Outdoor projector/screen setups

[C-Man 27,222]

Every year we have a Super Bowl Watch Party at our house. In addition, we'll host various other watch parties for big sporting events as well. We've always trucked an extra big screen TV outside to facilitate watching out by the pool/outdoor sitting area. I've always been worried about wind knocking over today's thinner, lighter HD TV's. Not to mention it's a PITA to unhook the TV from our master bedroom to set up outside, along with the DirecTV box (yes, I still have DTV) and all of that.

Unfortunately, our pergola doesn't have a roof, only slats, so we've never put in a permanently-mounted outdoor TV out there. I'm now kicking around the idea of getting an outdoor screen/projector setup that we can use for outdoor movie nights as well as show the Super Bowl/sporting events. A good friend recently screened Elf on a similar setup for their cul-de-sac and friends last weekend. Sounded like a neat idea.

These setups range quite a bit in pricing and I haven't a clue what to look for. Basically, I'd like to be able to stream to the projector from various services or plug in iPads/Blu-Ray player/whatever. I'd like to keep this economical -- looks like some of the inflatable options on Amazon range from $75-$500 or more. Projectors run the gamut. I would guess it makes more sense to spend more on the projector than the screen but, again, what do I know?

[Pato del Muerto 52,494]

How good of a picture could you expect outside?  I’d go with a cheap projector from Amazon in whatever level of definition you wish, that has the throw distance you need. 
 

one thing I learned from buying such, is that even though I got one with its own wifi capability, I couldn’t cast a Netflix or similar stream from my phone to it for some reason. Like it would say not allowed. So I had to use a cheap Roku to receive the cast and run it hdmi to the projector.  Really just added one more plug and cord. 

[williemackgarza 1,826]

Went with this on a black friday sale. Set it out by the pool in summer. Pretty good abd eady set up over wifi. Cheap screen and its pretty clear and a loud built in speaker. Had to jump thru hoops to get prime/netflix apps set up but overall happy with it. I wouldnt consider it for a daily system but for a lot of summer stuff and inside big screen on a wall is pretty fun.

[Updawg 2,266]

I recently bought this for similar reasons. I didn’t do the WiFi version which I probably should have. So I plug in a iPad to it and watch yttv through it. Also plug in an external speaker since it built in one sucks. Also bought a cheap screen. Only used it once for a longhorn game but it worked good enough