Mitsubishi HC5500 1080p LCD Home Theater Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this projector to replace a 6 year old Sharp 720p DLP projector. The primary reasons were the price, the $[...] rebate, and the excelent video processing chip (Reon-VX). The final straw that broke the camel's back was the fact the newer Blu-ray movies output 480P through the component video output (the Sharp didn't have HDMI).
Mine is hooked up using HDMI with Blu-ray and HD DVD players, projected to a 150" gray screen.
What can I say - the picture is excellent. The Sharp was incredible, and I would never have any complaints until I see in person what the 1080p projectors can do nowadays. It was immediately obvious this Mitsubishi has a sharper, more detailed, and better contrasted image. It has a slightly higher lumens output than the Sharp, and also better contrast.
Although the Sharp came very close to an average movie theater picture quality, this projector at the very least matches, and in many cases, exceed what one can see in an average theater. No complaints about the picture, but I am not some super-nitpicky videophile like some.
This projector has an electronic zoom/focus lens, so setting it up initially can be difficult. I made the mistake of hanging it up on the ceiling before making adjustments. The default zoom/focus levels made the picture extremely blurry, so I could not read the menu at all. It was also upside down for me, making things doubly difficult. I had to use the pictures of the menu in the manual in order to navigate around. Speaking of the manual -- it could use a lot of improvement (the section about the extra filter was buried in the back instead of the front, where there should be a series of steps detailing the initial setup). I just feel if it had a manual focus option, it would've cut my setup time by 75%.
To summarize, some things I wish this projector had:
- Manual zoom/focus option
- More brightness (lumens output). I have to to set the brightness to around 75% to see something to my liking.
- More intuitive menu structure
- Have more frequently used functions be on the remote vs. buried somewhere in the menus
- Better manual
I would've given this projector 4 stars, but given the incredible value (esp. with the rebate included), I think it deserves 5 stars.
Addendum: After poking around a little bit, it turns out there is another available rebate; this other one is $[...], but with a free lamp, which is most likely worth quite a bit more than $[...]. I chose the $[...]+lamp rebate instead...

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Black reproduction is the key to stunning home theater and the HC5500 LCD projector brings more life to your screen with faster transitions between light and dark scenes and sharper overall details in dark areas. This portable home theater projector projects at a full HD(1920 x 1080) 1080p resolution. Digital video output gives you seamless performance with the Blu-ray 24P next generation optical disk. And a 1.2x powered zoom and focus lens lets you enjoy the big screen even in smaller spaces. Better Blacks Make A Better HD Projector:The HC5500 projector combines new features for faster sharper blacks the brightest whites and all the colors in between with amazing 15000:1 contrast. New LCD Projector Technology:The HC5500 HD projector is built with an advanced inorganic LCD panel and improved liquid crystal panel cooling efficiency. The result is an LCD panel that not only projects the sharpest images but is rated to last ten times as long as conventional organic LCD panels.

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Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 705 HD 720p 3LCD Home Theater Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)I've never written an Amazon review before, but I've learned a lot about projectors over the past couple weeks, and thought I should share.
As prices have been coming down, I finally decide to get a projector. 720p was plenty good for me. After reading plenty of reviews here and the various projector websites out there I narrowed my search down to the Optoma HD66 and the Epson 705HD, both going for +/- $650 at the time of this writing, and both highly rated.
A bit about me - I'm not a projector or electronics nut, but I do appreciate knowing that I have the best (or better) of what's out there when I do buy things of significant $$$. Male, early 30's. Don't watch any TV, just the occasional movie at home.
After much fuss, I decided to order the Epson. It seemed to have more features, had longer bulb life, and in the end I figured since I'm no projector connoisseur I would be more than impressed with its performance. However, I was not blown away enough, so I ordered the Optoma. I am keeping the Optoma, and returning the Epson. I tested both using a connection to my old Mac Powerbook G4 laptop, projecting onto a white wall painted matte white.
Here is what I learned:
Epson 705HD:
-LCD technology really does display "little pixels" that are visible if you are up close. Not really a big deal with a movie where things are moving all the time.
-Significantly brighter than the Optoma.
-Better designed box, integrated lense "cap" that slides, easier to use adjustable legs, more friendly packaging/manuel, carrying case. Basically you get the feeling that Epson put some thought into its product. Feels more name brand and consumer friendly.
-Supposedly has ~1000 bulb hours more than the Optoma when in Eco mode (a touch less bright than normal mode).
-Has a speaker (I didn't use it).
-Definitely better for office or daytime use.
-Blacks appear grey when compared to adjacent wall.
-Compared to the Epson, has a larger "screen size" to "distance from wall" ratio (I think this is called "throw"). Plenty big. In fact I had to "zoom out" as the screen actually felt too large for the distance I was from the screen. The projector was propped up on a table immediately behind my couch. Once adjusted it was fine. The large size could be great for the gamers out there though.
Optoma HD66:
-Feels more "made in China" with less fancy stickers and design.
-Not quite as bright as the Epson.
-I have yet to try this one during full daylight, but guessing the Epson would be better here. But this is fine with me b/c I figure if it's bright outside, I should probably be there instead of inside.
-Much better colors.
-Throw ratio not as good as Epson, but more than adequate for my needs.
-DLP really does have much better blacks. The "black frame" around the movies is a far cry from grey, and I have a feeling if I fool around with it, I can probably get it to almost disappear.
-Better picture quality - this was apparent to me and all 4 of my non-professional projector testing friends, and more apparent the darker the room is. The Epson is great, but the Optoma is like "Whoa - I wouldn't think I would be able to tell, but I can."
-Harder (though still possible) to discern the "pixels" - feels more like film.
-I was worried about the "rainbow effect". My friends and I were all able to see RGB shadows if we shook our heads back and forth wildly, and maybe a flash of it once or twice during the movie when our eyes would flick across the screen. Not really a big deal, though I guess some people are more "susceptible" to seeing it than others. Both:
-Easily found my computer and displayed the correct resolution automatically.
-Amazing resolution.
-Plenty of adjustments to mess with color and whatnot. I only fooled around with these for 5 minutes or so. You can easily make the colors warmer or cooler.
-Have a small remote with plenty of functions. Batteries included.
-Do NOT come with HDMI, DVI, VGA cables. However, each does come with cable that allows you plug the traditional DVD player (the yellow, red, white "RCA?") cables into the VGA port.Like I said in the end I am sticking with the Optoma HD66.
Since the reason to get a projector, for me, is to have a really great screen to watch movies on, I figured I should lean toward picture quality over features. If I watched TV for a lot of the day, the brightness and bulb life of the Epson may have swayed me in that direction. I hope this is helpful and saves you all some time.

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EPSON PowerLite Home Cinema 705HD Home theater projector

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