Epson Home Cinema 700: Bottom Line
Really into "home theater", and the richest possible movie viewing experience? The Epson Home Cinema 700 was not built for you. If, however, you want a bright, low cost projector for sports viewing, and/or you will watch movies, but are satisfied with a good picture, don't care about pure performance, and want a rock bottom price, then the Home Cinema 700 deserves a serious look.
I should note, again, that the Home Cinema 700 is virtually identical to Epson's W6 - their entry level widescreen business projector. You might think of it more of a cross-over projector - for business and home - rather than a dedicated home theater solution.
Because we see this as a projector that will end up in a multi-purpose type room, we aren't particularly concerned about the higher than average audible noise levels. OK, it's not particularly quiet, but there are plenty of projectors costing several times its price that are just as noisy. That's my way of saying it really shouldn't be an issue for normal usage.
I love the lumens. I was able to open a lot of shades to really let some daylight in (sunlight hitting the carpet), and still have a watchable image. Here's a shot of the room, on a night scene. You can see the image is definitely being washed out somewhat, but that's better than any other projector anywhere near its price can do.
I should note, that my screen is a Firehawk G3. It's nature, as a high contrast gray screen, is that this picture was taken from the worst place possible angle. The bright light from the windows/doors will mostly bounce back off the screen at the same angle (right at the camera). The picture on the screen looked much better when viewing straight back from the center of the screen.
At one point, I viewed only the HC700 for about three days in a row. It took a while, but for a lot of viewing I really didn't mind the entry level performance, and I'm as spoiled as anyone, as an owner of the RS20 JVC projector. It certainly isn't for me, or any other hard core enthusiast, but I can see a lot of people enjoying it. It performs as advertised!
One last time: It is bright, it really does well on sports and other general viewing, but comes up short on black levels for serious movie enthusiasts. All considered, its low price should make a great entry level projector for a lot of folks. (The football image above was shot with more than a little ambient light present. Finally, it makes an excellent, low cost, crossover projector, one you can buy for business usage, and have it double as a very respectable home entertainment projector.