Viewsonic PRO8300 DLP Business Projector - Review Summary

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Art Feierman

Viewsonic PRO8300 Projector: Bottom Line

The Viewsonic PRO8300 does not dazzle with features, but instead targets a specific market quite well. Most high resolution multimedia projectors also come with a fairly high price, well above that of the PRO8300’s sub-$1000 street price. While the PRO8300 is 1080p (1920x1080) and the others are WUXGA (1920x1200), that difference in vertical resolution is not going to be visible in most circumstances.

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Looking at the competition, the one of the lowest-priced WUXGA projectors is the Epson G5450 (which we reviewed last year). While the Epson G5450 can put out almost 3000 lumens and has more features, it is also almost three times the cost of the PRO8300 and is far from a portable unit. Looking at the 1080p market, the BenQ EP5920 is slightly cheaper than the PRO8300. We have not reviewed the EP5920, but it has a much lower rated lumen output (1800 vs. 3000) and only comes with a one year warranty. Viewsonic’s much better (3 year) warranty and Express Exchange service may be a consideration for the budget conscious buyer or the frequent traveler.

Among the other factors to consider with the PRO8300 are; its sharp lens, excellent scaling of non-standard resolutions and the ability to fine tune its already solid color depth with its built-in color management system (CMS). It is also fairly compact, lightweight, and comes with a travel bag. The two, built-in 10-watt apiece speakers provide plenty of sound for most presentation venues.

Overall, the Viewsonic PRO8300 provides solid value for its price. While we wish it had more features (almost every multimedia projector has at least wired network capability these days), what it does do, it does pretty well. If you have a need for a high resolution, multimedia projector that is also low priced and portable, you should give strong consideration to the Viewsonic PRO8300.