BenQ W1000 – Review Summary2

The very bottom line

BenQ W1000 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities

Captain Pike here (below) really looked good on the bridge of the Enterprise (which looked great!).

The BenQ W1000 becomes an excellent choice for a bonus room, or family room, expecially for watching a wide range of content, including movies, TV, HDTV, and definitely sports. At the same time, it can work as a first projector if you are creating a darkenable home theater.

BenQ W1000 Projector: Pros

• Brightest of the low cost 1080p projectors – great for family rooms, bonus rooms, where some light is present
• Good color, very satisfactory for most folks (though definitely not a purist’s projector)
• Built in speaker – ideal for quick setup or taking outside, when you don’t need “big sound”. Speaker does a respectable job, though no low bass
• Perfectly suitable as a portable business projector, with sufficient brightness, sound, other features
• Lamp life very good 3000 hours at full power, 4000 in low power
• Or as a portable in your home projector, move from family room to outside…
• Two HDMI 1.3 inputs, full support for 24 fps, Deep Color, CEC etc.
• Sharp image – not the sharpest of the DLP projectors, but sharper than many more expensive LCD projectors
• No filters to change, minimizing maintenance

BenQ W1000 Projector: Cons

• Black level performance is very basic more typical of 720p projectors than the bulk of 1080p models. It’s fine, though, for use in rooms that always have some light
• Limited placement flexibility, and no lens shift (typical DLP projector)
• Slow 2x color wheel, will make rainbows more visible for the small percentage who are susceptible
• Fan noise is slightly louder than average, but typical of the smaller DLP projectors. In that regard it’s far from the noisiest
• In “brightest” mode, image noise becomes a bit noticeable, as Brilliant Color type features are engaged
• No support for an anamorphic lens
• Warranty – one year – too short for my taste, but typical of most lower cost 1080p projectors, although a few under $2000 models have 2 year warranties

BenQ W1000 Projector: Typical Capabilities

• Lamp life (2000/3000 hours (full/low power)
• Documentation (full documentation is on disc, there’s a hard copy Getting Started guide)
• Size, weight and styling
• Menus