Right now I’ve got three projectors in for review, however I’m only focusing on two of them in this post: a $4000+ Mitsubishi HC5000 1080p 3LCD projector and a ~$400 BoxTV projector.

This Mitsubishi is one of the best projectors I’ve tested in the past 2 years. The BoxTV projector uses a $30 bulb and has only 640×480 resolution, but offers a very inexpensive alternative for your kids to play games on a system that doesn’t make you sweat having to replace the bulb…

Such is the life of a reviewer. When dealing with apples and oranges you need to review each product in its own category. Is the Mitsubishi better than the BoxTV – heck yeah. Is the BoxTV rated against the Mitsubishi? Heck no, that would be like failing the Ford Focus because it’s not as fast as a corvette and doesn’t have the towing capacity of a Toyota Tundra pickup.

So the real question is how does the BoxTV stand up to its real competition. Not that well, actually. Its quite flimsy, and although they claim to have quieter fans in newer units, this one sounds nearly as loud as my 250mph leaf blower… OK, I’m exaggerating, the leaf blower isn’t quite that loud.

This new breed of projector is exciting. It makes sense and there is definitely a market for it. The problem is that the ones I have seen to date miss the mark – their own mark mind you – in providing a competitive product once you figure in the rest of the market. Take, for example, the
Optoma EzPro 732 projectors you can get on eBay for around $250. Or a used H30 or H31. I’ve even seen the well-regarded PT-AE700U on sale for less than $500. Granted, the bulb prices put some of these projectors into a different league, but is the improved quality a determining factor? I think it is.

The other example linked above is a competitor’s product which has 800×480 pixels (significant since it will play at native DVD resolution (the BoxTV will not).

I think I have my work cut out for me.

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