Mitsubishi HD4000 Widescreen Projector Review

Mitsubishi HD4000 Widescreen Projector Review - Overview

The Mitsubishi HD4000 (link to specs) is one of a new breed of widescreen DLP projectors just starting to hit the market at the time of this review (8/06). There are two general markets the HD4000 can serve effectively: The first is for business, education and non-profit (including churches...), requiring a widescreen projector, for the various benefits such widescreen projectors offer. I should note that there have been a couple of widescreen projectors available that are LCD driven, on the market for several years, but they tend to be far more expensive, starting around $4000 selling price.

The second market, is home theater, or perhaps I should say home entertainment. Many people wanting their home to have the large screen "theater-like" feel that only projectors can provide, cannot fully darken their rooms, or can only do so at night. As a result, the traditional home theater projectors, which typically produce between 300 and 700 lumens (despite claims), don't have enough brightness to handle rooms with even moderate lighting.

We found that the HD4000 not only performed extremely well as a portable business projector, but definitely did an excellent job, as well, as a bright alternative to home theater projectors. Interestingly, it looks very similar to Mitsubishi's highly regarded HC3000 home theater projector which we reviewed a month or so ago, although there are some compromises, as this is a business projector, that can double for home theater. As a result, we had no problem at all, awarding the HD4000 widescreen projector, our Hot Product Award.

A quick seach of the internet, yields authorized dealers advertising the HD4000 at $2495, which would indicate that that price is Mitsubishi's MAP (minimum advertised price). Visiting sites, it looks like the MAP price is pretty much the high price. You'll want to check with authorized dealers showing the MAP price, to find out where their actual pricing is, what they may be throwing in, etc. You can also find dealers advertising it online for less than $2495, but that would be non direct dealers, in violation of Mitsubishi policy. Non-authorized dealers tend to sell for a little less than direct authorized dealers, but rarely can provide the same level of information and support.