Projectors have been substituted for televisions in many homes. There are several projectors of very high quality, but until the surface onto which projectors is somehow enhanced, projectors the image quality cant quite compete with plasma screens, for example. However, you cant very well carry your plasma screen television wherever you want. In the world of projectors, the Optoma Pro360W is a decent buy if youre looking for a basic machine with only some of the features available in many modern projectors.
Priced at $449.00 to $699.99, the 5-pound Pro360W is on the less-expensive side of things considering its weight-to-price ratio. The Pro360W measures 4×11.2×7.6 inches, a small machine in comparison to some other, more expensive options. However, for its size its lightweight, and the soft case that it comes with allows users to take it anywhere.
The Pro360W is ideal for a small room projection environment. Since its image is noticeably brighter than the standard projectors, it can also be shown in areas with an inordinate amount of ambient light. Thanks to the 3,000-lumen grade, the image appears sharp on a regular projection screen. In terms of compatibility, the projectors 1,280×800 resolution works smoothly with 16:10 aspect ratio laptops.
However, in addition to a few tint variations, one problem that users have found is that in some images, there is a marked rainbow effect, wherein instead of solid colors, the light breaks into small red-blue-green rainbow blocks. However, for all intents and purposes, the effect is negligible.
The speaker systems 2-watts are sufficient in a small room, but will need to be augmented with external speakers, which can be connected to the audio-out input. Additional connections that the Pro360W offers include VGA-in, VGA-out, RS232, composite video, S-video, HDMI and audio in. One shortcoming of this projector is that it is without USB connections of any kind. In a world where everyone has their files stored on USB drives, the company made a mistake in not creating those ports on the Pro360W. Many users will want to be able to connect their computers and USB computer-free drives.
The Pro360W is, however, an attractive option to gamers and movie fiends. The DLP-based projector is 3D-compatible if you buy the appropriate glasses. A large 3D projection always makes for a more intense gaming or viewing experience.
All in all the Optoma Pro360W is solid machine with high portability potential, and although it falls short of beating its competition outright, it redeems itself with a cost half that of many slightly-better projectors.