Without a top-notch business projector, it doesn't matter how smooth your presentation or how stunning your PowerPoint, your audience won't get the full effect. Make sure you can wow your customers, partners, and prospects with the latest projector technology -- and seal the deal.
Business projectors haven't been resting on their laurels in recent years. They're getting brighter, showing truer colors, and tackling HD video. From $5,000 high-end installation projectors to affordable portables, now is a good time to update your old, low-resolution projector or outfit your sales team with the latest technology.
Widescreen support and short-throw lenses that can project larger images with less distance between the project and screen are two notable innovations. The $1,399 Epson PowerLite 400W offers both widescreen support and a short-throw lens; it can project an 87-inch 16:10 widescreen image from 3.4 feet away. The Toshiba TDP-EW25U, which costs $2,059, also blends these two features. Both projectors have a WXGA native resolution, making them a good fit for use with widescreen laptops. Neither projector is a featherweight, but at less than 10 pounds, you can still take either on the occasional road trip. The somewhat-less-weighty, $1,410 Sony VPL-EW5 is a widescreen WXGA projector that uses LCD technology and weighs in at 6.6 pounds. It's an affordable entry-level solution that still packs in some desirable features. Another portable candidate is the $1,195, 6-pound XGA Sharp XR-32X. An SVGA version (the XR-32S) is also available, priced at $1,095.
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For a budget-friendly conference-room solution, look to the $749 InFocus Work Big IN2104. This XGA native resolution projector weighs just less than 7 pounds, and a lamp life of 3,000 hours means you won't have to deal with lamp replacement for a while. SVGA and WXGA versions are also available in this series.
The NEC NP3151W, which features a very bright 4,000 lumens, may be designed for business environments, but it's also up to the task of handling home-theater-quality video. That's a boon for entrepreneurs who put advanced multimedia and video in their presentations. At 16.1 pounds, you won't want to take this projector on business trips, but it would be just right in a conference room at the office for meetings. All that new technology comes with a $4,999 price tag.
On the other end of the size and cost spectrum is the highly portable Sanyo PLC-XW60 XGA LCD projector for $795. It squeaks in at 3.6 pounds and is a good tool for a mobile salesperson or entrepreneur who needs to give presentations on the road. Another projector that delivers a high degree of portability is the ViewSonic PJ260D. This Digital Light Processing projector costs $1,399 and weighs just less than 3 pounds.
You don't always have to dim the lights to get a good picture from a projector. Look for a device with a high lumen count. The $2,999 BenQ SP831, for instance, offers 4,000 lumens of brightness, making it suitable for rooms with bright light. This model's twin-screen capability also can display images from two information sources at the same time.
Make sure also to look at projectors from Dell, Panasonic, and Planar. Narrow down your options by deciding if you need a portable or conference-room projector, whether you'll be using a widescreen notebook, and whether you'll be projecting in a brightly lit room or projecting a big image in a small space. You'll pay extra for some of the latest and greatest features, but there are plenty of bargains out there if you don't need cutting-edge technology.
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Amanda Kooser is assistant technology editor at Entrepreneur magazine.
