I am in the fortunate position of being able to review not one but twelve of these data projectors. Almost four years ago I held a position involving purchasing for a number of consumers and having researched the budget data projector market thoroughly, ordered twelve of these projectors. Now, ... Read review
I am in the fortunate position of being able to review not one but twelve of these data projectors. Almost four years ago I held a position involving purchasing for a number of consumers and having researched the budget data projector market thoroughly, ordered twelve of these projectors. Now, we are able to look back on almost four years of light to medium usage and agree that the purchase was seriously good value for money. Let's take a look at ... ...it stand out from the crowd in what was and still is a crowded end of the market.
PORTABILITY
We wanted these projectors for portable use. They had to be moveable on site and even off site. This projector was sold at the time with a well padded carry case. Now, don't get me wrong ... multimedia projectors are reasonably weighty pieces of kit, but this projector is moveable in it's carry case. Good advice for people purchasing ... more
I am in the fortunate position of being able to review not one but twelve of these data projectors. Almost four years ago I held a position involving purchasing for a number of consumers and having researched the budget data projector market thoroughly, ordered twelve of these projectors. Now, we are able to look back on almost four years of light to medium usage and agree that the purchase was seriously good value for money. Let's take a look at the specifics about this projector that at the time made it stand out from the crowd in what was and still is a crowded end of the market.
PORTABILITY We wanted these projectors for portable use. They had to be moveable on site and even off site. This projector was sold at the time with a well padded carry case. Now, don't get me wrong ... multimedia projectors are reasonably weighty pieces of kit, but this projector is moveable in it's carry case. Good advice for people purchasing a projector to be mobile is to follow guidelines on when a projector can be moved. This particular model, when switched to standby, will continue to run the cooling fan for about five more minutes. It is advised to leave it to fully cool - I would say about fifteen minutes from standby - before moving. Moving before then risks blowing the bulb ... and trust me ... this is something not to do. (See below for details of cost to understand why.) The remote control handset means a presentation can be controlled from the front of the room without the need to touch the computer being used. This is great for a professional appearance. The low noise from the fan is also useful when giving presentations to smaller groups.
FUNCTIONALITY This particular projector comes with the standard svga monitor port, a mouse port to connect through to the mouse port on your pc, and then, separate connections for audio and video. These connections enable video and pc to function equally as well. Indeed I have given presentations involving both and the switch between the two is almost seemless ... a button on top marked Data/Video switches between the two inputs.
QUALITY The resolution is low compared to today's standards but 800X600 was par for the course in the budget end of the market four years ago. The brightness is good at up to 2000 ansi lumens. This is fine for moderately bright daytime usage but as with all data projectors if you can limit direct light the image quality appears better. On a low reflective screen the image is stunning but I have used a variety of backdrops including stretched net curtain material when I borrowed a projector to watch a world cup football match at home. There is the option to manually increase the brightness which apparantly can shorten the bulb life but here we are four years on and never having had to replace any of the bulbs in the twelve machines we bought. That to me is good bulb life!
ADJUSTABLILTY Nowadays these projectors come with more image adjustment properties than you can shake a stick at but back then, finding a projector that could change it's focal length substantially was tricky. This machine does have a fair degree of adjustment. We have used it at distances from about four feet to about fifteen feet from the board being projected to and have had good results. Again, the further back you are the less light you need in the room to maintain decent picture quality. A menu button on the top brings up access to brightness and volume.
PRICE The price at the time of purchase was almost to the penny £1200. They must be stacks cheaper now if they are still available. If you choose to buy one second hand be sure that the usage has not been too heavy as bulbs are listed at £200!
OVERALL Twelve machines and no defects or faults. Not even a bulb blown. This for me reflects great value for money on projectors that have been moved around. Portability tends to bring with it extra wear and tear but this projector has been up to the job. I definitely recommend this model to potential buyers but would say check the price and compare because newer models are brighter and lighter so the price must reflect this fact.
Advantages: Silent operation, good speaker, very well constructed. Disadvantages: Heavy at 5kg, and very bulky.
that can even cope with bass! There is a bass controller in the menu, so you can adjust the level of bass, and the sound is quite impressive.
The projector's specifications claim that it can reach an image size of 6.4m. I think this is a bit optimistic, I think that 3m at most would be bout right for this projector, which is a very good size nevertheless. The average user would use a 100" screen which is 2.54m so this is more than capable.
To explain my next point we have to look at the brand name. When asked about Philips projectors people will usually think of the BSure range. These projectors where renowned for being silent when in operation. You literally couldn't hear them running when they were new. One of the major problems with projectors is the noise the fans make due to the speed they haveto run at just to cool the bulb ...
Advantages: Looks Great - Very Stylish, Compact & Very Light. Disadvantages: Not Bright Enough At All
to be able to produce an image of up to 7.62m (300") in diameter. But to achieve this you have to be more than 10m away from the screen. I can't think of many places where you can get 10 metres away from a screen unless you have a very long and thin room. But even if you can get this far away, I am very doubtful as to whether the picture would even be bright enough to view. As at 4m away in a dimmed room, this projector was struggling to produce a bright image.
Sorry, this review is getting very negative again. So a positive point is that the projector has got a built in speaker. Which isn't the best in the world (99% of projector speakers are pretty poor, the best I have ever found was in the PhilipsHopperSV20 which I will review at a later date). But this projector speaker is very useable for office presentations and saves ...
taylora-2006 04.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Toshiba TLP S30
The Hopper is the world's first super-silent projector to feature PAS - Philips Air System, a proprietary heat and noise diffusion technology. This is the ideal solution for presenters, especially those who frequently present in smaller meeting rooms. Its lightweight portability means it is the perfect choice for presenters who are on the move. The Hopper has won acclaim from presenters and industry experts alike for its smart design. Elegantly styled, compact and yet durable, it is engineered to deliver the exceptional Philips award-winning digital picture performance. It's a great way to make an impact on your audience, even before you get started. The Hopper's user-friendly plug and play operation and free hassle-free support win the confidence of even the most novice user. It also wins valuable time for IT-support managers by eliminating needless helpdesk calls.
