Epson's PowerLite 3020 projector a decent buy: First Look

-I am Ty Pendlebury from cnet.com. While televisions have gotten really large of late, there's still a dedicated set of people who would still opt for a projector for a big screen experience. And one of the biggest names in Home Projection is Epson. And today I'm looking at its mid level offering the PowerLite 3020. There are two versions in this projector, one with the Wireless HDMI dongle for 1899 and one without for 1599. As far as design is concerned, most projectors look like a hovercraft or spaceship. The PowerLite 3020 with each distinctive fins certainly wouldn't look out a place in a movie about Blue Cat People. Aside from Wireless HDMI, the projector also offers 3D onboard speakers, 2 HDMI inputs and an extensive setup menu. Image quality is pretty good and certainly better than the LCD projectors over few years ago. Colors are close to reference quality and shadow detail is as good as you can get without spending over $2000. 3D quality is also quite good and better than you'll get from most LCD TVs. The problem is that black levels aren't all that great and the motor that operates the RS makes a loud grinding sound. In comparison, the competing BenQ W1070 is under a grand has similar levels contrast and doesn't make anywhere near as much noise. If you're looking to buy this Epson projector, don't get the wireless option. It needs line of sight to work and can be interrupted if you move in front of it. Save yourself a few hundred bucks and get a really good long HDMI cable instead. If you want a better projector though, opt for either the BenQ or Mitsubishi HC7900. This has been Ty Pendlebury for CNET.