I'm leery of recommending a particular unit, because I work with a limited range and never get to do A/B testing... but I have a list of criteria which you might use to pick the right one.

For any kind of simpit, I think these should be considered:

1)Lens: Short-throw capable or compatible with a good sort-throw lens which will not break the bank. An adjustable zoom lens is important, too- you might have it all figured out on paper, but that last inch can be a bitch.

2)Lamp:Good and bright, but check to see how much the lamps cost first. Lamp-hour specs are to be taken with a grain of salt- if you burn the thing  for 10 hrs at a time it will die sooner, believe me. There are a lot of good, cheap projectors out there that have very expensive lamps. Beware. Find the best ratio of brightness/lamp life/replacement cost.

3)Removable filters. If you can keep these things clean, the projector will last longer.

4)Resolution/freq range- just make sure it's compatible with A:your gpu output and B: the sim you're running.

5) DLP vs. LCD: DLP is great for analog stuff; makes movies shot on film look really nice. But I don't think it's necessary for computer animation. You could save a lot of money avoiding DLP projectors.

And no matter what you choose, be careful how you mount it. Most projectors are perfectly happy upside-down, but not on their side. As far as tilt goes, the bad news is that if you tilt it more than it would be tilted on its feet, it will have trouble ventilating- the lamps will go sooner and the LCD will burn up quicker (they turn purple). Putting fans around it won't help- they are baffled inside, and even with great onboard fans, the airflow can get hung up if it's tilted too much.

Brands? I know a few well: NEC and Sanyo mostly- good overall for the money, at least the older models are. The newest (expensive) NEC DLPs are incredible, but again, probably too much for a simpit.

Both NEC and Sanyo have short-throw units or lenses that really help with this kind of projection.

I've found the little Viewsonics to be surprisingly good for the money (and very small), but I don't know about using them for short-throw.

Panasonic makes some good LCD projectors, but they are not the best for the money, for sure.


OK, I've just re-read the OP, and I see you want to spend less than US$600... this is going to be a problem, unless you can find a used one... and one for which you can still get replacement lamps! Also look for someone selling a cache of lamps for the unit you're thinking of buying.   

I'd steer well clear of any new projector listing for less than $600!

I think I found the projector I want, its not a short throw projector by any means but the ratio is OK with the room I have 1.5-1.3:1, plus I can get it for about 800 new:

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/projectors/pj358/

I was wondering about that, I heard you mention that in the before. So automatic keystone correction is a no-no(or at least try and limit it), maybe a 10-20deg angle if any?