November 11, 2003

Hi folks,

When is the shoot-out review of the Philips bCool XG1, the Mitsubishi XD50U Mini-Mits, the BenQ PB2220, and the NEC LT170 going to be posted? Good question. All I can say is "soon."

Here's the situation. Sometimes we run into performance problems with review units. It is often not clear whether the problem is with the test unit itself or something inherent in the projector's design or programming. When this happens, we refer the problem to the manufacturer and ask them for comment. Usually the manufacturer needs to duplicate the problem in their lab before making a statement.

This is the cycle we have been in for the last week or so. I appreciate the emails asking us to hurry it up, and definitely appreciate your anticipation. Unfortunately sometimes it just takes time to get to the bottom of things. We don't want to publish critical observations about a projector without understanding the nature of the problem, or the steps the manufacturer might take to address it. That would be unfair to everyone concerned. So your continued patience is all I can ask for.

As far as other reviews are concerned, the Sanyo PLV-Z2 should arrive in a few days, and (assuming no problems with the review sample) that review will be posted right after Thanksgiving weekend. Also scheduled to arrive soon are the Epson Home 10, the Sony HS20, the Optoma H30 and the Hitachi Home 1. All of these are expected to arrive soon. Based on this line-up, December is shaping up to be a very busy review month for home theater projectors.

We continue to get emails asking about the Optoma H76. As of today Optoma said it is not yet shipping but it will be available before the end of the year. Once we can get a production unit to evaluate, we will review it at that time.

As a final note, the current special on the Bravo D1 DVI-enabled DVD player will continue through next Friday, November 21. ProjectorCentral readers can get an additional 10% off both the player as well as the DVI cable that is sold separately, should you need it. For details, click here.

Thank you for using ProjectorCentral,

Evan Powell