Best portable projector these days around $300?

[Scarpozzi]

What's the best portable projector these days in the $300 range?

How many lumens do I need to look for? Are there brands to avoid....brands to lean toward?

Anything at Amazon, Dell, and Staples are preferred, but there are a lot to choose from and I've not owned one for a long time.

Thanks.

 

[aigomorla]

how portal do you need?
what resolution are you looking for?
what environment is the unit going to be used in? a dark room? a room with moderate sunlight?
Are you going to be using it on a white board? a projector screen? the ceiling?

typically higher the lumen's the less portability it will have.
higher the resolution, the more expensive it gets.
distance to projector surface will also vary, as there are things like throwback projectors which only require 8 inches of space from the wall, vs others which require several feet if you want a large display.

I would also check out woot.com, as i have seen a few projectors there for cheap, but are factory refurbished. Right now as i type this i only see 4k's but if you check there site weekly, they tend to have some good deals, and they are also owned by Amazon.

 

[Scarpozzi]

This is for 'work', so if more money is required.....whatever. We just try to keep our budgets in check if the thing is going to live in a bag most of the time. I was looking at Dell's offerings for both a Dell and Epson brand, for instance...in the $350 price range. Yeah...the Epson was a bright 3300 lumens, but 800x600. The Dell was 1280X800 but only 500 lumens. I've setup these projectors in ball rooms for conferences and gotten stuck dealing with a 500 lumen projector...where the lowest setting on the house lights was STILL too bright. I'm also not a fan of how the projector resolution warps presentation software...where slides were designed to be read at higher resolutions (more words on the page than will readily fit at the lower resolution). I think XGA is going to be the way to go vs SVGA....but the 3300 lumens may outweigh that between those two models.

I was posting here because I was hoping I'd find someone to say..."these are the better brands these days in value and features". I'm still researching brands. We have a few vendors we order things from more readily than others. I may check CDW and Staples and do some more apples to apples comparisons on price vs features.

 

[aigomorla]

check out the LG Laser Short throw's.

https://www.lg.com/us/home-video/lg-HF85JA-projector

Thees guys are absolutely amazing... The best projectors i have flat out worked with, but they are pricey.

 

[killster1]

check out the LG Laser Short throw's.

https://www.lg.com/us/home-video/lg-HF85JA-projector

Thees guys are absolutely amazing... The best projectors i have flat out worked with, but they are pricey.

they said 300 not 3000$.. ;( they have a sony https://www.sony.com/electronics/projector/mp-cl1a that should be 170 on ebay used very underpowered low rez but it is a laser projector and budget of 300 is tough call. Good question tho maybe ill look again at the prices,

 

[aigomorla]

they said 300 not 3000$

lol i did say they were pricey.. i think the laser short throws are dropped a lot in price tho...

The thing with projectors that i learned is your really get what you pay for.
If you want cheap, it may even be in your best option to just get a cheap HDTV and forgo the projector route entirely.

for example if i had a limited budget of 300-400 dollars... i would probably get something like this:
https://electronics.woot.com/offers/tcl-49in-4k-uhd-smart-roku-tv-3?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_elec_9_1
and just bring it out as needed.

It might make transportation of it a bit of a hassle, but you wont get something that u can use a well lighted room for cheaper especially at that resolution.

 

[Scarpozzi]

lol i did say they were pricey.. i think the laser short throws are dropped a lot in price tho...

The thing with projectors that i learned is your really get what you pay for.
If you want cheap, it may even be in your best option to just get a cheap HDTV and forgo the projector route entirely.

for example if i had a limited budget of 300-400 dollars... i would probably get something like this:
https://electronics.woot.com/offers/tcl-49in-4k-uhd-smart-roku-tv-3?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_elec_9_1
and just bring it out as needed.

It might make transportation of it a bit of a hassle, but you wont get something that u can use a well lighted room for cheaper especially at that resolution.

It's tough because you spend a bunch of money on a projector...then it either stays in a bag and sees little use....or gets stolen or broken because it's always being lugged around. If it were installed in a media room and mounted on the ceiling it would be a different budget. I'm just trying to find the best bang for the buck and something that won't be a huge loss if something happens to it.

 

[Muadib]

I really like the Optoma brand. Here is one in your range: https://www.amazon.com/Optoma-S343-...35&s=gateway&sprefix=optima+pr,aps,118&sr=8-8
Try it and see if you like it.

 

[aigomorla]

https://electronics.woot.com/offers...t-projector-white?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_elec_4_13

short throw optima refurb on woot for 349.99