Home Projectors - Physical Tour2

Posted on March 14, 2008 by Art Feierman

$2100 - $3500 1080p Home Theater Projectors

BenQ W6000 projector:

Cinetron HD700 projector: The Cinetron is an industrial looking tank of a projector. The case, first of all, is heavy metal, not the lightweight plastic, or aluminum alloys typically used. This seems to be solid steel. The grating is almost sharp to the touch. Two things: 1) Do not, under any circumstances, drop this projector on your foot. and 2) Figure that, in a head to head collision with a Prius, at 60 mph, the Cinetron would likely destroy the Prius.

Epson Home and Pro Cinema 8500UB, 9500UB projectors: Two more Epsons all in the same box as described above. A box with a bit of trim attempting to dress it up. The good news is that the Pro version come finished in a black, and definitely have more class than the home version. Guys, that's your angle with the wife, if you want the Pro for whatever reason. The lens is not recessed.

Epson Pro Cinema 9100 projector: See the comments immediately above. It's the same pretty much everything, and like the 9500UB, the 9100 is finished in black.

LG CF181D projector: Like all the other LCoS projectors in this report, it's fairly large, and a bit massive looking, especially compared to some of the smaller DLP projectors. It's finished in black, with a sort of split level look due to a "trim ring" that's recessed that goes around the front and sides. It is one of the tallest projectors in this review. The LG's front is curved from side to side, giving it a little style, but it's still a box, if a nicer looking one than most.

Mitsubishi HC6800, HC7000 projectors: This is a new look for Mitsubishi, and it looks good. An almost black "metallic" finish and a some nice sculpting, both of these models "look fast". The lens hood is large and sticks out quite a bit.

Optoma HD8200 projector: Finally Optoma has a new design for their projectors (a couple of 720p's are in biz projector boxes). This Optoma looks good! A nice medium sized projector, longer than wider. The lens is centered and not quite recessed. The cable connection area in the back is deeply recessed. The HD8200 lacks a control panel, there's just a power switch on one side. For the rest, grab the remote.

Sanyo PLV-Z3000 projector: This Sanyo is the same smaller box as the lower cost Z700, with the key difference being a dark gray finish. Again, the lens has a motorized cover when the projector is not in use. A decent looking projector for a box!

Sony VPL-HW15 projector: The Sony looks good. It's similar looking to the Optoma HD8200, being moderately large, narrow and deep. The front has angles moving back to the sides, with the center area dropping back. The centered lens isn't recessed per se, but is recessed to the parts of the front that come out the most. The black piano finish and light sculpting of lines gives it some style. The HW10 has a very small control panel on one side, and the inputs on the other. You'll either like or hate the inputs on the side, depending on which side is visible to the people in your room.

Viewsonic Pro8100 projector: The Viewsonic is a classy looking projector, mostly black piano finish with a tasteful amount of gray trim around the center mounted, recessed lens, and on the top behind the lens. It is a medium-large projector, but a bit less bulky, than say the Sony. You can order different color and style finishes for the interchangeable top panel, to dress up the Pro8100 to match your room.