but I’m sure there are budget options . This is coming from a guy that started out with an optoma hd26 in 2015 and in the last year has bought the visionmaster max @$2k the nebula x1 pro with 200” screen @ $4k the awol aetherion max @$2k and about to buy the Xgimi Titan noir max in a few days @$2800. You’re just starting out on the journey and have a modest budget. You can always upgrade and add on with time . Watch this review if it doesn’t interest you there are plenty projectors in the $400 to $800 range that you’ll like better but they probably won’t be smart so you’ll have to add a Apple TV , Roku stick etc then you still need a screen , surround sound and furniture. https://youtu.be/LF_Vuvr5eCY?si=QiqhtXg6gnqKbtyx https://a.co/d/06MYeUXZ Amazon link its currently $295