Portable Digital Projectors Reviews

Best Portable Digital Projectors Reviews: (out of 17)
Projector Central.com, ProjectorReviews.com, PC Magazine

Best Portable Digital Projectors: (out of 40)
Epson PowerLite S4, Dell 2400MP, Optoma EP719

Fast Answers - Best Portable Digital Projectors

Top Rated	What the Research Says
• Epson PowerLite S4 (*est. $600) >> Where to buy	Best low-resolution business projector. If you mostly need a projector for PowerPoint presentations, reviews say you can get by with a cheaper SVGA projector, which has a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. Reviewers agree that the Epson S4 is impressive for the price. The light output is bright enough for medium-sized conference rooms. Colors are rich and accurate, although contrast is not particularly good -- a common problem with low-cost LCD projectors. Reviews say video performance is not bad, and at 5.7 pounds, it's reasonably lightweight. Reviews say the remote is easy to use, but this digital projector doesn't include a laser pointer. Password protection is a nice plus, as is the two-year warranty. (compare prices)
• Dell 2400MP (*est. $1,200) >> Where to buy	Best digital projector overall. The Dell 2400MP has resolution of 1024 x 768, so reviews say it's a better choice than an SVGA projector for presentations involving spreadsheets, software demos or training videos. At 5.5 pounds, it’s not the lightest business projector around, but it's not the heaviest either. To make travel easier, Dell includes a "drop-tested" case that's large enough for the projector and some accessories. Reviewers say that this digital projector has more features and better performance many more expensive models. With a light output of nearly 3,000 lumens, it's among the brightest in its class. (compare prices)
• Optoma EP719 (*est. $815) >> Where to buy	Budget XGA digital projector. While this Optoma office projector is not feature rich, and reviewers say that the remote control lacks some functions, experts say image quality is crisp and accurate. Text and graphics are said to be sharp from edge to edge and contrast is high enough for many applications, including decent video performance. The brightness, which measures close to the manufacturer's claim of 2,000 lumens, is sufficient for most presentation settings.
• Optoma EP1690 (*est. $1,200) >> Where to buy	Best dual-duty multimedia projector. Experts say the Optoma EP1690 is best for those who want a business projector that can also deliver good (though not great), home-theater performance. Thanks to its widescreen WXGA resolution, it can display every detail of a 720p HDTV signal, and it has an HDCP-compliant DVI input for use with home entertainment gear. For business users, the projector is on the heavy side (7 pounds), but it produces plenty of light output and has a laser-pointer remote with full mouse controls. Image quality -- including color, black levels and contrast -- is good for a business projector, but it doesn’t match the best dedicated home-theater projectors.
• Canon Realis SX50 (*est. $3,425) >> Where to buy	High-resolution LCoS business projector. When fed with SXGA+ (1400 x 1050 pixels) data and images from a computer source, reviewers say this Canon projector offers the best image quality of any business-class digital projector. According to reports, individual pixels are invisible from as close as two feet from the screen, images are razor sharp, and the colors are fully saturated to create vivid pictures that pop off the screen. Although this digital projector has also found a place in some home theaters, reviewers say that it does not do a great job with video. Its 8.6-pound weight makes it better as a permanent installation rather than a portable projector. (compare prices)
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What the experts say, our analysis, and more...

Updated May 2007

At first glance, portable digital projectors designed for the business market seem to have much in common with their home-theater counterparts. But a closer look reveals some very significant differences, including weight, screen aspect, brightness, contrast, resolution and price. This report focuses on digital projectors that shine brightest in the boardroom or on the road. Digital projectors are also becoming an increasingly popular option for home theaters, and that's especially true of those capable of displaying widescreen high-definition TV signals in their full resolution. In addition, home-theater projectors can display the largest high-definition images of all at the lowest cost-per-inch compared to other television technologies. See our separate report on home-theater projectors if you are more interested in a projector for your living room than for the conference room.

There are a number of excellent places to find reviews of business-class portable digital projectors. First and foremost are ProjectorCentral.com and ProjectorReviews.com. These two sites are 'all projectors all the time' and include lots of great background information, as well as in-depth reviews that sometimes go on for pages. Information about both business and entertainment projectors can be found at both sites.

Since business digital projectors are most typically used with computers to create detailed presentations, good reviews and information can also be found at computer-oriented magazines and websites, including PC Magazine, PC World, CNet.com and Laptop magazine. These publications, however, are more sporadic in their coverage. Consumer Reports has an article on projectors, but editors focus on entertainment applications rather than office use.

While some digital projectors are promoted as being suitable for both business applications and in a home theater, few if any projectors actually excel at both roles. One example is the Mitsubishi HD4000U (*est. $2,360) , a 1280 x 768 pixel (WXGA) widescreen DLP projector capable of displaying high-definition TV images at their full resolution. While that projector is marketed for both home and business use, reviewers say it doesn't do that well as a home-theater projector. In a review for Audioholics.com, a website that caters to high-end home audio/video enthusiasts, Ray Adkins bluntly says "we don't believe this projector would be suitable in the home theater environment."

Reviewers looking at the Mitsubishi projector as a business tool are somewhat kinder, focusing on its relatively bright output and native WXGA resolution. In his review for ProjectorCentral.com, Evan Powell says the Mitsubishi HD4000U is a good choice for road warriors who need a widescreen display, even though this model is more expensive than others. At ProjectorReviews.com, Art Feierman says that the projector has enough strengths to offset its weaknesses, but adds that there are several flaws. Those include a soft image, a slower than typical DLP color wheel resulting in more frequent DLP "rainbows" and artifacts such as posterization in some bright areas of the image. All three of these reviews echo each other, and all reach a similar conclusion -- that the Mitsubishi is better for the office than in a home theater, but that other portable digital projectors are better still. ... Continued

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Consensus Report

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of Picks	Model (with retailer links)	Details from Amazon.com
4	Dell 2400MP (*est. $1,200)	details
3	Optoma EP719 (*est. $815)	details
2	Mitsubishi XD460U (*est. $2,075)	details
2	Epson PowerLite S4 (*est. $600)	details
2	Canon Realis SX50 (*est. $3,425)
2	Canon Realis X600 (*est. $2,400)	details
2	Epson PowerLite 76c (*est. $710)	details
2	Optoma EP1690 (*est. $1,200)
2	Boxlight Broadview (*est. $1,600)	-
2	Epson PowerLite 1715c (*est. $1,870)	details
1 each	Canon LV-X6 , Hitachi CP-RX60 , InFocus LP70+ , InFocus LP120, Mitsubishi XD205U , NEC NP60 , Optoma EP739, Panasonic PT-P1SDU , Panasonic LB60NTU , Plus Vision V-339 , Sanyo PLV-80 , Sony VPL-CX76 , Toshiba TDP-FF1AU , ViewSonic PJ458D

Most of the business projectors top-ranked by experts appear in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers. The Dell 2400MP is an XGA projector that's capable of producing very bright images. The Optoma 719 is a lightweight budget XGA projector that's a good fit for those who travel frequently. The Epson PowerLite S4 is a low-cost SVGA projector. The Optoma EP1690 is a WXGA projector that works in the home or office. The Canon Realis SX50 produces high-quality images at its native SXGA+ resolution.

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