1

Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)

I’ve been an LCD flat panel fan since they first came out, but I wanted something for a media room in my house that the previous owners finished out and was just wasting away. What better than a 92-inch screen? Found it with the Optoma HD20. Awesome picture for the price of a 50 inch 720p plasma, and this is 1080p! I am very pleased.

2

Optoma HD66 3D Projector, Great for Wii, PlayStation, and Xbox

Needed a projector for both data presentations and video applications. This does both well. Very bright image. Not the greatest for use as a home theater projector because of dark levels, but acceptable, especially in a room with a lot ambient light. Compact and convenient for travel. Build quality is typically Chinese, but performance is good. Wish it had a little better zoom range for the projection lens – you need to set up the projector in a spot that matches the screen location, rather than having the flexibility to put the projector in a more convenient spot. This is the norm for the low cost projectors. The 3D referred to is not suitable for the current 3D technology as it applies to home theater.

3

Optoma HD65 720p DLP Home Theater Projector

Excellent when it works…bottom line stay away from optima..or maybe you get what u pay for but…I know of other people that had bad luck w/ optima…

4

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 705 HD 720p 3LCD Home Theater Projector

I’ve only fired this up once and we’re still putting it through it’s paces. I will update. Notes so far:

* Nice and bright

* Easy to set up with a laptop

* Shows photos off a USB stick with ease

One gripe so far: The description clearly states it comes with a “Computer adapter” and “Component adapter” but the only cable it arrives with is a 3″ (male) VGA to (female) 3-RCA connector. The back of the projector requires 3 MALE RCA connector. Thus the cable they send you, while technically a “component adapter” CANNOT be used to hook a computer up to the projector without buying a male-to-male RCA cable connector. There is NO other adapter so the “Computer Adapter” advertised at the time of this order and writeup does not exist.

In short: Out of the box you cannot connect it to anything without more cables, the computer adapter listed in the description is just plain false.

Now, I have a house full of cables so this is just annoying on principle, but it’s worth others knowing.

5

Full HD Widescreen Projector

So, I bought a Walkman a year ago, figuring that Sony would of course make accessories (clock radios, etc) for their own products. Wow! Imagine my surprise when I found out they only make iPOD accessories. Even though I love how the walkman works, WHY would you ever buy one, if you can’t get accessories! What an incredibility STUPID company. I wrote an email to them an got no response. So, I will never again buy another Sony product.

Stay away from Sony products, they’ll leave you in the cold! ]]> http://www.hdprojectorreview.com/reviews/top-5-hd-projectors/feed/ 0 http://www.hdprojectorreview.com/articles/why-buy-an-hd-projector/ http://www.hdprojectorreview.com/articles/why-buy-an-hd-projector/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:21:34 +0000 Desmond Matson http://www.hdprojectorreview.com/?p=10 There are so many reasons to buy an HD projector for use in your home, or even at work in some cases. Modern technology has made it easier and easier for people everywhere to enjoy media (and multimedia) right in the comfort of our own homes, and the HD projector is one of the most recent and high tech developments that this wave has produced in recent years.

So what exactly is it? Well, of course it is a projector, meaning it projects images from a small lens onto a larger screen (or some other surface) for easy viewing. It is different from a high definition TV DVD combo, which transmit their picture and sound through wires into a screen that then interprets them as motion with a sound track.

Projectors, instead, cast their images through the air onto a surface. The design of the lens is what allows such a small machine to cast such a large picture. In fact, some people will use a projector to show movies on an entire wall in their living room. Yet others put up big white sheets to create an at-home outdoor movie screen.

The possibilities are endless. And the “HD” prefix, which stands for “high definition” is the part that is really a big deal. Projectors by themselves have been around for decades. The classic “watching home movies” or “looking at pictures from vacation” involved sitting around an old fashioned, bulky projector watching images on an old fashioned, bulky screen.

But the HD Projector is so much more versatile, so much more technologically sophisticated, and so much more convenient. Not to mention the high definition picture that one of these excellent machines will put out. Hook it up to your laptop or iPod to view movies, television, photo slideshows, and much more with crystal clear precision, right in your home.

And when you don’t want to use it, simply pack up your screen and put the projector on a shelf. Unlike an HDTV, the HD projector does not dominate the space in your living room when not in use. This makes it one of the most innovative and convenient technologies on the market today.

At home cinema is a huge rising trend, and the increase in technology (which gets more and more affordable the longer it is on the market) makes it easier than ever before to watch movies in your home. You save money on gas by not having to drive there. You get to eat whatever food you want and pay grocery store (not movie theater) prices. And there’s room for everyone to join you in comfort!

People have been using projectors to show slideshows, home movies, and more for decades. But the advent of the HD projector makes home media far more technologically advanced than we could dream of even just a few years ago.

The high definition (hence the “HD” in the machine’s title) means that this is not the blurry home movie footage of the past. This is precision viewing, with high quality digital optics designed to show on a variety of surfaces (projector screen, blank white wall, or even a clean, white bed sheet or other cloth) with a crystal clear picture.

So how do you use an HD projector? Well, simply attach it to your computer, DVD player, or any other device with a video/audio ‘out’ option. It takes the image and, rather than piping it into a physical screen, projects it across the room onto a flat surface. Easy to adjust and refine for whatever arrangement you have set up, the projector is an easy way to have ‘big screen’ viewing without devoting money and space to a permanent big screen.

Some of the more creative proponents of the high definition projector even use it to create outdoor movie screenings in their own backyard. They buy indoor/outdoor screens, or even build a strong frame for white sheets of cloth, and invite friends and family over to enjoy a fresh barbeque and a nice movie out in the open air. This is a fun way of getting everyone together to have a good time by just spending money once, when you buy the HD projector. Then it’s yours to enjoy for years.

But even so, there are a few manufacturers of the HD projector who really stand out. In customer satisfaction and in popularity, these are the top few companies from which you may want to consider buying your projector if you are thinking of getting one for your home:

• Epson
• InFocus
• Neoflex
• Mitsubishi
• JVC
• Sony
• Optoma

Now, some of these companies’ products are popular because they are affordable. Others are popular because they are very high quality. And others still strike just the right balance between affordability and quality that gives consumers the perfect blend of what they are looking for.

Consider what you will be using your projector for to help you determine how to make a decision. For example, how often will you be using it? What will it be used for? How concerned are you with image quality? How far will you be projecting (in terms of feet/meters between the projector and the screen)? What type of screening surface do you plan to use with your HD projector? How much are you willing to spend?

If you are willing to spend it, a projector of very high quality can cost as much as $3,500-$4,000. (For example, the JVC DLA HD1 projector can be found online ranging from $3650 to $3740.) The lower end models cost several hundred dollars (one of the most popular models currently on Amazon is the Mitsubishi HD 1000U 720 DLP system, which sells used for about $700.)

And of course, there are many, many models in between. If you’re just looking for a way to play movies on a sheet on your back porch, a lower priced version will probably suffice. But if you’re looking for high quality indoor cinema with a high end screen, then it will probably be worth your while to spend money on one of the most technologically sophisticated HD projector models that are on the market.

So you want to go HD, and now you need to decide whether you’ll purchase an HDTV or an HD projector. Both of these far out perform the old TV that you’ve been using for a few years. But unless you plan to buy both, it is certainly worth your time to step back and compare your options to make sure you make the purchase that’s best suited to your needs (and budget).

Both high definition televisions and HD projectors come with a moderate to expensive price tag. This technology is new, and it is very good. But prices are lowering constantly as more models become available and as the technology becomes easier to produce. They’re already much lower than they were a year ago, so now is a very good time to purchase HD viewing for your home.

The benefits of an HDTV are that it is excellent for every day use, it cannot be interrupted by people walking past it, and it is a solid piece of equipment that is a staple in many homes. But the HDTV has some disadvantages that make the HD projector a better choice for a number of people.

For example, if you are perfectly content with the TV you already use but would like to be able to view movies on a bigger, clearer screen, then this is an excellent reason to purchase a projector. While TVs are fine for every day use, the HD projector really comes out ahead for viewing movies and other things that have been filmed with a higher quality camera.

In fact, some people have gotten exceptionally creative with the home cinema. Consider setting up your new projector on the back deck with a large, clean sheet hung against the wall. Sit back in your lawn chair, and fire up the grill. Thanks to the high def projector, you’ve got your very own backyard movie theater.

The first question you should as is “What will I use the projector for?” If you are a movie buff, that in itself is a HUGE plus for getting a projector to use at home. Not only does it make it easier to get a quality movie experience in your own home (Netflix and other services have made at home cinemas incredibly easy in the past few years), but it even gives you options of how you set up your home cinema.

Say you usually watch movies in the living room but are tired of the small screen on your television; just point the projector at a blank wall, and you have high quality picture projected right onto your in home ‘screen’. Or say you and your spouse are watching television but your teenage son wants to watch a movie with his friends. Send him downstairs with the HD projector to watch against a blank wall or white sheet. It’s easy as that.

If you don’t have a blank wall, or want a more reliable, even higher quality image, there are a number of projector screens available for purchase. These retract, which makes for easy storage.

And this ease leads us to our other major question you need to ask: How often will I use this projector? If you don’t plan to use it very often, then it’s still very convenient. It’s easy to transport but doesn’t take up the space that a bulky HDTV does. The more often you plan to use it, the more practical a quality viewing screen will be.

If after asking yourself these questions you feel even more confident that this sounds like something you want to own, then it seems you have your answer. The hard part is over. Now choosing which one to buy is the fun part!