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It's nusual for me to combine hardware reviews from different manufacturers, but let's face it -- the Sanyo PLV-Z1 and the Studio Experience Matinee are obviously the same projector. Just like the Pontiac Firebird and the Chevy Camaro were basically the same cars. Both built by General Motors, but badged differently with some very minor differences between the two. The only difference between these two projectors is the the color of the case. That's it. They use identical remote controls -- both with the Sanyo name attached. The machine is built by Sanyo and OEM'd to Studio Experience. Both are good, solid companies to do business with.
Sanyo sent us a Z1 to play around with, and Studio Experience sent their version, and we spent a great deal of time with both over the course of a few weeks. These are lightweight, small and attractive LCD projectors, with native TFT 16:9 panels outputting a 964 x 544 resolution. Sporting a 130 watt UHP lamp, of which the useful lifespan isn't specified, you can probably expect at least 1,000 hours and perhaps a great deal more.
This is a no-frills entry-level projector that is best suited for smaller rooms and smaller screens, owing to the short throw lens and the 700 ANSI lumen brightness level. The front panel contains the lens assembly, and two thumbwheels for adjusting the lens shift to 20 degrees vertical and lateral. The Z1/Matinee also has a decent internal keystone correction circuit that is another nice convenience feature, particularly for home theater users. The rear panel contains basic connections for component and composite input via phono connectors, an RGB input for computer driven graphics and S-Video. For the security conscious, there's even a cable locking port to prevent your guests from tucking this bad boy under their arm and making off with it while you're out in the kitchen making popcorn...
While reducing the image size with an external scaler widens your installation options, the visibility of the pixel structure will certainly be noticed the larger the screen and the further away the projector gets from it. Ideally, this is a "coffee table" projector, that would be placed in front of the seating area. The sleek, compact case and smart fold up front cover makes the projector almost disappear amid the decor when not in use. Though the specifications call for screen sizes from 30" to 200" and a throw distance from 3.6 to 19.7 feet, you'd be well advised to plan on using a screen no larger than about 80" with this projector -- maybe 100". But anything beyond that will reveal more of the pixel structure and diminish the brightness, the latter of which frankly, looks pretty darned good, all things considered.
Setup is straightforward. The projector will not turn on with the front cover in place. It must be lowered first. Once powered up, zoom and focus are handled manually via rings around the small lens assembly. While some may furrow their brows over the notion of not being able to adjust these functions via motorized remote control, relax. Once you set your focus and zoom, you'll never need to touch those settings again, unless of course, you alter the distance between your screen and the 
projector. Eliminating the costly remote lens controls also helps keep the cost of the projector down, which allows more budding enthusiasts hankering for an honest to goodness widescreen projector to enter the world of front projected home entertainment.
This projector represents the lowest priced 16:9 LCD model to date, and unless you've already been spoiled by the impressive technology in the $3,500 and up range, you're apt to be quite impressed by what you see, including the 800:1 contrast ratio, and what you don't hear. The 28db fan in this unit is comparable to the noise level of the fan cooling the power supply in the PC you're using to read this review. If you can live with that noise level, you'll certainly have no problem with ambient noise from the projector.
So how does it perform? In terms of image clarity and color uniformity (two areas that I tend to be hyper-critical of), the Z1/Matinee passes with flying colors. Uniformity is rated at 90% by some sources, but the acid test for me is watching black and white movies. If the grayscale looks uniform across the screen, then we've got a winner. Well mastered DVD's bring out the best in this machine, which exhibits crystal clear detail and bright, vivid colors. However, during some scenes in which rapid camera panning takes place, a single horizontal scan line appears briefly, almost as if trying to catch up with the rest of the picture image. This phenomenon doesn't occur often, but it's worth noting. Another area that this projector excells in is in gradients. In some ways, I was able to achieve smoother gradients with this projector than the more expensive PLV-60.
800 ANSI lumens provides plenty of brightness, but as with all front projectors, this unit looks its best when the shades are drawn and the ambient light is kept to a minimum or eliminated all together.
The remote control features an odd combination of backlighting and glow in the dark illumination on the keys, which doesn't work very well. So when you enable the backlighting, only half the the remote lights up.
My biggest complaint about this projector is that the menu is not as intuitive or easy to navigate through as it ought to be, particularly for a novice, but like anything else, you get used to it after awhile. On a more positive note, the array of available controls provides the user with many options and settings to explore, not available on previous generation entry level 16:9 projectors, which cost thousands more just five or six years ago. The auto gray-scale and flesh tone functions are thoughtful and convenient -- once you can find them, that is.
With a street price of somewhere around $1,600, the Sanyo PLV-Z1 and Studio Experience Matinee provide an honest to goodness value for anyone wanting to enter the world of front projection, but unwilling to go into big debt to do so.
There is no internal provision for sound on this unit, and the single filter element for cleaning is a cinch to get to for removal and cleaning. 
As a reminder, it's a very good idea to get into the habit of cleaning your filter about once a month, regardless of your environment. Weighing in at a lean 7.5 lbs., your better half will appreciate the small footprint of this projector, at 13.1 in. (W) x 9.7 in. (D) x 4.3 in. (H). In fact, when it's closed, some might even mistake it for a large book sitting on that coffee table of yours.
The 3-year warranty is ample, and extended warranties from your retailer are available. In the case of this projector, I'd be inclined to skip the extended warranty, because I'll betcha that once you get into the front projection groove, you'll be ready to upgrade before the warranty has expired.
If you have more questions and would enjoy further objective discussion about the Sanyo PLV-Z1 or Studio Experience Matinee, enter our Sanyo Projector forum here at TheBIGPictureDVD.com and let's talk about it!