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Business Projectors: What Your Dollar Buys Today
Update - April 2006
The cost of projectors for business, education, and government continue to fall. In recent months the drop in prices has been quite significant, more than 25% in some catagories
Overview: Top Brands
There are about fifty "manufacturers" out there, although not all build their own product, in fact many simply relabel product from other original manufacturers or make very minor changes, and sell the products under their own names. Here is a short list of the top selling brands that actually design and build their projectors. Who is number one varies depending on the research source, but these are most of the volume leaders in no particular order:
Entry Level Projectors (Performance - Not Price)
Entry Level projectors come in two flavors:
The lower resolution SVGA models can now be found for as little at $699 online, and occasionally a little less. (There are only a few models down there, most are around $1000.. XGA models start around $999 - $1199
Quicktip: Of course almost all computers out there are now at least XGA resolution, so for clean, clear, crisp small text and graphics you should be looking to get an XGA projector, and these now start from about $1400 although you may be able do better on some closeouts, or "factory refurbished" projectors.
The lower resolution SVGA projectors comprise about 40 percent of US projector sales, and the bulk of those are purchased by schools. It is my opinion that many, and possibly most, non-education purchasers of SVGA projectors, are choosing poorly, for a number of reasons (but, primarily due to a lack of good advice). The primary reason, is that projectors are treated more and more as commodities, which they are. As a result expertise is hard to find. And buyers are often not aware of the practical and significant differences between the two resolutions.
In almost all cases, we recommend you opt for the more expensive XGA models, in fact in most cases if you have that $999 for an entry level XGA projector, we would strongly recommend you choose that over a similarly priced SVGA model that is brighter (more lumens).
In fact, you may seriously want to consider a specialist - mostly A/V dealers have sales people who are knowledgeable about what works best, thanks to strong backgrounds in the "projector, plasma display and LCD display" industry. They are far more likely to be able to speak intelligently, and get you where you need to be. Even if you don't want to know the details, there's a real advantage to buying from someone who knows the products and issues. BTW, onlineA/V resellers are generally known to charge about 5-7% more than the least expensive PC resellers, Spending an extra $50 to $100 is not a great price to pay, if it gets you into the right product, instead of one that is a poor choice for your specific needs..
Long Term Compatibility SVGA vs XGA
Let's finish the SVGA vs XGA issue: Another drawback to SVGA resolution projectors is that more and more laptops are even higher than XGA resolution, or they are widescreen - which also means even higher resolution. As a result, even XGA projectors may have to "work hard" to do a good job, and SVGA models if they work at the higher resolutions at all, may produce really difficult to read small type and objects, and even large "Powerpoint" type presentations may be noticeably degraded. Many SVGA projectors will have great difficulty in handling these newer resolution computers.
Quicktip: Plan ahead. Even if you are fine for now, if you replace your computer in the next year or two, your next laptop may be more than an SVGA projector can deal with in terms of a readable, quality image.
Back to what your money will buy you.
SVGA entry level projectors mostly sold for between $750 and $999 during 2005. Relative to today's prices expect at least $100 and perhaps as much as $200 lower prices by end of 2006. By end of 2006 I think its safe to expect to a $499 SVGA projector or two, and plenty at $599. As to XGA projectors, it wouldn't be surprising to be able to pick up an entry level model for $799, and certainly you should have no problem finding $899 by year end..
What you can expect from your entry level projector:
Quicktip: For reasons discussed elsewhere "DLP vs. LCD Projectors, Which to choose" figure you need a DLP projector to need to have about 30% or more lumens than an LCD projector to do a comparable job, in rooms with ambient light.
Physical attributes of Entry Level projectors:
Most weigh at least 5 or 6 pounds, and up to 9 pounds. (By comparison the lightest projectors are just under 2 lbs.) Rarely would a projector below 5 pounds count as entry level, as you are paying a premimum for the reduced size.
Other attributes:
Final advice for choosing entry level projectors: This is your second reminder - you will need more lumens on a DLP projector to overcome ambient lighting, than would be required of an LCD projector.
Mid-Price/Performance Projectors: Moving up from Entry Level to The Sweet Spot of the Market
The hot segment for business projectors is the in the $1200 - $2000 range. It consists of XGA projectors, providing between 2000 and 2500 lumens. The standard today is 2000 lumens, but remember that there isn't a huge difference between 2000 lumens and 1600 on the low side, and 2400 on the high side. That's a reason why I think you will likely be better off getting, say, an XGA projector with 1500 lumens instead of perhaps a 2000 lumen SVGA projector.
Mid-Price/Performance Projector Pricing
SVGA projectors: $999 - $1399 street price.
XGA projectors: $1199 - $2500 street price
SVGA resolution projectors: While the largest single projector segment consists of entry level SVGA models (and schools buy a large percentage of these), you can spend a few hundred more - say $1100 - $1500 and find more full featured SVGA models, typically with 2000 to 2500 lumens. Very few SVGA projectors offer more than 2000 lumens, and there are only a handful with more than 2500.
XGA resolution projectors: The XGA segment above "entry level" is dominated by 2000 lumen projectors, although you'll find them from 1600 lumens up. Most sell for under $2000. There are DLP projectors under $2000 that offer up to 3500 lumens, and LCD's with up to 3000 lumens. For business purposes, I remind you that DLP models don't do quite as well as LCD models of the same lumen rating, in well lit rooms.
There is a wide range of projectors in this segment There are extremely small projectors (as light as 2 lbs.), and projectors in this group can weigh up to 9.9 lbs., and at CES there were even a pair of LED lit projectors that are under 1 lb., and about the size of a thick paperback. They are very dim however - under 100 lumens! There are a few applications for them, but I believe the LED light technology will continue to brighten, so that in perhaps 3 years we may see some of these LED projectors pushing out 500 lumens. Still dim by today's standards, but people used 350 lumen projectors in small auditoriums back around 1995-6, they just turned down all the lights.
If you really want small and light, there are plenty of XGA projectors today under 5 lbs. Most are DLP, and the smallest/lightest (under 2.4 lbs, are mostly 1000 lumen models - but other than the "2 lb. collection" no one builds projectors that dim (1000 lumens) anymore. Most people are demanding at least 1500, and mostly 2000 lumens these days.
Some examples of XGA projectors that fit this range: (up to 2500 lumens, under 10 lbs.)
Lower priced: Under $1200
Moderately priced: $1200 - $2000 
And, between $2000 and $2500, you can even get a widescreen projector: Mitsubishi's new HD4000u which should do very well, being the first relatively low cost projector that matches up with today's hot widescreen laptops.
Mid-High Power, Mid-High Performance Projectors
Priced from over $2500 - to $5000+ Most of these weigh in over 10 lbs (but not all), they start at 2500 lumens but mostly are 3000 lumens or more, and most offer interchangeable lenses. There are many interesting features found on some of these projectors that just don't show up on less expensive projectors.
Until recently the projectors that offered more than 2500 lumens pretty much were all over 10 lbs. and offered optional interchangeable lenses (for longer or shorter "throw" than the standard zoom lens). This is changing as the lightest projectors get more powerful. Today, you can find high power projectors without paying the price - in weight and dollars, for being able to change lenses.
Do you need the features - and the "horsepower"?
Key features found in many High Performance Projectors
Some widely differing examples of projectors in this class:
Big Time Performance, the highest power projectors
Most of these projectors sell for over $5000 (up to $75,000), 
offer at least 5000 lumens, interchangeable lenses, etc. Many offer dual lamp (or four) for redundancy and reliability. Almost all will have optical lens shift, which will also allow two projectors to be "stacked" together to virtually double the brightness. All of these below offer interchangeable lenses:
If you are in need of a projector in this class, an intro article like this one isn't going to answer your questions. That means its time to start talking to some professionals, who can help you "choose wisely".
Summary
That should give you a good idea of what your investment dollars will buy, in terms of portability, power, and features. Our best advice - talk with a dealer who knows what they are talking about.
I like to use an analogy to buying a car. If you have $25K for a car, you don't want to randomly have someone, who knows nothing about your needs, pick out your vehicle. Think about it - that $25K in a car - could mean:
Now one of those is definitely going to work better for you than most of the others. While projectors may not vary as much, there are still significant differences. A good sales consultant can spend 5 minutes asking you the "right questions" and guide you into a "better choice".
It's your money (or responsibility) so when it comes to purchasing a projector: Choose wisely!
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