I personally have been using a BenQ W1070 for about 10 years. I couldn’t go without it. It’s constantly connected to my PC with a long HDMI cable and I just project on a clean white wall.

I went through 5 lamps changing most of them myself so it’s rather not expensive if you just change the lamp without casing.

I hear a lot of people say that you need a proper screen but I think it’s mostly bullshit at least for basic 1080p projector.

Use online calculators for VPs to check the throw distance and everything is good and as long as the wall is white and smooth IMHO it’s fine for an already good viewing experience.

The biggest mistake IMO for VP owner is to set it up on its own separate to their PC.

My VP is just an extra screen I switch on when I need to watch something but it’s never complicated. I switch it on and move YT or VLC to that screen.

A VP of good quality is really not that expensive if you change the lamp yourself and it provides a really comfortable way to watch content. Highly recommend them.

For sound I went for a fairly common Logitech Z906 for 5.1 support.

Honestly it’s a great setup I bought 10 years ago and I never regretted it.