Don’t make the same mistake I did with an expensive 4K laser projector
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If you’re looking to upgrade your home theater setup with a brand new 4K laser projector, don’t do what I did and forget to read the spec sheet first or you’re in for a nasty surprise.
I love projectors and think people should at least consider putting their TV aside for them. Of course, the best 4K projectors tend to be more expensive than the best 4K TVs, and you’ll need to make sure your home theater is in the right room – somewhere with a large white area and no windows (or blackout curtains installed) – for the best images. But the atmosphere created by a projector setup and the full-screen images it can create is worth it in my opinion.
So, in my crusade to convince others that projectors are the way forward, I took the Epson EH-LS11000W I tested for TechRadar to my parents’ house to show them what it was capable of. In my review, I was really impressed with the laser projector’s sharp 4K image (which can be blown up to a size of 300 inches) and the beautiful colors of the image – although the contrast in dark scenes isn’t quite as good as I’d like would have liked (especially for its price), plus its limited ports and lack of TV OS is a bad combination because you have to waste a port on a streaming stick.
Plus, as I learned at my parent’s house after a few hours of hype and setup, it lacks built-in speakers. This realization immediately brought movie night to a halt, as my family was reluctant to borrow their soundbar and would ruin their existing TV setup. So I dejectedly put the EH-LS11000W in the box. TV one, projector zero.
Right projector, wrong home theater
This is actually not that uncommon for projectors; even rather expensive options like the Epson EH-LS11000W (which will cost you $3,999 / £4,199 / about AU$5,750) focus their efforts on producing great visuals and leave audio to the best soundbars and best speakers.
But in my hubris I forgot this. Instead, I assumed the vents on the side of the machine were to allow the speakers to emit clear audio, not thinking that they could in fact be vents for the 25000 lumen laser array to dissipate heat.
Luckily I hadn’t spent any money on this projector as Epson is lending it to me for the review, so the mistake didn’t cost me anything. If I had just dropped $3,999 / £4,199 then that would have been my entire home theater budget from an incomplete setup.
But this moment is a good reminder that even us techies can make mistakes and assume things about a cool looking product that don’t add up. That’s why we always recommend reading through a gadget’s capabilities and reviews before buying it (and don’t just look at the score and move on).
Speakerless projectors like the Epson EH-LS11000W aren’t terrible, but they aren’t suitable for every home theater setup. That’s the case for a lot of technology; it’s not about how great the device is, it’s about whether it’s great for you and your needs.