I purchased the Z9000U about 18 months ago. Now to put it into perspective I came from a 26" ten year old TV, no cable only an antenna, and now I'm projecting a 110" picture onto a top of the line acoustically transparent screen in a dedicated home theatre room with stadium seating and 3000 watts of sound!! Talk about going from 0 to 60 in a hurry! So of course I was going to be blown away. However I can say this, I had a bulb blow at about 1400 hours (should be good for 2000+), actually it was two but whos counting. Had a big family thing happening and needed a projector for a film my wife did, you understand. My dealer lent me a Z900 for the event (East Hamilton Radio, thanks). The picture quality was WAY off of the 9000. Had I bought the 900 originally I'm sure I would have been happy. However, once you get a chance to live with the better quality everything look like a comprimise. Now you think that the 9000 is expensive today I paid $15,000 Cdn (about $10,000 US at the time) 18 months ago!! That was a fair price at the time. I didn't really care about the price so much as I wanted the best (It seems I only upgrade every decade or two so I can afford to spend the big bucks). My point is this, it was worth it. We don't really watch TV or do games (although 4 player games are kinda cool) we really just watch movies. The value to us and the kids (teenagers) has been worth every cent as we can seat upto 12 at a time. So the cost per person is actually a pretty good deal. If you can squeeze out the extra bucks, and the rest of the system matches the quality (screen, sound, room type, etc) then spend it. If you sit back 3+ screen sizes back and just watch TV or go games, maybe buy two cheaper ones so you have a spare or upgrade the sound,etc. Just remember, the price will drop. If you buy now don't look back, just enjoy it. If you can afford it but just into self denial keep going to the movies for the high quality and pull out the old 'Pong' (yea I know I dated myself) for your self gratification.

PS. The bulb was replaced by Sharp under warranty (replacement bulb price is $800 Cdn by the way so be prepared)