OPTOMA HD70 High Definition Home Cinema Projector Best Buy

An excellent 720P projector - 30 Aug 2007

7 out of 9 found this review helpful.

The HD70 has a high gloss white case, with gray trim on the sides and rear. It is not overly branded, with small "HD Ready" and "DLP" logos on the front and an Optoma badge up top. In all, it has a minimalist appearance that hides ann impressive projector.

The 1.2:1 manual zoom range is sufficient for adjusting the image to fit your screen, but doesn't allow for a lot of placement flexibility. The HD70 will project a 100" 16:9 image from 11.5 feet to 13.8 feet. If you sit at a viewing distance of 1.5x the screen width (or 10.8 feet), you can put HD70 just behind the seating area, which will help to reduce distractions from audible noise and heat exhaust.

The HD70 has a generous, fixed throw angle offset. The bottom edge of the projected image will appear 33% of the image height above the centerline of the lens. So for example, if you are projecting a 100" 16:9 image, the bottom edge of the image will be about 16" above the lens centerline. This makes the HD70 a good candidate for table or ceiling mounting.

Table placement is easier, quicker, and less costly. Due to the throw distance, if you place the projector on a coffee table in front of you it will mean that you are sitting further back than 1.5x the screen width. Some users will prefer that, and others won't. If you want to be closer to the screen, another option is put the unit on a low table between the seats. Rear shelf mounting above and behind the seats is also possible, but it will require a significant forward tilt to keep the projected image from appearing too high on the wall, and you'll need to use the keystone correction feature to square it up.

The primary advantage of the HD72 is that its 1280x768 resolution display allows you to project 1280x720 video, 1024x768 computer signals, and 1280x768 widescreen data, all in native format without scaling. The HD70 is native 1280x720. That is fine for HD video, but data signals in XGA and WXGA format must be compressed. If you need a projector that will serve well for both video and data presentation, the added versatility of the HD72's 768-line display will better suit your needs.

In all the projectors I have owned and demonstrated I can highly recommend the Optoma, and at the price it is virtually unbeaten on the market. The HD72 is a slight improvement and the HD80 & 81 have better specs but are 1080P projectors.

The contrast, saturation, adjustable colour control and general overall image of this 720P projector is an excellent and a great buy. It seems most of the magazine reviews agree with this many giving 5 stars.

If you have around £500 to spend then this is the one for you.