The Twenty Smallest Portable SVGA Projectors

Newly Announced Products Transform the Category

The new product releases that have just appeared in the last two weeks have redefined the entire category. In particular, Sony and Mitsubishi have joined Toshiba in offering up lightweight units with excellent price/performance characteristics that will put substantial price pressure on the competition.

In particular, Sony has established a new price/performance benchmark with the newly announced 6.4 lb VPL-CS1 by setting its MSRP at $2,999, and publishing an anticipated street price of $2,699. Do not expect much discounting off of this street price in the near future, as there is no other projector in the category that can deliver what the Sony offers at that price.

This is not to say that the Sony CS1 is the right choice for all mobile presenters. Several other competitors in this group have performance advantages over the Sony in the area of ANSI lumens. For those who need additional light output in the range of 900 to 1100 ANSI lumens, there are several sub-8 lb products that now offer this.

Several products in this group of twenty have been marginalized as a result of the recent new product announcements. In particular, the Lightware, Dukane, Plus, and NEC products will feel strong price pressure, as they no longer offer an attractive combination of weight, size, and features to compete well at their current price points. If there are large inventories of any of these products remaining to be sold, conditions are right to see some excellent prices developing if these vendors and/or their dealers move to liquidate stock.

In short, for the cost-conscious mobile presenter, the Sony CS1 at a street price of $2,699 is the new benchmark against which all other 500 to 700 ANSI lumen products must be compared. For those willing to spend more for higher performance, the Mitsubishi S50 and the Toshiba TLP-450 are the strongest contenders in the 1000+ ANSI lumen range. Each product is reviewed in this study, and the advantages and limitations of each examined:

Sony VPL-CS1
Mitsubishi S50
Toshiba TLP-450
Epson PowerLite 500c
InFocus 425z / Kodak DP900 / Boxlight CD-450m
InFocus LP400 / Boxlight CD-40m
Plus U2-870 / NEC Multisync LT84
Proxima SV1
Sanyo PLC-SU10N / Boxlight CP-10t
Sanyo PLC-SU07N / Proxima LS1 / Eiki LC-NB1UW
Lightware Scout / Dukane ImagePro 7700
Lightware Scout 2000