Optoma EP739

Right off the bat, the 5.3-pound Optoma EP739 impresses with its high-definition capability; you can either use a DVI-D connector or a composite to VGA adapter. The mouse control worked pretty well and allowed us to move through PowerPoints easily. The cool-down time of 69 seconds was second best in this roundup.

 

The EP739's picture quality was okay for presentations, but we weren't so impressed with the video quality. When playing DVDs the projector kicks over to its movie setting, which was very dark, even after we tweaked some settings. The audio was good enough to fill a small room.

 

With a brightness rating of 2136 lumens, the EP739 trailed the Dell 2400MP and HP MP3320 projectors. However, Optoma placed first in our contrast test by a narrow margin over the Dell 2400MP. We did see a small problem with uniformity, as the projected image was darker in the upper right corner and got brighter as you moved diagonally across the screen.

 

Overall, the Optoma EP739 offers good performance for not a lot of dough.