Rating: 8/10
Very occasionally a product comes along that fits the purpose it was made so well that it stands out from the crowd in a definitive way. The Toshiba TLP-ET1B is exactly that type of gizmo, designed almost perfectly for home cinema projection.
For what, in home cinema terms, is petty cash, you get a Polysilicon LCD-based projector which can easily generate a 120-inch wide image on any flat surface. The light output is an unremarkable 700 ANSI lumens with an 800:1 ratio, not fantastically bright but enough to work away from direct sunlight. The 130W lamp they supply is rated for a service life of 2000 or 3000 hours depending on the use of Economy mode. Watching four hours of TV a day using it would require a bulb replacement after a little more than two years at best, at a cost of around £233. In its defence I'd say that this costs less than some and lasts longer than most.
Where the ET1B really scores is in the connection support, which includes standard computer VGA, RGB and even SCART. So it's easy to attach to almost any DVD player, PC or audio visual hardware you can think of. In terms of the signals it can decode, support is equally comprehensive with video using 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 1080i & 720p all handled, plus all the usually PAL, SECAM and NTSC TV bands.
If this projector does have a weakness it's the native resolution, being just 854 x 480 pixels. While this is almost ideal for DVD playback it's a little low for a PC or some of the more spectacular HDTV modes. Having experimented I discovered that it will display desktops higher, but 1024 x 768 seems the ideal mode. This projector also really shines when you use it with a games console, allowing Playstation 2 or Xbox FPS and racing titles to become utterly submersive.
So if you bought one how would you use it? This design incorporates lots of deployment options. If can be used close up on a table, with a keystone angle of fifteen degrees available to square up the picture. Or it can be a rear projector, and it can even be inverted and bolted to the ceiling! All settings can be altered with a small remote, so you can put it where it's most convenient.
Projectors aren't cheap to run and often cost a small fortune. This one is well made and delivers great images at a very low initial cost. If you are willing to accept the ongoing bulb replacements, running at around £100 per year, then this is an excellent solution.
For more information, visit Micromart.co.uk