If you want to save a little space in your living room, or use your wall as a massive TV screen, or even if you're interested in building a proper theater at home, you may want to consider switching to a projector instead of a standard set. Thankfully, there are plenty to choose from that are a great bang for the buck and offer bright, vibrant, full HD video. Here's a look at five of the best.
Earlier this week we asked you which home theater projectors you thought were the best. We know it's a huge category, but as always, you came through with great options that hit the sweet spot of quality, price, features, and usability. Here's what you said.
Optoma HD33
The Optoma HD33 is a 3D ready DLP projector capable of full 1080p HD video and bright (at 1800 ANSI lumens), vibrant images on a screen up to 300 inches. It sports a 4000:1 contrast ratio. Its not one of Optoma's newest models and some retailers will tell you it's discontinued but it's still widely available, especially around the $1000 mark, while it retailed closer to $1300 when it was new.
The HD33 hits a nice bang-for-the-buck point, offering a wealth of connectivity options for tons of devices in your home theater, including two HDMI ports, a VGA port, component video, composite video, RS-232 and +12V trigger, and a VESA 3D port on the back. Optoma's projection lamp is rated for 4000 hours of use (3000 in "bright mode,") before you have to replace it, and up until this May, our friends at The Wirecutter listed it as their pick for best projector (that pick has been updated, mind you). If you can get your hands on one, an HD33 is a great option for your home theater, but watch out for the "rainbow" effect that comes from having only one DLP processor.
Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350
The Epson 8350 is another full 1080p HD LCD projector that's small but packs a bright, beautiful picture. It's bright at 2000 ANSI lumens and offers a remarkable 50,000:1 contrast ratio. It stands out from some of the others because it offers 3 different image procesing chips, which can minimize some of the "rainbow" effect that projector lovers know and in many cases, hate. It's still widely available, largely at its retail price of $1299.
The 8350 features two HDMI ports, component video, composite video, S-video, one VGA port, an an RS-232C port, so it's not lacking on connectivity options. Its lamp is rated for 4000 hours of use before it'll need to be replaced. Those of you who praised the 8350 noted it works exceptionally well regardless of where you place it, making it flexible enough to mount on the ceiling, keep on a table in front of the screen, or anywhere else you have space for it. Some of you even commented that you have it displaying screen sizes well over 100 inches with remarkable picture quality. We're not surprised, the 8350 did pick up a PC Mag Editor's Choice Award.
Optoma HD25/HD25-LV
The Optoma HD25 and its "large venue" higher-lumen cousin the HD25-LV are both successors to the now discontinued Optoma HD20, which was a great model in its day, but has since been surpassed by other, newer, and brighter projectors in the same price range. The only major difference between the HD25 and the HD25-LV is that the latter is meant for larger spaces, and is brighter as a result. The HD25 is bright at 2000 ANSI lumens, while the HD25-LV packs 3200 ANSI lumens in the same package. Both models sport a 20,000:1 contrast ratio. The HD25 retails for $1900, but is available for closer to $1000. The HD25-LV retails for $2499, but is available for $1300.
Both models offer full 1080p HD and are 3D ready DLP projectors, and can project onto screens up to 301 inches. They both also offer two HDMI inputs, two VGA-in, VGA-out port, a 3D VESA Port, composite video, two audio inputs, one audio output, a RS-232C port, and a USB port, which you can use to connect as many devices as you choose. Both models rate their lamp life at 6000 hours (3500 in bright mode) before they need to be replaced. Those of you who nominated it praised it as a substantial update over the HD20, and great bang for your buck, especially if you can find it discounted at Amazon or on sale over at Woot.
Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 3020/3020e
The Epson 3020 and 3020e projectors are both full 1080p, 3D ready LCD projectors that are on the leading edge of Epson's home theater line. Like some of the others in our roundup, it's picked up an Editor's Choice Award from PCMag, so it's a great model, and even The Wirecutter mentioned it as better than their current pick for the best projector?and subsequently said to avoid it because of the big caveat both reviewers noted: The price. The 3020 retails for $1600 and is available for that much, and 3020e both retails and is available for $1899.
The major difference between the 3020 and the 3020e is that the latter comes with wireless HDMI, and even comes with a wireless HDMI dongle so you can connect other devices to your projector wirelessly. PCMag noted that it takes a while to establish a connection, but when it works, it works well. Aside from that, both models sport 3 chip optical engines, are bright at 2300 ANSI lumens, and feature a 40,000:1 contrast ratio. They promise screen sizes of up to 300 inches. Both models feature two HDMI ports, component video and composite video, VGA out, RCA stereo out, one USB port, and an RS-232 port. Both models rate their lamp life at 4000 hours (5000 in "ECO mode"). They're expensive, and the Wirecutter noted that it's hard to justify their high price, but the quality is definitely on par with a high-end projector.
Optoma GT750E
The Optoma GT750E is designed to be a gamer's projector for small spaces, but its capabilities aren't limited to full-motion gaming. It's a 720p DLP model, and it's also 3D ready. It packs 3000 ANSI lumens and a 3000:1 contrast ratio, so it'll do you well in a modest space. It does, however, claim to project images up to 322.4 inches across (diagonally). It's also a steal, retailing at $750, but available at Amazon for $700, even less if you look around. Don't be worried about it being a 720p model among a bunch of 1080p projectors?it's still a solid model, and if you don't believe me, it picked up a PCMag Editor's Chocie Award, but it's important to remember it is a shorter throw projector than some of the others here.
The GT750E sports a variety of connectivity options, including two HDMI ports, one VGA port, an S-video input, acomposite video input, one Stereo RCA Audio-in, another Stereo Audio-out, and an RS-232 port. The lamp is rated for 4000 hours in standard mode or 3000 hours in bright mode. At least one of you showed off showed off photos of yours, and notied that it's exceptional for small spaces where you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p anyway, and if you do any full-motion gaming on your TV, you'll appreciate the minimal lag time. Besides, it even comes with a backpack, just to make it extra portable.
Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to put them to an all-out vote:
The honorable mention this week include the BenQ W1070 1080p 3D Projector, which The Wirecutter recommends as the best sub-$1000 projector. A few of you nominated a few other BenQ models, but sadly no specific model got enough nominations to make the top five.
One thing we should also mention is that there's so much more to building a great home theater than just a projector. You need a good, dark space, a projector that works well in that space, and a really good screen to project onto- any old wall can work, but it won't look as great as it could if you take the time to get a great screen, or paint specifically for projection. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg though, and we have some tips that can help you build it.
Have something to say about one of the contenders? Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is?and make your case for it?in the discussions below.
The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it?it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!
Photo by Lee Haywood.
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