For a front end projector, am I better getting a 480p for now or spend 4X more money for 1080p?

I am projecting onto an 80" screen. I am going to get either a Optomo, benq w100 or infocus n72 16:9 home theater projector.

I am leaning toward the infocus as it has great reviews, better dark levels and... well looks cool. I am hooking up a HTPC, DVD (480p) and a Wii (480p). $500-600 range. I am planning to get a screen too.

I know that the standard is heading toward 1080p, but I don't have any content that will really utilize it at this point except my htpc, but this will most likely be playing non hd divx content anyway.

I think I am better off saving my money for now and upgrading to a 1080p when my bulb burns out in 2-3 years as they will cost less. They may even something better by then as well.

I must have over 400 DVDs in 480p widescreen.

I hate when people say regular dvds look better on HD. Most of these people were comparing it to their old 480i standard tvs. Actually, I would think a 854x480 would be the ideal for dvd as it wont have to stretch it.

I think your already made your mind and you look at everything already. But if you need someone to agree, I do agree with you that 480p will be good enough. Some people like scaled images, I personally hate them, I seen DVD played using a ($15,000) FOLSOM scaler projected on a 15K lumens 1080p capable projector and I trully hate it how they looked. IMO, the 480p look the best. But for some weird reason everyone else liked the 1080i over all the other images (go figure) and we ended up using that. I say you have a good plan. Just remember that the bulbs do last only 2000 hours at best and the last 20% of the life of the bulb is about 50% dimmer than the first 10% (ie the bulb does not stay as bright all the time). Also, do not move the projector ever until the fan stops unless you want to gamble on buying a new bulb. In addition, many projectors can do 720p for not much more money so you may want to consider those if you plan to watch some TV. You could also get a xbox 360 or ps3, that way you can play HD games or watch HD-DVDs (xbox) or Blu-ray (ps3) movies.