Do you have a big blank wall?
Written: Feb 13 '05 (Updated Feb 26 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Reliability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
|
|
| Display Quality: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Amazing picture quality for the price
Cons: Not for daytime projection, unless you go for the basement!
The Bottom Line: A good option for a first home theater under 1000$.
|
|
|
| jiankabe's Full Review: Epson PowerLite S1+ LCD Projector |
Do you have a big blank wall?
If so, your first home theater may be only a few clicks away. I had read many reviews for projectors under 1000$, and hesitated a long time before opting for LCD technology.
I had used this type of projector to make PowerPoint presentations on computers, and I was not so sure this would make a good movie projector. The Epson S1 had many good reviews, but by the time I had made a decision, it was not available anymore.
This is a problem that may arise when there are several versions of a product available. From the reviews, I gathered that the S1+ was actually slightly more powerful than the S1 (1400 lumens vs. 1200). If you shop for this projector online, make sure you check which version you are looking at.
Now, depending what you intend to do with it, this may or may not be the ideal projector. I do not watch TV much, and watch movies only at night, so this really was the best deal in terms of picture quality and price. A screen would probably improve the picture quality, but the white wall of my living-room is largely enough for me.
The only downside I see with this unit (but really it is related to the price) is that you can't watch movies in broad daylight. If you need to watch during the day, my estimation is that you probably need a projector capable of yielding at least 2000 lumens to have a reasonably bright picture. Now remember that the number of lumens is broadly a reflection of what the projector is going to cost (2000 lumens: 2000$, 3000 lumens: 3000$). Another option would be to use a shaded room, or a basement. For my needs, however, this is an amazing projector. I got it from Amazon for under 1000$ in April of 2004, I see that you can now find it for much less than that.
This is very inexpensive for a home theater. I choose to connect the projector to the TV, which enables me to view anything that goes to the TV (Satellite, VHS, DVD). The quality is however best with the DVD player. The TV is separately connected to my stereo, and the sound is surprisingly good. There is no need in my view to buy any of the overpriced home theater sound systems.
A few technical details
The projector is relatively light (7 lb), and comes with a handle and carrying case. Start-up and shut-down times are under 20 seconds. All the necessary cables are included, as well as a credit card size remote controller and a USB controller if you want to use a computer (Mac and Windows compatible). As far as I can tell, the technical specifications are as good as it gets (it takes any video input signal know to me).
The unit is relatively easy to set up and operate, using the controls on the top of the projector or the remote controller. One great feature is the keystone, that allows to you adapt the image to the projection angle (the projected image remains rectangular whatever the angle). This projector can also be used to project from behind a screen, or from the ceiling (the image can be set upside-down).
What is nice is that the size of the image is essentially limited by the size of the wall and the distance from the projector (plus or minus some leeway from the incorporated zoom). I have used this projector in a very large room with a screen size of approximately 150". Epson boast a 300" screen size at a distance of 37ft, but I have not been able to find a space big enough to verify this!
One important factor for projectors is the fan noise, which may be annoying. Again, this projector has an acceptable noise for the price range (Epson say 33dB, which is fairly standard). It is hard to express what the level of noise is, in my case, I hear it at first, then forget about it.
The lamp (Epson V13H010L25 Lamp Module for EMP-S1) is expensive, current official price is close to 200$. However, the declared lifetime is 2000 hours. To give you an idea, I am at 603 hours after almost a year (the projector keeps track of that), that's probably more than 200 movies. Epson offers a two-year warranty on the projector, and full customer support during that period. I have had no reason to test either.
The Epson homepage is a great source of information. There you can find downloadable user manuals as well as very detailed specifications (www.epson.com, click on multimedia projectors) for all their projectors.
The bottom line:
Home theater systems are still expensive, but this is a very reasonable option that enables you to set up your own movie theater under 1000$. You may want to invest more if you need to project in broad daylight, or if you want a very silent system.
Recommended:
Yes
Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 999
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jiankabe
|
|
Location: New England
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.