Skip to navigation
Login|Register
Log In

Remember me

RSS Feeds

Acer H5350 review

Verdict:

Review Date: 19 Dec 2008

Price when reviewed: £414

Supplier: http://www.comwales.com

Reviewed By: Barry de la Rosa

Our Rating 2 stars out of 5

User Rating 5 stars out of 5

Powered by Reevoo

We reviewed the budget H5350 five months ago (What's New, Shopper 247) and were impressed with its brightness, portability and quality.

However, there was a caveat to the five-star rating, and that was high running costs. Replacement lamps work out at 10p per hour since they last up to 3,500 hours and cost around £290 - more than half the cost of the projector.

There are a few other niggles. The credit-card sized remote control, which slots into a panel on top of the case, seems a clever idea, but there's no way of controlling the projector if you accidentally lose it. In addition, the lens cap isn't attached to the case, so once you've taken it off it's yet another item that's easy to misplace.

Setting up the projector is easy enough using the HDMI input, but the 1.1x optical zoom is more limited than others, so placement could be an issue. The unit is reasonably quiet when turned on, but the air venting out of the front was extremely hot, and the bottom of the case was almost too hot to touch. We'd advise leaving the unit plugged in after turning it off so the fans can cool it down.

We weren't impressed by the image quality compared to others here. The DLP rainbow effect is particularly noticeable, and becomes annoying in dark black and bright white sequences. Contrast was good in light scenes, but in dark ones we found the lack of detail couldn't be remedied by increasing the brightness. Image controls lacked the fine-tuning options on BenQ's W500 (reviewed right). The H5350 also suffered badly from a fizzing effect on areas of sky in outdoor scenes with bright sunlight, which is another DLP trait.

Although the H5350 is relatively inexpensive, the pricy lamps mean it's poorer value than it seems. In addition, Acer provides only a 90-day warranty on the lamp. For these reasons, we'd recommend spending more on the W500, which has far superior image quality, lower running costs and a six-month lamp warranty.

Prev Next

User Reviews

< Previous   Reviews : Projectors Next >
Sponsored Links
Be the first to comment on this article

You need to Login or Register to comment.

(optional)

advertisement

Award-winning Projectors
Best Buy
Epson EH-TW5900
Best Budget Buy
BenQ W1060
Best Business Buy
Epson EB-W12
Ultimate
Panasonic PT-AT5000E

Acer H5360BD review

Acer H5360BD

Category: Projectors
Rating: 4 out of 5
Price: £500
InFocus SP8600 review

InFocus SP8600

Category: Projectors
Rating: 3 out of 5
Price: £699
Epson EH-TW6000 review

Epson EH-TW6000

Category: Projectors
Rating: 4 out of 5
Price: £1,349
Acer H7531D review

Acer H7531D

Category: Projectors
Rating: 3 out of 5
Price: £750
BenQ W1060 review

BenQ W1060

Category: Projectors
Rating: 5 out of 5
Price: £761
Projector buying guide

Projector buying guide

Find out all you need to know about choosing the right projector.

Read more

 

advertisement

Also in this category...
 
Computer Shopper

advertisement


advertisement


 
 

Expert Reviews Printed from www.expertreviews.co.uk

Register to receive our regular email newsletter at http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/registration.

The newsletter contains links to our latest PC news, product reviews, features and how-to guides, plus special offers and competitions.