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| A Bright, Full-Featured Projector at a Low Price |
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In 2003, projector manufacturers struggled to offer projectors at the “magic number” of $999. Back then, the best you could hope for was 1200 ANSI lumens and SVGA resolution. Today, the $999 isn’t the barrier it once was, and many lower-cost projectors offer substantial brightness and respectable picture quality.
The BenQ MP623 is one of the overachievers at the low end of the projector price scale. With an MSRP of $799, the portable DLP projector provides 2,500 ANSI lumens and XGA resolution.
There are some nice touches on the MP623, including an integrated lens cover and a sturdy, adjustable front foot. A top-access lamp door also makes maintenance easier, particularly if you decide to permanently install the unit. BenQ also includes an excellent carrying case that’s well padded and equipped with an outer pocket for cables and accessories.
You’ll also like the feature set once you actually turn on the projector. On-screen menus are easy to navigate. Wall color correction adjusts the picture color to compensate for colored surfaces (including blackboards), plus there are a handful of picture modes. Built-in closed captioning is a plus for Section 508 compliance. There’s even a built-in help menu that addresses common questions, so you don’t have to find the manual.
I was particularly pleased to discover a timer. You can set a time limit of up to four hours for a presentation and display the timer on the screen (or hide it if you find it distracting). There’s also an optional audio reminder when time has expired. This is a great feature for keeping multiple presenters on track and on time.
The credit card remote control is simple and uncluttered—bonus points to BenQ for replicating the on-board control panel on the remote. The main group of buttons provides the controls needed for on-screen menu navigation and source selection, plus there are controls for the digital zoom and timer.
Your input choices should be sufficient for most presentations on the go, with S-Video, RCA video and HDMI inputs. An RGB input doubles as your computer and component video connection. There are also an RS-232 control port and RGB out.
The MP623 does not provide the best images on the market, but it exceeds expectations for an entrylevel projector. Both the video and S-Video sources suffered from aliasing even after I reduced the sharpness, and the video image was noisy (as expected). The computer input displayed nice PowerPoint slides, but it lacked crisp text in spreadsheets and documents. The HDMI input was the best of the bunch, with clean and clear computer images and video.
The MP623 has more features than you’d expect at this price point, but there are some noticeable limitations. There’s no easy way to adjust or mute the volume; you have to access the audio settings from a sub-menu. Also, the built-in two-watt speaker is OK, but there’s only a single audio mini-jack that is shared among the sources. Arguably the most glaring omission is the lack of auto keystone correction, which means that you’ll most likely have to manual adjust the image every time you set up for a new presentation.
Despite a few minor gripes, if all you can afford is a “bare bones” portable projector, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised by the BenQ MP623. For less than $800, you get a lightweight, sturdy unit with plenty of brightness, good images and a decent feature set.
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