Optoma offers excellent warranty coverage for the TX542, with 3 years parts and labor on the projector and, unlike most manufacturers, one full year on the lamp. In addition, the TX542 is covered by Optoma’s Express Replacement service, which works as follows:
During the first year of the warranty, if a projector requires repair, the end-user calls Optoma’s toll-free number and Optoma will ship a refurbished unit to the end-user. The end-user then ships the original unit back to Optoma for a credit. The refurbished unit carries a warranty equal to the remainder of the existing warranty or 90 days, whichever is greater.
During the second and third year of the warranty, rather than providing a replacement unit, Optoma ships a loaner projector to the end-user for use while the projector is being repaired. After repair, the original unit is returned to end-user, who then ships the loaner back to Optoma for a credit.
Although it’s not quite as simple to obtain service as some of the competition, it’s still an excellent warranty, especially when you consider the one-year, no hour limit, warranty on the lamp.
The Optoma TX542 provides a lot of value for the money. It’s image quality, color rendition and scaling/resizing of higher resolutions is very solid and for the most part, equal to or better than other projectors in its class. While it didn’t achieve its rated lumen output (see the Performance section for details), it still provided plenty of brightness and should be more than adequate for its intended market. In Bright mode, the TX542 displays the dark reds and mustardy yellows normally associated with DLP projectors, but in other modes (particularly Movie mode), colors were well-saturated and accurate. Setup was simple and the adjustments available in the User modes allow the user to tailor the TX542’s display to their taste. Noise level in Bright lamp mode was quite low for a projector in this class and combines with the built-in stereo speaker system to provide adequate sound levels without an add-on sound system.
The Optoma TX542 compares well with other projectors in its class. The recently reviewed Sharp PG-D3510X offers more brightness, but the Optoma matches it in most of the other performance categories. As the TX542 routinely sells for half the price of the Sharp, it’s a great choice where the extra lumens of the Sharp are not needed.
Overall, the TX542 should find its way into a number of classrooms. Whether you’re doing a standard PowerPoint presentation or playing videos, the TX542 displays a consistently sharp picture with solid color reproduction. Add in Optoma’s one year lamp warranty, Express replacement service and low street price, and you’ve got a winner.
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