12 without defect! (Philips Hopper SV20)

Member Name: Plymyphil

Product:	Philips Hopper SV20
Date:	27/11/03 (616 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Durable, Value for money, Good range of functions

Disadvantages: Weight

I am in the fortunate position of being able to review not one but twelve of these data projectors. Almost four years ago I held a position involving purchasing for a number of consumers and having researched the budget data projector market thoroughly, ordered twelve of these projectors. Now, we are able to look back on almost four years of light to medium usage and agree that the purchase was seriously good value for money. Let's take a look at the specifics about this projector that at the time made it stand out from the crowd in what was and still is a crowded end of the market.

PORTABILITY
We wanted these projectors for portable use. They had to be moveable on site and even off site. This projector was sold at the time with a well padded carry case. Now, don't get me wrong ... multimedia projectors are reasonably weighty pieces of kit, but this projector is moveable in it's carry case. Good advice for people purchasing a projector to be mobile is to follow guidelines on when a projector can be moved. This particular model, when switched to standby, will continue to run the cooling fan for about five more minutes. It is advised to leave it to fully cool - I would say about fifteen minutes from standby - before moving. Moving before then risks blowing the bulb ... and trust me ... this is something not to do. (See below for details of cost to understand why.) The remote control handset means a presentation can be controlled from the front of the room without the need to touch the computer being used. This is great for a professional appearance.

FUNCTIONALITY
This particular projector comes with the standard SVGA monitor port, a mouse port to connect through to the mouse port on your PC, and then, separate connections for audio and video. These connections enable video and PC to function equally as well. Indeed I have given presentations involving both and the switch between the two is almost seemless ... a button on top marke
d Data/Video switches between the two inputs.

QUALITY
The resolution is low compared to today's standards but 800X600 was par for the course in the budget end of the market four years ago. The brightness is good at up to 2000 ansi lumens. This is fine for moderately bright daytime usage but as with all data projectors if you can limit direct light the image quality appears better. On a low reflective screen the image is stunning but I have used a variety of backdrops including stretched net curtain material when I borrowed a projector to watch a world cup football match at home. There is the option to manually increase the brightness which apparantly can shorten the bulb life but here we are four years on and never having had to replace any of the bulbs in the twelve machines we bought. That to me is good bulb life!

ADJUSTABLILTY
Nowadays these projectors come with more image adjustment properties than you can shake a stick at but back then, finding a projector that could change it's focal length substantially was tricky. This machine does have a fair degree of adjustment. We have used it at distances from about four feet to about fifteen feet from the board being projected to and have had good results. Again, the further back you are the less light you need in the room to maintain decent picture quality. A menu button on the top brings up access to brightness and volume.

PRICE
The price at the time of purchase was almost to the penny £1200. They must be stacks cheaper now if they are still available. If you choose to buy one second hand be sure that the usage has not been too heavy as bulbs are listed at £200!

OVERALL
Twelve machines and no defects or faults. Not even a bulb blown. This for me reflects great value for money on projectors that have been moved around. Portability tends to bring with it extra wear and tear but this projector has been up to the job. I definitely recommend this model to potenti
al buyers but would say check the price and compare because newer models are brighter and lighter so the price must reflect this fact.

Summary: