ViewSonic PJ551D 2300 Lumen DLP XGA Projector

This projector was a STEAL for the price. It even came with a mail in rebate for a FREE bulb too!!??! Great value!!!!!!!!!!!

Picture quality is an 8 out of 10 in my opinion. Really bright, not up to par with cinema projectors but for the price you cant go wrong. Really small and fairly quiet compared to my old 1990's projector.

My only disappointment with the projector was that it doesnt have much focal range. i.e. it wont Zoom in and out very much for adjusting for the perfect screen size. That means i had to adjust the position of the projector more then the zoom of the lens. But thats not that big a deal for me.

Great value at a great price with better then average picture quality!

First off, this projector is a great price. You get 1024x768 for the ballpark of $600, and ViewSonic frequently runs "free spare bulb" rebate offers, which I sent in and recieved in a timely manner. The bulbs supposedly last 3500 hours, which is on the high end for the projector market. They supposedly last 4000 hours in economy mode. At 16 hours per weekend you could get 5 years out of a bulb.

The projector has a fixed throw ratio, so if you want a huge screen you need a long room. Projecting to the ceiling only yields a ~40" diagonal image, or so (and of course depends on your ceiling height) but longways in a 22' livingroom yields a 123" diagonal image! Keystone correction is nice, and lets you mount the projector up high so the beam can be above your head when sitting on the couch, and still give a rectangular picture. (though they implement the keystone within the thrown image, so the more keystone effect you use the more diagonal image size you lose)

The menus are well done, and there are full color adjustment options, to the point where I was able to project on a gray/green wall and not feel the need to buy a screen for it. (though I might still do that eventually)

The bulb can't really compete with direct sunlight, though with the shades down the image is perfect (in normal bulb mode). It does ok vs. normal indoor lighting though you lose a bit of color saturation (i.e. if you were projecting in a lit hallway where you didn't have control over the lights). So in other words, if you are making a presentation its fine in lit areas, but if you were watching a movie you definitely want the lights out. At nighttime economy mode provides plenty of brightness.

It works as advertised. Be aware of the following, though:

1. The only leveling adjustment is on the front single leg. If you have level it in the back to make it align with a screen, you will need paper shims.

2. The only leveling adjustment is on the front single leg, and the front leg is only adjustable in increments. I had to use a paper shim on the front leg to get fine adjustments.

3. It is bright, but the colors at default settings are not particularly well balanced - white is very white, but yellow is kind of dark, not clean and bright.

Having said all this, I recommend this projector as a good economy projector. I purchased this for use at church, and it works for that purpose. Not sure how it would do on video feeds. I would purchase it again, knowing what I know. As long as someone does not bump the projector or the platform it is on, you don't need to set the level every day.

Purchased new in January 09, I've been using this each weekend to watch movies with my family. I purchased a portable screen as well. I've been very hapy with this purchase so far. The movies we've watch have been regular dvds and even some netflix streaming through a laptop. The dvd's produce great quality images w/projector.

I've used workplace type projectors inthe past for same purpose. This one is superior. Very bright and crisp, espcially on a screen. The screen I purchased is: 70INX70IN Versatol Tri-pod Screen Matte White Keystone Elim.

It's heavy and long but fairly easy to set up and take down.

This is my first projector, although I'd tried 2 others that I borrowed from church and work. This is also my first experience with HiDef. At first, I connected it with the yellow composite conection, and the picture needed to be toned down, reducing the brightness of the white that was blown out with the factory setting and increasing the sharpness. The picture was just "ok", but of course huge. S Video gave similar results. Hooking it up to a laptop to watch a DVD though, was INCREDIBLE! Using the vga connection @ 1024x768 looked absolutely amazing. Then to top it all off, using a home made breakout cable following instructions online (http://myhometheater.homestead.com/vgacable.html)
with rca jacks, cat 5 cable and a 3$ radio shack part, I connected the FIOS set top box using component to vga, and was impressed even more with 1080i. I can't go back to standard def now. Hi Def on the wall, 8' across has incredible WOW effect. Painted wall is excellent, or a screen if you don't have 8' of clear wall space. The amount of detail revealed was unexpected. Absolutely amazing. Grass, clothing texture, jewelry details, dust and smudges on prop surfaces, were suddenly revealed. A lit room seems good, until all the lights are turned out, and then serious enjoyment ensues. Totally amazed. Others have been impressed with it's contrast and brightness compared to older, more expensive projectors they'd seen before. I got it for just $499 on Amazon, and it had a rebate from viewsonic for a free bulb. Awesome deal. The only con I know of after a month, is it requires a relatively long "throw." It's practically a 2:3 ratio. If you want an 8' screen, you have to be 12' away. The zoom funtion merely allows for fine tuning of the size, to perfectly match the edge of your target once you get close to its dimensions. This has been the biggest consideration as I choose where to mount it based on my room's size. Other projectors have had shorter throw distances. I accept this con in consideration of the price to performance ratio. I've never noticed the fan noise while viewing. Shut down time is fast. My remote works very responsively. My intended use was for family movie nights, so I don't miss a built in speaker, as it would be inferior anyway. As for presentation quality, I can easily read web pages, emails, and documents. Pdf's are illegible if the screen's set to "read one page at a time." I'm not sure yet how much bigger I can go beyond 8' and still get a good picture, since I don't have a big enough surface to project against yet.

Update: Dec. 26th still going strong. I notice some delay in detecting my laptop's VGA input (actually XGA I think, but using "VGA" cable). Could just as well be my laptop's fault. Actively clicking on items (like desktop items, web pages) seems to hasten detection vs. just waiting "patiently." I think it's always been this way, I've just become more familiar with what I'm supposed to do and what it's supposed to do. Delay can be up to 90 secs. worst case. Faster detection with video source. I've used it every day for the past 2 weeks, and it's still wonderful.
Anything with dark scenes, like some PC gaming or most movies requires at least dimmed lights. Page / bright presentation viewing (like business use or web surfing) can easily be done with full ambient light, no problem.