Sometimes you get more than you pay for!

Never a more accurate phrase has been spoken than “you get what you pay for”, and in the audio/visual industry this is certainly true. However, every now and then a product comes along that offers substantial performance far beyond the price asked. One such product is the ViewSonic Pro7827HD – a 1080p projector that offers a ridiculously great picture at such a modest price. Some of the highlights of this little package are:-

• Up to 6500 hours on the globe (SuperEco mode)
• Three year warranty on the projector, with one year (or 1000 hours) on the globe.
• ISF calibration-capable (Day and Night modes) for picture perfect performance in your room.
• Small and lightweight.
• Rear cable cover for a cleaner finish.
• 2200 Lumens for daytime viewing.

Another great feature is the ability to plug an Android dongle/ChromeCast/Amazon Fire TV stick directly into the projector itself (powered by rear 2A USB port), allowing you to pretty much have a wireless Full HD experience, that’s portable to boot (use Googlecast to wirelessly send audio to your device of choice).

Of course, all the specifications in the world won’t give you insight into how good this unit performs, so we encourage anyone considering an economically-priced  projector for their home theatre, to pop down to our showroom and get a demonstration. Personally, I was so smitten with the ViewSonic that I took our display unit home to compare to my 5 year-old, $8,000 Sony 1080p projector. The verdict? Well, the Sony runs quieter, has a touch more colour accuracy, has the ability to panel align (convergence), and has better latency. On paper the Sony offers better contrast, but in reality the ViewSonic won this race, but only just.

So far so good, so what’s the catch? Well, there really isn’t one, however there are two things to consider if you are in the market to entertain the purchase of a ViewSonic Pro7827HD. Firstly, it’s not as quiet as some of the other (see: more expensive) projectors out there. It’s noise level is indicative of it’s price point. However, install it on your ceiling, put your favourite movie or TV show on, crank up the audio and this will be forgotten about quickly. The second caveat is positioning – you have some vertical lens shift, but for those installing themselves, spend a little time getting those measurements just right before you start drilling holes!

Some amazing reviews for this unit can be found HERE

The ViewSonic Pro7827HD is available now and on show in-store. The unit is priced at $2,199 inc. GST.