Product Review: Page (1) of 1 - 06/26/04

Review - Sanyo PLCSW30

LCD Projector has the goods By David Hague

Home Theatre is all the rage right now, and those lucky enough (or having enough spare sheckles) to run to a complete surround sound system and whiz-bang large plasma screens are the envy of all and sundry. Especially with the Olympics coming up (oh and footy season, V8 Supercars, Wimbledon etc etc)!

But while these $10,000 + systems may be the ultimate at the moment, quietly and behind the scenes, the LCD projector based systems have also been infiltrating into lounge rooms (and boardrooms) and at a much reduced cost to their plasma based siblings.

One of the new releases in this area, and with what is described as a ground breaking price point of a $1 under $2000 is the Sanyo PLCSW30 complete with some very impressive specifications at this value.

The PLCSW30 weighs in at a miserable 2.1 kg making it a truly portable beast and therefore perfect for throwing into the supplied carry bag and nipping over to a mates place for a night of footy and a light ale or two. The 2000 hour rated projection lamp has enough power to throw on to a wall a clean, bright image at 800 x 600 resolution and focus and zoom can be set manually by the supplied remote control. A remote mouse and USB receiver are also supplied for those boring times when the unit will be used for showing yet-another-PowerPoint-presentation in the office or at a clients.

Of course, to allow this office-based non-productive downtime of the PLCSW30, in addition to connections for composite and component video signals there are connection options for RCA, Mini-DIN, Video and S-Video. Display resolutions available include SXGA, XGA, SVGA, VGA and Macintosh.

Sound is also supported via an 0.8 watt mono signal.

Setup was straightforward and the controls easy to use. When we finally capitulated in the name of research and hooked the unit up to a PC, playing games also gave a whole new potential (and yes PowerPoint slides looked OK too.)

This is a good unit, and the price point for the specs is certainly a breakthrough that should see it walking out of retailers doors.

Key Features

Weighs only 2.1kg
Costs under $2000
1250 ANSI lumens brightness
2000 hour lamp
800 x 600 resolution
Easy to setup

Verdict

Performance: 4/5
Value: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Page: 1

David Hague comes from a photographic family with both his father and older brother having been professional photographers. David's experiences include writing and directing the suite of training videotapes for Microsoft for Office and Windows, training tapes for Filemaker Pro and Autocad Lite and numerous TV commercials, documentaries and corporate videos. He was for 3 years the Managing Editor of Australian Video Camera Publications and is now publishing and editing AusCam magazine and PC Update. He has a bent for fishing and motor sport and is an unashamed Aussie who makes a killer Home Brew. David lives in the south west of Western Australia among the dolphins and pelicans of Mandurah, 45 minutes south of the capital, Perth.

Related Keywords:Projector, SANYO, LCD Television