Optoma EP749 Multimedia Data Projector

I bought this projector at Best Buy in June of '07 for about $800. I used it to watch TV and movies, often in HD, and was comfortable with the picture quality that I got for the price. As other reviews have noted the color quality isn't great, but high quality HD sources look very good. Lower quality standard def sources don't always look so good, but most of the time they are good enough.

My family and I used it about 6 hours a week, on average. After 350 hours of use (as measured by the lamp hour meter in the projector) and 14 months into it's life, two months out of the manufacturers 1 year warranty, the projector quit working. It will not turn on (no lights, no fan, no indication that it is even getting power). It gave no indications of having trouble prior to this.

Because Optoma only warranties this projector for a year they sent me to a third party service company. This company charges $145 up front to look at the broken projector, $85 of which is non-refundable. The minimum repair charge is $145, plus parts and labor ($100/hour).

I am very careful with equipment and haven't done anything with this portable projector that would be considered unusual. It spent a year sitting on an open, well-ventilated shelf in my TV room, and took one trip in the car, carefully packed into the very nice carrier that it comes with. It worked fine for several weeks after that.

I calculate that it has cost about $2.25 per hour of viewing. When I pay for a movie to watch on it, it only costs about $1.75/hr.

If I buy another projector, it will not be an Optoma. They do not stand behind their products long enough.

We are promoters of a national/world level bicycle race. We have to give training programs to large numbers of public safety personnel and to hundreds of volunteers. The Optima EP 749 Multimedia Projector met all of our needs.

I've seen many images on many different media projectors, and the Optima projector is just, well, flat.

The color lacks depth, leaving presentations lackluster and media showings sad.

When I contacted Optima customer support, their answer was "This is a data projector and it doesn't give true color." I don't need true color, but every other projector I've seen gives better color.

I'm not happy with it, but for now I'm stuck with it.

I bought this product at Best Buy. It seemed to be the best as far as resolution and still below $1000. They call it a data projector, but in fact I use it for movies and the like. DVDs play with good clarity on a typical DVD player. Settings for the computer require some adjustment. It does get a bit grainy watching mpg quality video. It seems to be better for a ceiling mount due to the projection angle. The product is impressive, but not over impressive for what is on the market today.