Interested in new projectors? You might like to know about the new EX Pro series
from Epson. These new models feature 3LCD technology which delivers
bright colors and reliable performance.
Epson EX7235 Pro
Here are some reviews from actual users:
Ok, so this projector is awesome! I had previously been using the Epson
EX5230 Pro XGA 3 LCD Projector and I really liked that one. The picture
was clear, the color was right on and it performed exactly as you would
expect a projector to perform. Well then I had a chance to try out the
Epson EX7235 PRO WXGA and wow, the colors pop more, you can tell the
color brightness is a main focal point on this projector. When comparing
the color and white brightness, technically the 5230 I used prior had
more lumens output, but the 7235 is just a clearer, brighter overall
look. Plus the 7235 does HD which the 5230 does not.
The 7235
also features some cool wifi features as well, one I like but in all
honesty it doesn't perform as well as it should is the broadcast from
phone to projector. I downloaded the Epson app for my android phone and
turned on the on-screen barcode on the projector, I pointed my phone at
it and scanned the barcode from the comfort of my couch and within a
minute the phone connected and I was given the option to transmit my
phones screen via the app to the projector. It worked ok, but there was a
lot of latency and the app eventually crashed before I could really do
much. I really won't use this projector for that feature so for me it's
not a show stopper. I suspect in a firmware update and app update it
will be much better but so far that is an issue I am having.
Epson EX7235 Pro, WXGA Widescreen HD, Wireless, 3LCD Projector
When
it comes to connecting the projector to HDMI and my audio receiver
sound system this makes a phenomenal home theater setup. The picture is
awesome, even in my room which has a large window I can still see the
colors pop in the day light, as it gets darker it comes to life even
more. This is one of those that you could safely use even in a bright
room and still get great results.
I tested this projector while
watching Despicable me, that movie has a lot of color and motion and the
projector was flawless. I felt like I was sitting in a theater with the
clarity of the image and brightness of the colors. I thought my old
projector was great, wow I'm rethinking that now that I have seen the
7235. This thing is awesome.
Also, I forgot to mention this, the
7235 is a 16:10 image, the older 5230 model I had was 4:3 so there was a
lot of light bleed over when watching 16:9 movies. The 7235 fits
perfectly on my theater screen.
I have been using multimedia projectors in the classroom and for
business presentations for many years now, and have always been a bit
disappointed with what I had to work with. Getting everything hooked up,
getting the picture squared up and at the appropriate size, and then
getting the room dark enough that people could actually see what was
being projected was, frankly, a pain in the neck. I feel that those
issues have been nicely addressed in this projector. Getting everything
hooked up is pretty easy, and the projector comes with the cables
necessary for using it straight out of the box.
The color
brightness on this is a real improvement over what I have used in the
past. I actually ran a side-by-side test with my older multimedia
projector and the difference is pretty impressive. The images from the
older machine were very "faded" looking, with not much color contrast,
and the room had to be pretty dark to see the image clearly. Not so with
the 7230. The colors are bright and the images are crisp, even in
standard lighting. While I still prefer to dim the lights while
presenting, I could present in a normally lit room and participants
would still be able to clearly see what was being projected.
This
machine also has a feature that my older projector doesn't have, which
is a sliding lens cover that allows you to blank out the screen when you
are in between videos or slides, which is handy, but one caveat: you
have to be careful not to accidentally hit the focus arm when you are
attempting to slide the cover over...they are really close together and
you can knock the focus out of whack with just a little bump.
My
favorite feature on the 7230 is that it lets you adjust the picture to
level/square its position, even if the projector is sitting at an odd
angle to the screen. As anyone who has used a multimedia projector more
than once knows, it isn't always possible to get the projector on a
perfectly level service and squarely in front of what you are projecting
onto. While most projectors have some mechanism for compensating for
that problem, the 7230 has addressed it more efficiently than any other
projector I have tried. Other manufacturers could learn something here.
Overall,
this is a great little projector. It is quiet, lightweight, and
versatile (runs HDMI, MHL, USB A and B, and S-Video). But you will pay
handsomely for the technology. If you don't need all the varying input
modes and high level of projection brightness, there may be less
expensive options out there that will work for you.
Epson EX7230 Pro, WXGA Widescreen HD, 3LCD Projector
The Epson EX7325 is Epson's latest business projector with built in wi-fi.
On
opening the box you will see a well padded projector itself inside it's
carrying case which is in itself is fairly well padded, a remote
control, the power cable, a usb cable (standard printer type USB cable)
and a VGA cable along with a few instruction booklets, a DVD and a wifi
dongle. Strangely what you don't get in the box, and one of the
benefits of this projector is a HDMI cable. Most modern laptops have
done away with VGA connectors and have replaced them with HDMI output so
why Epson did not include a HDMI cable, I don't know (for what it would
cost Epson it would be pennies). Luckily I have spare HDMI cables and
you can pick them up on Amazon fairly cheaply.
In an average week
I have about 10-15 meetings split between different offices and
buildings and so for the past couple of weeks I've taken the Epson
EX7325 Pro into work with me and used it instead of the company supplied
projectors to do my presentations and generally give it a good going
over.
First off lets talk a little bit about the carrying case.
The black case (with built in shoulder strap) is one of the cheapest
carrying cases I have ever come across. The main pocket has some
protection for the projector itself however the material used to make
the carrying case is so very thin and the foam (I assume its foam as you
can't actually see it) protection fairly thin that I would not trust
carrying around the projector in it. A nice touch however is the clear
print telling you when you put the projector into the carrying case to
always face the lens upwards (i.e. do not put the projector in lens
first). A small velcro strip goes across the main pocket to keep the
projector tight inside the protective pocket. In front of this is a
case high pocket in which to store the extras like the remote control,
power cable, connector cables, dongle etc. Unfortunately given how thin
the material is you may end up tearing it by putting the cables in this
pocket. It also makes it quite uncomfortable when carry it around as
the cables keep digging into your side when you have it over your
shoulder.
In short, if you do intend to carry the projector
around with you then buy a different case. The one supplied is really
only of use for storing it.
Initial setup is fairly
straightforward. Connect your computer to the projector using the
supplied USB cable. Insert the supplied DVD into your computer and turn
the projector on. Your computer should recognize the attached device
and automatically install the necessary drivers from the supplied DVD
onto your computer. Simple as that. You can actually use the projector
without installing any device drivers but you do lose some of the
functionality of the unit. Driver installation is very quick only
taking around a minute and once it is done you don't need to worry about
it again on that computer.
Now you simply connect your computer
to the projector using the supplied VGA cable (or HDMI that you need to
supply yourself) and switch your computer to external display, That is
it.
The Epson has numerous controls on it for picking an input
source, adjusting how big the picture is (like a telephoto zoom lens on a
camera), adjusting the volume, picture angle and a whole lot more.
The supplied remote control duplicates the controls on the unit itself and has even more.
One
great feature of the EX7235 Pro is that it can split the picture and
display two different inputs at one time. For example you could have
one computer attached by VGA and have it displayed on the left and have
another computer attached using HDMI and have its image displayed on the
right. I used this feature quite a bit during presentations having a
PowerPoint on the left and a website on the right. You can control the
PowerPoint through the projector remote control whilst you show off
relevant parts of it in real time on the other computer. A great
feature.
To adjust the height of the projector you press a little
level on the front bottom of the projector and a little plastic leg
drops out. Letting go of the lever locks the leg in place. Just
remember to retract the leg again before you put it back in the carrying
case as it looks like it would be easy to break off.
The EX7235
Pro unit comes with wifi. This is in the form of a little dongle that
you have to insert into the projector itself (why it doesn't just come
packaged that way I don't know) by removing a back plate using a
screwdriver, inserting the dongle into the USB slot that gets uncovered
and screwing the back plate back on again. This opens up a whole lot of
different options for you.
Using wifi, you no longer need to
carry about VGA, HDMI etc. cables around with you, simply connect over
wifi. You can connect your iPad, iPhone, Android phone etc. to it using
downloadable apps found on the respective app stores.
One
problem with using wifi however is that there is a some noticeable
latency and the Android app (Epson iProjection) used for connecting to
the projector actually hung.
The EX7235 Pro has a color
brightness of 3000 lumens and a white brightness of 3000 lumens. What
does this actually mean? Well first off what is a lumen? A lumen is a
measure of light where 1 lumen is roughly equivalent to 1 candle. As a
rough comparison a standard 60 watt house light bulb is roughly 800
lumens. So this projector at 3000 lumens is quite bright. Why the two
different measurements? The white brightness is equivalent to saying
how bright the projector beam is. Now you can have a bright projector
beam but unless you also have a bright color brightness then you end up
with very dull and washed out images being projected. The Epson, having
3000 lumens of each, gives you a bright picture (what you want) and also
bright vibrant colors (also what you want). The image quality and
vibrancy is in fact excellent, the best I've seen on a projector yet.
Infact I had a few people ask about it during some of the meetings I
used it in as it is better than the much more expensive units we have at
work.
After some prolonged use the right side of the unit heats up a
fair bit and I would caution against just turning off the unit and
putting it directly back into the supplied carrying case. Let it cool
for a few minutes first. It's not hot to the point that you can't touch
it but hot enough to be a little cautious.
The Epson EX7235 held
up to everything I could throw at it over the couple of weeks I carted
it around to various meetings and connected it to various devices. At
the end of the day what are you really looking for in a projector? One
that is easy to use, easy to setup, lots of connection options and has
good picture quality. The Epson EX7235 Pro meets all of them except
one, it doesn't just have good picture it has a beautiful picture.
