Optoma EP719 DLP Portable Projector 2000
By: Optoma Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 22
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 On: 2008-03-05
This is a great little box. The economy mode feature is nice, as is the picture mute. I would have liked to see composite inputs on the back, but I got an HDMI to DVI-D cable off of eBay for $12 (including shipping), so no harm no foul there. It is SUPER quiet. Just a little hum when the fan is on high, and almost nothing any other time. I can watch it with the (north-facing) windows open, and the lights on! Granted it is pretty dim, but I can still see it! Right now I have all the lights on and its night out, and I can see the screen fine on economy mode! You have to go HD with this thing, normal TV looks blurry because the picture is so big. Great value for the lumens and the contrast ratio. A comparable model would cost a grand more at least! Video games are awesome, the computer looks amazing. Movies are so good that you think you are in a theater! I would like it to have 1080p, but I can live without it. Just make sure you arent fooled by how expensive cables are at Best Buy, they are the same quality on eBay and DIRT CHEAP. There is no way I would spend $200+ on cables! All in all, I love this thing, and have gotten rid of my old tv. Everyone I talk to about it is impressed with it and how cheap it was (granted I found mine at CompUSAs going out of business sale for $450, but I was ready to buy it full price off of amazon). Get this one. You wont be dissapointed!
On: 2008-01-31
I have had this projector for 2 years now. I was using the s-video input (with a 25 foot Acoustic Research cable) for DVDs, playstation 2, and digital cable television. I was always happy with the picture but whites were always fuzzy - you could see static on the screen (in my case a white wall). It took some research to find out that sVGA is the same as component video. So I experimented with a long component video to VGA cable (35 ft.). In order for this work with cable, I had to upgrade to a HDTV box because they are the only ones Cox Cable has with component video output (and hdmi of course). WOW...not only was the picture quality for regular cable increased - the EP719 takes the 1080i HDTV signal through this cable no problem (even recognizes it on screen as HDTV in the lower right corner). HDTV is so awesome on this projector. HUGE crystal clear HDTV quality resolution. DVDs are also much clearer too. That white fuzziness was completely eradicated.
I wanted to experiment with the HDMI to DVD-D conversion as I imagine the picture will be even better. But in order run everything (cable, ps2, dvd) through my stereo receiver with one cable to the projector I had to stick to one cable type - component video being it.
There is absolutely no need to buy an expensive plasma or LCD when for a fraction of the cost you can get the same high-res picture quality with a screen six times the size.
No Problems either. Get yourself a component video to VGA cable (dirt cheap on ebay). Or if you have a new receiver that has hdmi inputs, you can use all hdmi cables and then connect one hdmi cable with an hdmi-dvi-d converter and get the max out of your projector. Although, I have read that long runs of hdmi lose quality over 10 ft. whereas with component video you are ok up to 50 feet with no signal loss.
On: 2008-01-09
I purchased this projector over a year ago for business. It has traveled all over the U.S. with me for the past year, being used 2 or 3 times per week for an average of 5-6 hours at a time. I have not had any problems, and I have even started using it for watching movies on an outdoor screen that I built in my yard this summer. The kids love the "drive-in" movie nights, and the picture is bright and superb when hooked up to our upconverting dvd player. Low cost, (relatively), durable with great quality. This is my 3rd different projector in 4 years, and so far has proven to be the best yet.
On: 2008-01-08
I purchased this projector over a year ago for business. It has traveled all over the U.S. with me for the past year, being used 2 or 3 times per week for an average of 5-6 hours at a time. I have not had any problems, and I have even started using it for watching movies on an outdoor screen that I built in my yard this summer. The kids love the "drive-in" movie nights, and the picture is bright and superb when hooked up to our upconverting dvd player. Low cost, (relatively), durable with great quality. This is my 3rd different projector in 4 years, and so far has proven to be the best yet.
 On: 2007-11-10
Ive been running my EP719 as a third monitor and/or TV for nearing 2 months now and am quite pleased with its performance to date. It doesnt balk at extended gaming sessions or movie marathons, and the resolution is high enough to still see details. It performs admirably with games such as Halo 3, the Unreal Tournament 3 demo, and Hellgate: London.
The colors become a little washed out when my room lights are on, or the window shades are open, but the screen is still easily visible (and playable, for gamers). But in a darkened room, it works wonders.
The only thing keeping it from a 5 out of 5 is the visibility of color wheel artifacts (rainbow effect) when displaying highly contrasted areas (ie: power lines running across an open sky in a moving shot - the dark lines and immediate area waver with shimmering colors). But from what Ive seen at this point, the majority of viewing material doesnt contain high enough contrast to make this much of an issue.
All in all, Im happy with the projector, and would recommend it as a basic entry-level projector for people such as myself who are new to the projector scene.
On: 2007-08-10
If youre anxious to get started on a home theater and looking for a reasonably priced projector that delivers, look no further. This is my first projector, and I cant tell you how happy I am I went with this versus a $1500+ HDTV. Only two minuses keep it from being a 5 star rating. 1) You will need to make several adjustments to get the picture quality to be spot on, but once you do, it is a magnificent image. I found a very easy solution to making these adjusments. Find a DVD with the THX Optimizer option in the menus (Star Wars, and some Disney dvds have this) and run the video tests. Each step of these tests correspond to options on the projectors image menus and, once completed, will give you a prime setting for any DVD you play from that point forward. If you have an upscaling DVD player or an HD DVD player and use an HDMI-to-DVI cable connection, the optimization process is even simpler and the picture quality is as good as any HDTV on the market (provided you use a screen of course). I bought an $80 Panoview pull-down screen from Optoma and it does the trick. 2) The projector is only a 2-color wheel projector, which means you get a slight rainbow effect. A keen eye will pick this up occasionally, but after a few viewings, it just isnt noticeable. In fact, for seven months, I have been in a state of bliss as I am able to watch all my DVDs in a 100" diagonal format with virtually the same quality and image size of a $50,000 plus plasma TV. Even the component cable quality was stunning, though you need to buy an adapter from Optoma (around $40) to use the component input (I guess that might be a third minus). All in all, a great deal for a starter projector.
On: 2007-06-23
Here is the secret . . .
Buy a DVI400 Monster cable (cost around $80) and connect to your cable box (or any of your device) and project at the plain wall at night time (complete dark) . . . If it is High Definiion, I can say you get 100% (not even 99%, it is 100% quality movie . . .) I kept saying "wow", looking at the quality . . . ( bought new one for $599 few weeks ago)
On: 2007-06-17
This is a terrific projector, especially for HD content. It is better at night of course, but I can watch it in the daytime with my blinds closed. I have it for two years and passed the recommended lamp life (2000 hours) and it still works great. I project at about 90+ inches from about 7-8 feet back. I have a PC connected to the VGA port, a DVD player to the SVideo, and my HD cable box to the DVI port. Changing the source is easy to do from the remote control. The projector is small and light, and comes with a nice carrying case. I occasionally take it on the road with my laptop. The digital keystone correction distorts the picture a bit, so I recommend using the projector at a natural angle. A ceiling/wall mount kit can be acquired for around $60, but youll pay a lot for a long DVI/HDMI cable ($100+).
On: 2007-02-18
Ive been using my Optima EP719 DLP projector fro about a month now and I am well satisfied with the performance and low noise level. I use it teaching a college class and it is bright enough for good visibility in a classroom even when the shades are not fully closed. Set up and connecting to the computer is easy. The keystone adjustment is easy to use - better than on some other units Ive used. I had hoped the "remote" would allow changing slides on PowerPoint presentations but this remote only talks to the projector, a feature of limited use. I think this is a good value unit for the price.
 On: 2007-02-06
While I have my projector for 5 months, it stopped working and upon servicing it, Optoma returned it stating I needed to purchase a new lamp. The customer service representative said that it was my bad luck of the draw and there was nothing I could do but buy a new lamp on my own dime....go figure, great support. I will never buy from them again.
On: 2007-01-11
I researched many dlp projectors, before buying this one. I believe I got the best bang for the buck. It is a very versatile product. I am using it for both home theater and as a portable projector for videos and slideshows. The Positives are: 1) price, good price for a 1024 x 768 native resolution. 2 ) 2500:1 contrast ratio, one of the highest in this price range. 3) 2000:1 lumens, I play it on a bare, flat white wall, it looks as clear and crisp as any movie theater, cant wait to get my "screen goo" paint, for my wall. 4) operation noise, fairly quiet in the normal mode, on economy mode it is ultra quiet, cant hear projector at all. 5) keystone works great. I have my projector behind me on a shelf, near the ceiling, it creates an angle of projection. The keystone flattens out the picture, so it looks as like it should.
Negatives: not many but, a few minor annoyances. 1) The adjustment arm It is not centered. Why, I dont know. With a ceiling mount, it would be of no consequence. 2) Lens cap, everytime I remove it, I have to refocus, a minor detail. 3) It has composite video, and S-video, but you have to buy an adapter for component video. Right now my component video adapter is on back order. However, I am using S-video, and am very happy with the clearity of the my movies. I doubt if I could tell much of a difference with the component cables but, would like to see.
Summary;
I paid less than $800 for it, delivered to my door. I play it at 96" diagonal. You cannot buy a new plasma, dlp, or lcd tv, with this size screen, for that price. I dont believe in giving 5-stars for a product, unless it was the ultimate, in every way. So, with the few minor annoyances, I give this projector a strong 4-star rating.
On: 2007-01-03
Works just like advertised....although, I would recommend a higher lumines...is a bit faded when wathcing during daylight with curtains drawn.
I did buy a extra-large window shade ($20) for a screen and works perfectly! I see no need to purchase some $150-$200 special screen!
 On: 2006-12-18
I recently bought this projector (not through Amazon) and ended up having to return it. It has a persistent burning odor. I thought it would go away after an hour or two, but three days later and many hours, it was just as bad. It was so bad that my wife opened up the windows in our house and it was in the 20s outside.
I liked everything else about the projector. It was light and fairly small. The fan was quite and the picture was bright. If it didnt smell so bad, I would have kept it.
On: 2006-11-24
I purchased this projector last year and have been nothing but happy with it. I have not used its HDTV capabilities (since I have no sources), but I use it to display movies from a computer regularly.
With more input modes than you probably need, this projector will handle almost any display needs. I have used it for VGA and DVI input, as well as S-Video for my PS2.
As a computer monitor it performs spectacular up to resolutions of 1024x768. It is capable of down sampling 1280x1024 input, but it leaves 12 point text nearly unreadable during the down sample. I have been using it successfully at 1024x768 to play games and movies and it performs spectacularly.
When displaying analog tv input from my ps2 it does very well. Final Fantasy 10 showed only minor blurring from being displayed in a large monitor, and overall I am very happy with its analog tv capabilities.
As a monitor for a media center PC is amazing. After adjusting the settings the display is better than my parents rear projection screen.
After all that is said, there are a few problems:
1. The down sampling from 1280x1024 leaves a lot lacking. I tried to use this resolution to play World of Warcraft and the text distortions eventually caused a headache. Trying to program with 12 or 14 point text in this resolution caused similar problems. However, if I were simply viewing a movie I doubt I would have noticed the down sampling artifacts. If you plan on playing computer games or do things like program on this projector, be aware you will need to be in 1024x768 (not nearly as much of a problem as you would think, as you are on a 5 foot display... but still a slight letdown).
2. There is only one "user mode" for display settings, but it has very different needs for different inputs. For instance, PS2 has a radically darker output than a VGA computer connection, and leaving the brightness up when switching to a computer causes a washed out effect. The built in options "movie" "game" (and one other I cant recall) are acceptable, but hand tweaking the display settings for a particular input invariably leads to a cleaner brighter picture with more distinguishable colors. I would have liked to have at least 5 user settings for display.
3. If you are not using the right display settings for your input the output may be horrible. Effects range from dark colors in a ps2 blending into black, to washing out on a computer connection. Further, changing the contrast and brightness sometimes has radical effects on how many colors are visible.
4. The projector does not have auto light sensing as has been found on TVs since I was born. When you turn on the overhead light, you usually need to adjust the display to be brighter. This is something that a trivial bit of circuitry can, and should, handle.
With those problems stated, I would like to repeat, of the projectors on the market I believe this is the best home theater / personal use choice. Most people wont change inputs constantly, and setting your user settings to handle your movie input should be enough for most. As a computer display at 1024x768 it allows for team editing of documents, and would easily handle powerpoint if I used it. In the average situation, the room lighting is dark while using a projector, and auto light sensing wont be an issue.
If you are going to buy one projector this year, barring any amazing new competition it should be this projector. It is low cost, very bright, handles almost any input you could want, and very good at displaying movies and computer screens.
On: 2006-10-18
I dont usually rate items i buy but this projector is just too good not to rate. Just got it today. so i plugged it in to my dvd and hooked up my yamaha 5.1 surround system and put in saving private ryan for its maiden voyage. Absolutely amazing. only had to make a small adjument to the brightness and then i sat back in awe. The other reviews talk about how you can see details never seen before. I was skeptical about that but now that i see it it is 100% true. For the money this cannot be beat. hell even if you have all the money in the world i would still suggest this projector. so far i have it the screen at about 7 and half feet diagonal and according the instructions you can get it up to 39 but who in the hell wants that. where i have it is perfect for me and my space i have provided. If your not sure which projector you want for your home theater take a chance on this one and i know for certian you will not be disapointed.
On: 2006-10-11
I bought this projector about a year ago (I am also using it with my PC now as I write this) and it has not let me down once. Regular (non-HD) programming is marginal at best but that is a problem with almost any projector or plasma TV for that matter. DVDs, PC and console games as well as HDTV (especially sports) are nothing short of amazing. I have a 92" screen in a mostly dark room but I can also use it with the lights on in this room without any issues (the lights are on now as I write this). I have the bulb on economy mode and you can barely tell when you switch from full mode to economy mode. Economy mode is supposed to make the bulb last 30% longer so the very small difference between economy mode and full mode is not enough for me to sacrifice 30% of bulb life. We use it every day to watch TV or for work. The ONLY small knock on this is that there is little contract between the darkest shades of dark blacks. Since I am not a video expert, this may be able to be fixed through adjustments but I am not bothered by this problem enough to try it. I have considered projectors 1.5 to 2 times the cost of this one but the performance of this one stacks up with them and it is tiny. I have friends who have projectors that they spent a whole lot more for and they are huge eye sores in the middle of the room. This one performs as well if not better than that one and it is smaller than your standard dictionary.
On: 2006-10-10
I bought this projector about a year ago (I am also using it with my PC now as I write this) and it has not let me down once. Regular (non-HD) programming is marginal at best but that is a problem with almost any projector or plasma TV for that matter. DVDs, PC and console games as well as HDTV (especially sports) are nothing short of amazing. I have a 92" screen in a mostly dark room but I can also use it with the lights on in this room without any issues (the lights are on now as I write this). I have the bulb on economy mode and you can barely tell when you switch from full mode to economy mode. Economy mode is supposed to make the bulb last 30% longer so the very small difference between economy mode and full mode is not enough for me to sacrifice 30% of bulb life. We use it every day to watch TV or for work. The ONLY small knock on this is that there is little contrast between the darkest shades of dark blacks. Since I am not a video expert, this may be able to be fixed through adjustments but I am not bothered by this problem enough to try it. I have considered projectors 1.5 to 2 times the cost of this one but the performance of this one stacks up with them and it is tiny. I have friends who have projectors that they spent a whole lot more for and they are huge eye sores in the middle of the room. This one performs as well if not better than that one and it is smaller than your standard dictionary.
On: 2006-09-06
Okay, a few guidelines here. You will not get your best picture with a regular yellow RCA cable. You wont even get it with S-Video or component video. To really make this baby shine like it can, you need to get a DVI-to-HDMI adaptor and an HDMI cable to your DVD player or get a VGA cable output from your media player (XBOX 360 offers one for about $40, and thats what Im using on my system now). Also, you want to get a screen. Projecting on the wall is okay, but you wont get nearly the picture quality you would on a smooth, white surface. You can spend $1,500 on a home theatre screen or you can go to Home Depot and pick up a 4x8 sheet of white vinyl covered paperboard for $15. Theyll even cut it to size for you for a few more dollars. its a great screen because its almost completely smooth (it has a very fine texture which keeps it non-reflective-thats good) and you can wipe it down with a damp cloth if it gets dirty.
Thats it for the guidelines about setup. So you know, Im using mine strictly for home theatre use. We run video games, movies, TV, etc. on it. This is really easy if youre using component video or s-video, but youll sacrifice quality compared to the VGA. With those, you need to have hardware that will output a VGA signal, and thats not always easy. if you have a dedicated HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer), youre golden. You can get a card that lets you run TV into the computer and send out a VGA signal to the projector, all in real time. As a bonus, it can serve as a DVR and DVD-Recorder. If you arent quite that tech-savvy, youll be better off finding a VGA output box that takes other inputs (COAX especially if youre looking to watch regular TV on your projector).
As far as the picture goes, its absolutely amazing. Like any projector, youre going to get less quality in a well-lit room than a completely dark one, but if you can draw your shades, itll probably be plenty dark to get a good-quality picture. We have a bunch of windows in the living room with the projector (3 up high, 2 very large windows right next to the TV and a few smaller windows, all covered with standard mini-blinds) and it works perfectly fine during the day. Compared to our old TV, the picture is many times better. On certain video games with text, you couldnt read it at all on the TV screen because it was too small and blurry. it is large and crystal clear on the projector (we have a projected screen of about 78" with a 10-11 foot distance from the projector to the wall). The quality and detail is amazing. I didnt know it could be that good, to be honest. I cant stress enough how big of a difference the proper cables make. We ran it with S-video and the image was good, but it was fairly dark, with weird contrast issues (black seemed almost bright, and it really made darker scenes in movies difficult to watch). After switching to the VGA cable, the image is as good as any TV I have seen, including the $5,000 LCD flat screens they sell these days.
The projector is also very quiet. We have it set to the highest fan setting and its still barely audible, aven though its just on a shelf a few feet above our heads. You can hear it if theres nothing on the TV, but once youre actually watching something, you wont notice it at all. I was worried about this because my friend has an LCD projector and it is very loud, to the point where you can even hear it over movies sometimes. This one is very quiet at worst and Im sure you could turn the fan down low enough to make it nearly silent.
To conclude, if youre looking for a projector, get this one. Its very inexpensive for the quality you get (compare the resolution, lumens, contrast, etc. to the $3,000 home theatre projectors and youll see what I mean), and the picture is better than you could imagine. Just be sure to take cabling into account. if you have no way of getting at least Component video (red, green and Blue plugs) into it, Id suggest waiting until you can. Youll be disappointed with it if you dont give it the right input. Just like you wouldnt put regular unleaded into a Lamborghini, dont put a regular RCA signal into this projector.
 On: 2006-08-25
The projector is fairly small. The build quality isnt great. (Cheap flimsy plastics) It is bright and works okay. I wouldnt suggest it for a classroom
On: 2006-08-23
Just got this unit had been using an infocus X1 followed that up with a X2 but still missing the clarity and color I wanted in satellite tv viewing as well as DVD and VCR viewing. The Optoma 719 upgraded my X2 from 800 x 600 up to an eye popping 780P/1024 x 768 resolution that is nothing less than spectacular video viewing. I use a flat wall surface prepared and painted with "Screen Goo" (tm) and thats it. The room is lit by one 25 watt (fridge) light bulb, providing plenty of light to still move around in a room area roughly 14 x 25 located in a basement area with windows blocked. This is better than the movie theater. The color and clarity, resoultion of this projector with the new Texas Instruments DLP Dark Chip 2 is incredible for the same price as a much lesser resolution X1 or X2 from InFocus. Dont get me wrong I really enjoy my X2 projector and its great for gaming but for the serious DVD/TV in HD viewer you cant do much better than this. Contrast ration is fantastic as well as amount of lumens for the buck. The thing is so light weight that I was timid taking it out of the box. This is a great bargin in a time when auto fuel is a kings ransom.
On: 2006-08-21
I have had an Optoma 719 for about five months. Picture quality was good. It is easy to use. I havent hauled it around enough to know how sturdy it is.
My only gripe is that the documentation is poor. This device comes with a USB port on the back. It doesnt seem to do anything. There is no informaton on it in the accompanyng documentation or on the website. An e mail to tech support was not answered. I hope that I dont have any big problems with it.
For those who might be interested it does work with S Video.
On: 2006-04-23
!*!*!*! First off I have used other projectors in the past and was well on my way to buying either dlp or plasma 52" Tv with hdtv tuner built in...
In buisness most projectors are a hassle and the quality is only good if all the lights are off and even then they seemed far behind the Tv compatition. Then in the midst of purchasing a Tv a guru salesman came over to me and said "Doc, if you really want something awesome try the optoma Ep739, or its cheaper brother the optoma 719.
!*!*!*!.. I found a dealer with the optoma 719 and was very impressed with its ability to be bright even with two target touch lamps on in the room. The kids were impressed with the xbox 360 working with the system on display in 480 as well as 720, I didnt see it in 1080i but heard it was a stunner. We opted to go ahead and purchase the higher end brother the Optoma EP739 through circuit city online, since most retail stores bestbuy and circuit city dont cary the hi end stuff they usually just sell it through the web cause they sell tons of the cheap stuff at their store and very little use for big boy toys.
!*!*!*!*!In perpetual conclusion, after three days of anticipation we had it mounted and had the av switcher hooked up running 5 other devices to the projector.
<>
...for the xbox 360 and the hi definition dvd player we had purchased, you can connect those directly to the unit as well and the unit will know which one is turned on immedietly, if it doesnt pick it up at first in every 10 seconds it will resync and try again, if you are impatient as me and my wife have become due to T1 internet connections, you can just use the remote and tell it which input area you want to use. AND the best feature is that it will auto recognize the setting. So xbox360 auto to 720p and is unbelievable! as for bulb life buy the longest best warranty, every 45 days ask for a new bulb if ya need it or not. they will gladly give you one and it makes for good savings down the road when you are off the warranty. some other hot tips....
@*@*@*@*@*@*@ Dont buy one with a bunch of fancy [...] like a dvdplayer built in, cause if it goes your screwed. dont buy one under 2000: 1 contrast, thats as low as you ever want. and never below 2000 lumins.
.... Dont buy any with autofocus, the one we had in the office had auto focus, and sure enough it went out. manual focus is fine and very easy to use.
@*@*@*@*@ Buy a swiffer dust magnet pad, they are blue soft feathery fluffy thing and slip on the end of a stick most wives will know what this is, it is a dream tool to clean the outside lens, usually i dont even touch the lens, the dust particles just fly off toward the blue pad.
!*!*!*!*! As for screens yu dont have to buy one if you have 2000 lumins and a clean white wall. but if your paying 1,400 to 2,200 for a projector you might as well spend 100.00 on a descent screen. Optoma once again is king in my eyes and Ive seen alot. another good idea is the new paint you can purchase to use instead of a screen, if you are planning to go huge movie size like 20 feet or so, this is the way to do it. I would frame the painted area with crown molding and then paint the molding jet dull nonreflective black. This really helps to set it apart.
@*@*@*@*@*@*@ Other wonderfull secrets, if your projector operates on a 802. frequency you can purchase a television tuner box that will send it a wireless connection through your house. addlogix MA-WL-DVI EchoView Wireless Video Adapter retail 300.00 is one for example, I have not seen this in action so no clue YET.
here are the stats on that...
Send comptuer video (up to 1024 x 768) wirelessly to video displays
Works with VGA or DVI projectors, CRT monitors, flat panels, or TVs
Compatible with wireless (802.11 b/g) enabled PC (no additional hardware required)
Plug-and-play installation with driver installed from the product (no CD)
Presenter no longer needs to be close to the projector (not limited by cable)
Access Internet or local area network (LAN) through on-board 10/100 Ethernet interface....
Lastly ,,,for now... HD dvd players are the hot new thing, unfortunatly its harder than heck to find a dvd thats hdtv quality, but trust me they look 2x as good. We get ours from NetFlix, and the upconvert on our Hd dvd player does a Ok job. Another unfortunate thing, those Hd dvd players usually dont come with the HDMI cable so you will have to purchase one, the cheap aluminum ones are around 50.00 the 24k gold ones are 150.00 dollars. But very much worth it when you get the chance to show it off. The last benefit to projector is, we take it with us on vacation as well as everytime we are in a hotel since it only weighs 5lbs and comes with a great carry case.
On: 2006-03-01
I bought this strictly for PowerPoint presentations. But to show it off to my wife, I connected it to our DVD player. My Lord! The image is flawless. You can get totally lost in the detail of a movie in an only partially dimmed room (Venetian blinds, sunny day). In the dark, it is exactly like being in a theater. Because of our small place, we have only been able to show about a 60" diameter image, but I have projected it across the room and been able to see clear detail on the wall.
I can see the rainbow effect on other DLP projectors, although it doesnt bother me. I cant see it on this one. My only complaint is the faint dot crawl at the edge of high contrast areas, which I understand might go away if I used an S-Video connection. (Note--as far as I can tell, the S-video connection wont work with progressive scan DVD players.) But the dot crawl is faint, and only shows up when I look for it. Overall, the image is infinitely better than on our 21" TV.
I still havent hooked it up to my laptop, and we have 12 hours logged on the lamp. If you want a business projector that can project a good image in fairly bright environments and double to show movies on Saturday night, this is the one.
On: 2006-01-13
I found this projector to be the Best Bang for the Buck after comparison shopping with all the different brands available. Comparing 2500:1 contrast ratio, 2000 ANSI lumens, 16x9 aspect ratio, up to 300 inches screen size projection (huge), 720p or 1080i (high def. DLP), easy set-up, multi connectivity and compatibility for under 1 grand is remarkable while other brand doesnt even come close. Ofcourse there are better specs. projectors out there but be ready to pay more. The higher the contrast ratio and ANSI lumens the better.
To enjoy the full potential of a 1080i picture (movie theater experience minus the annoying person behind you) you need to connect an HD source or an upconverting DVD like Samsung ($130) and a surround sound system. Soon youll look forward to every Friday & Saturday movie nights at home with the kids and a big smile on your face.
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