Epson EB-1735W Data Projector: compact and competent

If you're looking for a premium portable high-resolution business projector and are prepared to pay for it, then the Epson EB-1735W data projector may be exactly what you need.

Weighing in at under 2kg, this unit, which is about the size of a Melbourne or Sydney White Pages, has all the features a presenter would need and more. Despite its small size, the unit features a 3 LCD display engine, which produces bright, colourful graphics without any of the rainbow effect some sensitive people notice with the competing DLP technology. The unit connects easily to PCs, composite and S-video sources and, if you don’t want to carry a computer around, allows you to run your presentation directly from a USB memory key or wireless network.

The front of the unit has the lens with built-in lens cover, manual focus and 1.2x zoom. The zoom ratio is relatively small, but better than some other projectors we've reviewed. A larger zoom ratio would definitely be a plus, particularly when projecting in small rooms.

The back of the unit has a single VGA input (which means you will need a separate switch box if you are using multiple computers), S-video and composite inputs, USB (Type A and B), Kensington key lock and mini jack audio input to drive the inbuilt mono speaker. The projector is fully compatible with Vista Network projector function, which allows the unit to be controlled directly from the computer over the USB link. On the side is a slot to plug in the supplied wireless USB dongle that supports a/b/g wireless standards. The top of the projector has a subset of controls to allow you to turn the unit on and access the menus and help screens.

Setting up the projector was extremely easy. Within 30 seconds of connecting to our computer we were displaying the presentation. The projector can also connect to USB devices such as USB drives, cameras and media players to display photos, Powerpoint scenario files, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and WMV movie files. If you prefer, you could also connect to the network wirelessly, although this is tedious given that you need to enter username and password via a soft keyboard that is displayed on the screen and controlled by the remote.

While in our view the default colour setting was good, the EB-1735W gives you several presets to enhance viewing for specific types of content including photo, presentation, theatre (for movies), game (which enhances the image brightness and colour saturation), blackboard, sRGB and text, with a special sports presentation mode for displaying fast-moving video sources.

At this price point, you expect high resolution and the EB-1735W delivers. The native resolution is WXGA (1280 x 800), which is the standard used on most notebooks, and certainly good enough for detailed presentations and high definition (720p) video. It's just a pity the unit doesn't have an HDMI input to allow you to directly connect high-definition video sources such as DVD or BluRay.

We tested the EB-1735W at various resolutions and found that it scales well for higher-resolution inputs (such as 1280 x 1024) and supports older 4:3 resolutions (such 800 x 600), while maintaining the correct aspect ratio. The digital zoom function was also a plus, as was the independent pointer that could be controlled from the remote.

Rated at 3,000 lumens, the image is bright enough to be used in a reasonably lit room. We tested it at 3 metres from the screen and found the image was bright, with rich colours, even in moderate room lighting.  Although the contrast ratio of 400:1 is not as high as some other projectors, we had no complaints with the image even when viewing movies.

In our view, the biggest plus is that the projector uses 3 LCD technology, which does away with the “rainbow effect” noticed by some people when watching high-contrast moving video. The only downside with this technology is that the screen door effect (thin lines around each pixel) was quite noticeable, especially to those closest to the screen.

Our main gripes, however, were with the sound. At 39dB, the fan was quite noticeable (although less so in eco mode) even with the sound at maximum volume. The inbuilt speaker is so quiet that it is, for all intents and purposes, useless. We don't know why, for this money, Epson could not have installed a set of reasonable speakers, as the built-in speaker in our notebook performed better.

However, if you want to give an impressive presentation with maximum flexibility of inputs, and you need a unit that you can carry around with you all day, the EB-1735W is excellent. Just remember to pack a set of speakers as well!