I got a Canon Realis SX50 yesterday and today plugged it in and took a look. The projected pictures are notably sharper that then best I could get from my Epson Powerlite 53C. However, it seems to me that the biggest visible improvement tends to be in things like type faces and linear work, rather than in photographs -- although the photographs are also notably sharper. (I think this is because the higher res cleans up edges, and that's simply more apparent in linear stuff than in more confusing things like mass foliage.)
In any case, this is good enough for me. Now, I have to make the photographs sharper. After projecting an image, I got close and thought, Hmm, that looks more like softness in the photo than in the projection. I went back and looked at the print, and it *could* have been sharper. In any case, I'm satisifed for now.
For anyone interested, the machine comes in a nice nylon carry pack with a remote, cables, etc., and one of the best fast-setup cards I've ever seen. And it's not *that* much bigger than the Powerlite. Typical price around the net is about $4300, but I looked on e-bay, found a high-rated place that was selling them "buy it now" for just under $3000 (just over, with shipping), and so got it for $3,000. Service was good; got it in less than a week, well-packaged. (I have nothing to do with this company, have never used it before, yadayada.) Definitely kicks up your projections a step; does get pretty hot and relatively quickly. Maybe that's why there's a fire sale...8-)
JC