Best cheap projector for small HT.

Well, to do a CRT "right", you have to consider all the costs and trade-offs really. First, the projector will be in the room with you, likely over your head, as opposed to behind, maybe in a cubbyhole, behind a wall, on a bookshelve, or whatever. You have NO FLEXIBILITY with a crt. It will be in the way, in plain sight, so you live with that takeing up a lot of space visually.
So let's say, you get a $2-3k 8" crt projector, which is very do-able these days...you must strongly consider a Hush box, which needs to be built. The average person doesn't know how to properly engineer and build one, and that takes time, which is money. You then should STRONGLY CONSIDER paying an expert to set up and calibrate, possibly install the big beasts!! These things aren't light. Unless you have room on the floor, most will likely pay someone to install a 150lb plus projector over their heads. And add $200 for a mount. Firgure $500 minimum for install, and at least $400 for a descent calibration from a pro. Also, every 6 months you should consider having someone come out and tweak the projector, which will need it.
Another consideration should be an outboard "scaler" that will handle the standard def material,and properly scale things for your projector. That and the extra parts and cabling.
I would say, that when all's said and done, you're looking at a reasonable $6-7k worth of investment, minimum for the average person going that route!
Now, that might still be worth it when you consider the superb pic quality. But you will need a pitch black light controlled room.
I'd be willing to bet, if you look around, you can get the new Lcos projectors, that are dead quiet, more flexible, put out more light, have higher resolution capablities for wide-screen material, are smaller and less conspicuous, and cheaper to replace bulbs when they wear out mostly. And when you do replace a bulb, you don't have to pay for a recalibration, and someone to install it!
Face it, there's trade-offs.
If you are a DIY'er, and are a hobbyiest, then CRT's are a cheaper alternative (with trade-offs) for a superb display device, sure. for the average consumer, they don't make sense anymore I think.

Flrnlamb, CRT rules and digital drools!
Hehe I love the use of the first line in the forum.

Your mostly right in theory. A little extremist but your opinion does touch on the some of the differances. I would place more emphasis on image quality in my rundown of the differances between the two.

Tube life: actually the cost is less with crt projectors.
The life expectancy is 10,000 hours pre tube rated.
In reality its quite differant. the GREEN tube is 80% of the image light. Thats the tube that will most likely need to be replaced around 10k. Next is the RED tube which will sometimes last up to 15,000 hours. I never heard anyone replacing the blue tube.
The average movie watcher of 2 movies a night will last for 10 years with the green tube.
A new tube from VDC runs for $600.
Digital tubes are $500 or more and only last about 1,000 hours if that? ouch. Digital will break you.

Regular calibration once every 6 months. I can do that with my remote control in 15 minutes. Its easy. The projector comes with a built in convergance software and guide. Walks you thru it.

Hushbox: yup. I have 3 friends with this projector mounted on their ceilings and they do not have a hushbox. THey woudln't mind one. But havn't gotten around to it yet. The silent fan mod cost only $200 to make the projector very quiet. Its not that noisy compared to a computer can be.
The projector may seem big at first, but once its up on that ceiling its wonderfull. You barely notice it. It looks awsome. Like you have a 100k home theater system! :)

I helped all my friends lift the projector and mount it. They reinforced the ceilings with additional 2x4's to support the weight. Then mounted the $200 mounting bracket before lifting the projector up there. Its not that bad.

You can get an Electrohome Marquee 8500 projector with good tubes from a reputable seller with warrantee for around $1500. Those tubes will last you at least 6 years. If you dont play xbox games on it or watch HDTV more than 6 hours a night. You CAN even play online computer games on it if you don't mind running your tubes. But I won't let the kids do it. BTW this Marquee 8500 projector is rated to go to 3000x2000 res. I run my image at x2 dvd native resolution which is 1440x960.

In 6 years what till be going on? It will be 2012! A high end digital projector for $2000? At that point you may not want to retube the projector. Go digital when the $10k projectors are in the $2k range. Maybe those $2k projectors in the year 2012 will be better than anything we ever had before. 1080p! :)

i'm with StylinLP, the sony Ruby has made huge advancements but that $1000. bulb is hard to swallow. IT's light output also drops really hard in the first 150 hours based on reports from different users. The 720P chipped machines are OK but the pixel structure is very obvious from my favorite seating position of 9 feet away from a 7 foot wide screen. Most digital users sit where I put my back row of seats.

sony VPL-VW100 bulb life
0 hours - 164 lux - 0% brightness loss
30 hours - 137 lux - 16.46% brightness loss
50 hours - 127 lux - 22.56% brightness loss
70 hours - 127 lux - 22.56% brightness loss (this is not a typo)
*87 hours - 120 lux - 26.83% brightness loss - DVI input
*87 hours - 107 lux - unknown brightness loss - HDMI input
**97 hours - 102 lux - 37.80% brightness loss
150 hours - 91 lux - 44.51% brightness loss

"The life expectancy is 10,000 hours pre tube rated" (Stylinlp 38)

Yeah 10,000 hours is how long the tubes will actually operate. You're talking nothing of actual lasting image quality from the guns!!! After 4000 hours, you're starting to look at a sacrificed, less than pristine image! The Blue/Green Gun's will really need replacing to keep up image quality, and anyone who has a high end CRT setup will tell you that! That said, yes, that's still longer than a digital bulb will last. Still, you need to pay someone to replace the guns, which costs money! You then still need a complete recalibration. And again, MOST people will need to pay someone to do both! The cost is at least more than simply replacing a bulb on a digital pj, with a simple tweak afterwards.

"Digital tubes are $500 or more and only last about 1,000 hours if that? ouch. Digital will break you." (Stylinlp 38)

Ah, not really. Most replacement bulbs are going to run $200-300 max, and digital pj's bulbs will last at least 2000 hours, and some 3k+. That's not so much worse than CRT projectors, which will likely need two guns replaced in not so much more time. Again, probably cheaper in the long run than a digital pj scenario.
Digital breaking you???...I don't think so. Yes, overall, when it comes to black level at least, crt's are better, all things equal. Still, add it all up, and it's hard for the average consumer to go CRT, when they'll be also dealing with used pieces and parts, which may or may not be available in the future, and we're already to 1080p digital pj's! The best 9" crt will barely do 960p from a 4x3 format. Again, not the average consumers best choice IMO

Stylin.... mucho thanks.... that all makes sense to me. If overall, I can't do this thing for under two grand +/- a tad, I'd likely not do it.

Maintenance and adjustments? Bulb life? If it isn't slam dunk easy, OSD adjustments in step by step prompts... it is not a candidate. At 6 to 10 hrs. per week at best, even 2000 hrs is fine by me... tha's four years of bulb life... but lets say three. Still fine.

HD? Just is not a concern. There is to date, not a remedy for the condition I have save an act of God. It's chronic, progressive, and fatal if I drive. you can throw all the "P's" up there ya want to... I ain't gonna see one of them... perhaps my guest will but to be quite bulnt about it, I don't care. Sorry to put it that way but that's the long and the short of it.

User friendly is most definitely a big deal for me. I have to instruct anyone and everyone I know about how to simply plug in cabling... in my circle of friends who unlike myself have way more dollars than sense, my efforts are seen as ridiculous. Consequently, here am I, and as the result of the info on this thread alone I am far better off than just a bit. As are all the others who view it.

I truly wish I could actually realize the better res of HD. I could at one time. That is not my lot today. In this simgular exercise of bigger is better, given contrast, and color vididness, I suspect a quite afforable item will be found to resolve the issue, thanks to the links herein, and the valuable experiences being shared here.

Thank you as always.