The burn-out is due to leaving it on one screen too long. For office or school use, you have the projector on for hours, often showing a static image that burns in.

For occassional home-movie viewing, it should be okay.

But the quality of projectors at the 40-60k range is kinda so-so compared to a good LCD (Philips FTW!), and you'll still need a good sound system and player to back it up (an added 20-40k cost).

Bulbs can go as low as 11-12k, depending on the supplier.

Personally? Just bought a 29" CRT. 20k. I'm just waiting for the extra moolah to afford the new Philips units...