Yes, yet another projector question

I chose the 8700, The picture quality for the price was unmatchable (in my situation) I beleive that a low gain screen would match the 8700 well, if you are in a light controled room.

I run a 8500 on a 1.1 gain Elite screen and am perfectly happy. Honestly, with the black levels of the newer LCDs, you really don't need a gray screen if you have a light controlled room. If you're on the fence on whether to get gray or plain matte white, I recommend checking with Elite or whatever company you may order from and get them to send you material samples, then get the projector and check them out before ordering the screen. But honestly... lower-gain screens with a gray basecoat were only necessary for older LCDs that had weak black levels. The projectors with the Epson D5 panels (especially from Epson's UB line of projectors) typically give you about the same black level as theatrical digital projectors, so a gray screen really isn't needed.

Yeah, I don't use the auto iris on my Epson. It fiddles with the gamma... and blacks are good enough without it. That 250 looks sweet though!

A little late to the party, but here goes:

If your not subjective to RBE (rainbow effect) then DLP would be an option to consider. You would definitely get good pop in the image sort of speak, however the better black level (low contrast) would go to the LCD (Epson, Panasonic)/LCOS (Sony,JVC) compared to that model Mitsubishi. I would propose a few options if your in the market. The Epson 8700UB is the poor man's JVC for under 2500.00. The HD250 is supposed to be equal to JVC's RS10 model, with the RS10 having just a shy bit better contrast level. You would probably never notice the difference if you saw the two side by side. If the budget allows definitely consider the JVC or the Sony HW15.

Most are very good out of the box offering excellent image quality. So you definitely can't go wrong with the JVC, Epson 8700UB, or Sony (midrange projectors). If your after DLP, then I would suggest the BenQ W6000 or Infocus SP8602. Keep in mind that regardless of which you choose all of these are pretty good in size so make sure your shelf can support it, ceiling mount no worries.

Also when considering your pj please consider screen size. The JVC's are usually brighter than the Epsons when calibrated, so the reviewers say. I have never calibrated an Epson, just seen them and reviewed them many times. I can tell you with the JVC RS10 I have, I run it on High Lamp around the 800-1000hr mark with my 126" screen. If your in the ball park of 90-110 inches any of those mentioned will be just fine. If you don't have the screen yet, then I would also recommend a white screen( post #4 is dead on). The projectors these days perform very well without the help of a grey screen.

As for where to buy:

Projectors
Projectorpeople
VisualApex

Screens
Monoprice ( just got a few new model screens with favorable reviews from AVS members)

HTDepot (good prices with favorable reviews

Carada ( compares along with Stewart, my own personal experience, excellent service)

Elite Screens ( good prices over at Amazon, you can get with Grimster and some of the guys here, but wow you get alot for your money. Grimster's setup looks awesome paired up with the JVC HD1)

Last but not least: The Epson 8100 can be had for around 1K and is not a slouch either, so something else to think about if your on a tight budget. If the funds allow though, definitely step it up to what you can afford to spend.

Dangit, Sherard always beats me to the punch, very well said Sherard.