Optoma ML500, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, Mobile Projector

I ordered this product on the day of release (not from Amazon, wasn't released yet). I am seriously impressed by it and will post a video after I clean up my place. It will also be with a cell phone camera so if it's not good enough I won't bother to upload it.

Fan & Brightness

Ok first, right out the box it is very bright and vivid. The colors really pop and are saturated, but in a good way. 500 lumens doesn't seem like a lot compared to bulb projectors but this holds its own. I have about a 90" screen right now with my light on and even on Eco mode (lower in brightness to save power everything is easily viewable. I don't even use regular mode as it makes the fan louder. The fan is not that loud but can easily be heard if the room is perfectly quiet. It sounds like a desktop computer with no dedicated graphics card. On Eco mode you can barely hear it. On regular, it's audible but nothing that would bother you. I sleep right next to it and it doesn't bother me one bit if I fall asleep watching a movie. In other words, don't worry about it. Some projectors have a problem with warming up and causing the picture to become out of focus but I leave this on all day and never have to focus it.

A recommendation, tape a piece of cardboard (or something that doesn't look as cheap) to the ceiling in front of the light that shines on the wall you are pointing your projector at. It will make a huge difference in brightness and won't affect the lightning in your room one bit. You will be able to watch TV with the lights on while only the wall with the picture on it will be dimmer. It works great and I don't even notice light is being blocked.

Keystone Correction

This projector has auto keystone correction as many projectors do these days although no one who uses projectors would recommend taking advantage of it. It distorts the picture because it needs to display a lower resolution to make up for the angle the projector is at Again, this is with all projectors. For a 90" screen my projector is about 4 feet off the ground and I use manual keystone correction set to 0. The image looks absolutely fantastic and I suggest you use manual and find where you can put the projector where you can set it at 0 in the menu. You will notice the top of the screen's image quality become dramtically better

Settings

Although I use eco mode all the time there is no quick setting on the remote for it. You have to go into the menus to turn it on and off. Play around with the color settings on the remote but you will find PC and Cinema look by far the best. Leave it on the best setting you find because it doesn't matter if you are watching TV or using your computer, those two will always be the best. Turn off auto source! It's super, super annoying. The second your computer or set top box does something and loses the connection for 1 second it will start cycling through trying to find a connection. I don't see anyone using anything but HDMI. Even if you did use another source just use the remote to change it. Trust me, its' really annoying. Now that I have it set on HDMI all the time I never have to change it.

Remote

The remote is very simple and I didn't expect much from it. I suggest you just get a learning remote and program the codes into that. It's too small and you will easily lose it. I just programmed a learning remote and kept the real one in a safe drawer.

Picture Clarity

Honestly, I hyped this projector up a lot and have been waiting for an LED projector with an acceptable amount of brightness. It definitely lives up to it. I can't wait to get home from work and play video games on it (which look incredible). I didn't play around with any color settings except the pre-chosen ones which I set on PC and left it (I feel it looks the best). Football looks amazing and walking into my roommates room who has a 37" LCD made me feel like I was watching it on a cell phone. This will ruin other screen sizes for you. I used to have a 50" plasma before I got this which was more expensive and I'm much happier with this. Sometimes when I use it I feel like I'm in the future (not kidding). The contrast ratio is a little low when the lights are on but don't let it discourage you, believe me, it's no plasma but it will not at all take away from the size and color of the image. Besides, anything that you want higher contrast ratio with you will turn the lights off anyway (even if you were watching on a TV) so that's not something to worry about.

Overall, I would give this 6/5 stars. I absolutely love it. If they come out with a 1080p version next year I'm getting it the day it's released. I seriously doubt I will ever buy another TV again. Feel free to post questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them. Hopefully I can get a hold of a real camera to do a video review because I'm not sure how well a cell phone will work.

Edit: Ok time for an update. I've had the projector for about 3 months now. I still love it and still won't buy another TV again. Here are things I came across over this period of time. These will be negatives that came up over time because I still stand by my original positive review so take that into account when reading this.

There isn't a way to split the audio at the projector. A commentor asked what to do when he wants to play something from flash. You would have to use the speaker in this case. I use my computer and a Ceton InfiniTV4 so it's like an all in one system (I never have to change the audio source so I never came across this). While I think playing from flash is worthless if you have a phone, laptop, or computer to hook up to this I guess it's a down fall for someone who does want to only play from the source

The projector, probably once every two weeks will turn itself off if I leave it on for a very long time (I'm not sure if it overheats or capacitors are overloading). YOu have to unplug the projector for a few seconds and turn it back on. I googled this and it happens with other projectors as well so I'm guessing it's a heat issue. It happens so rarely that I wouldn't worry about it. It's just something I wanted to include in the review. The projector can stay on for easily 12 hours, or even more. On the weekends I leave it on pretty much all day and night so I'm not entirely sure what is causing this.

Here is a funny problem that isn't an issue with the projector. It's actually impressive but it's sort of a downside due to the controller. There is an option on the remote that shows a bright lightbulb and a duller one. You would assume this is switching to eco mode to full brightness mode but all it does is change the color settings. I find it strange that someone would want to change the color settings MORE often than changing from eco mode to full brightness. At night when I'm going to bed, sometimes the projector is so bright it's like the light in my room is on. This is NOT a downside to the projector at all. It's just what happens when you have an 80" screen on your wall. You have to use the remote to go into the menu, go to LED mode, and change to eco mode (which is much more tolerable at night). I honestly leave it on eco mode most of the time and forget since it looks good enough most of the time anyway. It's just something I found weird that there isn't a quick switch on the remote.

Since the projection is 80" you can easily read text but it may be a little choppy. This isn't the projector's problem either. It's just the nature of stretching an image to 80". It's basically not as clear as a monitor (you wouldn't expect it to be). When you move the projector closer to the wall it looks VERY clear so I assume when a 1080p version comes out I'll be selling this and buying that.

So those are my negatives which really shouldn't deter you from getting one at all. I just wanted my final thoughts on it on here. Every single day I look up at my giant screen coming from this tiny box and laugh a little. It's seriously impressive. LED projectors are very young and I didn't expect such new technology to impress me so much. I can't wait to see the next 1080p version because I'll be getting it.

--Start of update on 1/22/2013

For the past few months, i have noticed that the video randomly goes blank, it displays "searching..." and the video comes back again. At first i thought it was not the projector. Later, i contacted customer rep and they said it's a HDMI bug (i should use shorter cables). But, i see the problem continues with all types of HDMI and VGA cables with different sources (laptop & cable box).

I am waiting for customer service to respond.

--End of update on 1/22/2013

This projector is worth buying. I am difficult at liking anything but this is a good projector.

+ Fan noise does make noise. It is not much and you don't hear anything when playing a video.

+ Video clarity is good. I don't see distortion or fuzzy pixels at all.

BIG issue : Using SD/USB disk option is good as no wires, but no audio outpput makes this meaningless (inbuilt speakers are meek)

When watching cable, if channel's resolution has changed then it tries to re-detect. Sometimes, it never finds, screen remains blank.

solution is hit HDMI again on the remote.

There needs to be an option to buy warranty to protect this investment

My Laptop --> USB --> Projector option to display laptop video didn't work. Customer Service is not able to solve this problem.

Note: Attached youtube video is a bit misleading. Projected video does not have any fuzzy pixels.

It is damn clear picture. I think the low lighting makes my Sony camera to creates a bit of fuzziness.

Note: Light coming from the projector illuminates the entire room

Note: Best results are when room is dark. Video is watchable is semi-dark / afternoons with blinds closed too.

Buy Optoma ML500, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, Mobile Projector Now

::::.. I've been waiting for a decent led powered portable projector for a long long time. In the past the specs and performance of a led powered projectors were downright toyish. 30 50 lumens were way too dim, resolution was a new low, and the best connection you got was so 80's s-video. In the age of 1080p, over few thousand lumens, hdmi, HDTV, up conversion, and every other bragging gimmick the past "pico" led powered projectors ended up in gizmo crazys trophy stash, quickly forgotten, and I could see why...

::::.. Well this projector will change all that... There are other led powered projectors out there, some cost over $8000 that are focused on home theater, and there are comparable portable projectors like the LG HX350T (Only 300 lumen 1024 x 768 not even a true 720p), The NEC NP-L50W which has the same specs as the Optima, but costs over $750 and gets complaints on focusing issues, there is the ViewSonic PLED-W200 which is only 200 lumens,. The only one comparable to this projector is the ViewSonic PLED-W500 which is little more expensive. There are handful of others that won't get your attention as the ones that I've mentioned.

Most of them have some onboard memory for storing images, music, office files, and videos, and some have usb connection. I won't get into that because these are just added bonuses in which there was a small budget in developing, so the performance is very low at best (even dedicated media players have playback issues). Same goes for internal speaker which is ridiculously low and cheap!

::::.. Let's talk about this projector. This unit comes with all the connecting cables, but not the HDMI cable. HDMI connection is full sized, so you don't need a adapter. There is a VGA connection, S-video, full sized HDMI, mini USB, full size USB, full size SD, standard rca video and AV-in (3.5mm headphone type which feeds standard RCA video and analog audio). The unit comes is a really nice carrying bag, with front and internal pockets for all cables. The unit lacks lens cap which is odd knowing that it will be handled quite often. Built quality is really solid, all buttons are placed around some black brushed aluminum top, and have a good click feel.

There are tri rubber feet, front one can be raised, others are stationary. Focus ring is a little stiff causing you to play around little more..

::::.. Video, reason you buy a projector is for viewing things, not audio, or file storage, and you know better that for presentations you use a tablet or a laptop. Video on this thing is amazing! 500 lumens may seem tiny compared to a 2000 lumen projector, but this is a led light source. Colors are more vibrant, white is more white, and dlp helps to keep pixels unnoticeable, and blacks black. With any projector if you introduce some ambient light into the viewing room you end up with diluted image; black become grays, and dynamics go down significantly. Believe-you-me this projector copes very well with some intruded light. If you keep the image around 100" or lower the image is just right, it is sharp, saturated, good contrast ratio, and bright. Anything over that size will diminish sharpness , and black become gray. It will blow away LCD tvs, and plasmas due to the size of the image, yet keeping things crisp, and vibrant, of course in a well controlled lighting environment . I wish this unit had better blacks, but with tweaking its pretty decent... There are few image presets like PC, theater, user, vibrant. Pretty good starter presets, but NEVER assume they are the best presets! There are so many variables, image can always be improved, in my case a huge deal! Settings are limited, contrast, brightness, hue, sharpness and wall type. Wall type are presets made for different surfaces you can project your image on, It is really handy !

::::.. Unit comes with a small remote that has all functions. Had no issues beaming the remote signal to the unit from both the front and the back.

::::.. This unit runs very cool, fan noise is not that noticeable, very impressive. It amazes me that this little guy produces such gigantic bright image. I think that alone is stunning!

Startup and shutdown is quick. On my tests startup took 6 seconds, shutdown around 11 seconds.

::::.. This unit has a 60hz processing, and any other 90% of all the LCD, dlp, led, plasma tvs on the market. Yes newest models have 120, 240hz processing, but no one is amazed by them!

::::.. Led projector is Eco friendly in many ways! It consumes less power then conventional light source ( this unit consumes less power then a typical 40" LCD tv, yet produces over 100" image!), and the materials that are being used to make led is less abrasive on the enviroment using less energy to produce them, and less chemicals. It also outlasts typical projector light bulb by thousands of times! Typical projectors bulb lasts 2000hrs that declines in performance, led bulb 20,000hrs! It is THE main reason why the industry is switching to this technology.

So what and where can you use this unit for? Great for presentations, enough brightness for lit rooms, easy to read text, portable and light.

::::.. But this unit shines in home theater settings! 780p is stunning in a dark room with good projector screen with a good grain ratio. More importantly it can be used as your main tv for everyday, not worrying about bulb life or daytime situation.. Its fast enough for gaming, you will never look back again playing your favorite game on a 100" screen, it is amazing!!!!!!! No doubt this unit is a game changer, a new benchmark on portable led based projectors. It can only get better from here..........

Pros/Cons

::::..PROS

+ Brightness (500 lumens)

+ Led bulb/life (20,000 hours)

+ True 720p (1280x800)

+ Built quality, solid feel (hard plastic, some brushed aluminum)

+ Image quality ( solid vibrant colors, sharp, good blacks, good video response)

+ Portable (comes with great carrying bag with pockets for all cables)

+ Handels intrusive light very well (can be used for main tv with daytime light)

+ Cool operation, low fan noise

+ Variarity of connections (full HDMI, VGA, S-video, RCA video, AV 3.5mm video audio, mini USB, full USB, full SD)

::::.. CONS

No lens cap

Focus ring tight feel

Room for improvement of black level

Room for improvement of video processing (60hz)

Limited video controls (brightness, contrast, focus, sharpness..)

Limited media playback

Speaker is a joke....

Read Best Reviews of Optoma ML500, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, Mobile Projector Here

UPDATE: January 29, 2012; I have posted a youtube video showing the focus at startup. As you'll see, it isn't that bad. It is slightly fuzzy but still readable and the videos don't seem to be affected (although I'm sure they are, if you look hard enough). With the price of this projector, the longevity of the lamp, and the quality of the picture, a 10 minute period at the start shouldn't be a huge problem for anyone. But to each his own. I still stand by my five star rating. I will update again if I come across something else. Good Luck!!!!

UPDATE: March 26, 2012; I continue to add videos to youtube. (optoma ml500 user review) I am 100% sure the focus at startup is because of the room temperature. Now that I am in warmer weather, the focus is clearing up in about 2 minutes. Once in the winter, I had the wood stove pretty hot, which made the livingroom warmer than normal and the projector started up completely in focus. So once spring and summer temps are up, there won't be a focusing period. One other small issue I have noticed is that the projector seems to need a system reset every 120 hours or so. I have over 800 hours now and it still works and looks great. However, every 120 hours or so it will shut down. I have to unplug it for about a minute. Then I plug it back in and it goes back to normal. Everything is still great quality. For picture quality and performance I still stand behind my 5 star rating. But because of needing a type of reset I would bring it down to 4 1/2 stars. This could just be my projector. I will update again. If you have questions, be sure to ask. It is amazing as I am writing this review on my 100" screen, sitting comfortably on my couch. :)

Update: May 6, 2012 Everything is still great. I have over 1200 hours now. Still shuts off every 120 hours (approximate). Quality is still great. Crisp picture from corner to corner. I have noticed that with Blu-ray the image is the best this projector will put out. So, if you have a Blu-ray setup, your movie nights will be outstanding with this projector. HDMI is the best input to use, VGA is very good as well. You will notice with the RCA video cable that the image looks very much like standard definition (which it is). But it still looks great. Let me know if you have questions or would like to see a certain video.

Update: November 17, 2012 I am at around 3000 hours now. I am still very happy with this projector. I can confirm, without a doubt, that the focus issue is related to the environmental temperature. Now that its winter again, if I don't keep the room temp up, there is a warm up, focusing period. The projector still requires a restart about every 120 hours. Very odd, but it works. Playing Black Ops is just amazing, movies are crazy good, and regular tv viewing is extremely inviting. I have had a couple of my family and friends buy a similar setup to mine cuz they are as impressedd as I am. It is very cheap when you compare to other projectors with the same specs. I now have about 9 videos on YouTube in response to requests. So, if you have a question or something you want to see, just let me know.

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I can't say enough about this projector. The picture quality is awesome! The colors are outstanding, the clarity is stunning and it is very bright. Whoever is saying it isn't bright enough during the day is either watching it outside in direct sunlight, or with no roof on their house. I keep mine on eco mode because this projector is bright enough to do it. We watch at all hours of the day, keep our two windows open AND have lights on and can still see the picture very clearly. One downfall of having more light in the room is the black levels are sacrificed. If you can't watch a tv with bad black levels during lighted conditions then this should only be for your theater room. But this is more than adequate at allowing you to watch tv in the daytime. You'll be able to read everything on the screen and see all the detail.

I've seen some complaints about fan noise, and this is NOT a problem. Who watches tv with the volume all the way down anyway. Even with the projector volume on low I can't tell its running.

I spent way too many hours researching this. But I am not one to waste my money so I wanted to make sure I would be pleased. And I couldn't be happier. If you are close to deciding on this, just do it. You will be impressed. The speaker does a good job, the fan noise is not an issue, the picture quality is amazing, it is very portable (although i'll probably leave mine mounted), and the rated hours of the led's are impressive.

For the money, this is the best projector you will buy. I am coming from a 57" sony HD tv and I won't ever get another tv after this purchase. I will however buy a 1080p LED projector when it gets into my price range.

Let me sum it up for you; PS3 games are out of this world, movies are like being at a theater, surfing the internet is crazy awesome on a 100" screen.

Pros:

-picture quality

-good speaker

-very nice at 100"

-very bright

-awesome colors

-fan noise is not an issue

-way too many positives to mention

Cons:

-there is an initial focusing period of about 5 to 10 minutes, not so bad you can't watch tv. Not bad at all. But if you want to surf the net, you'll want to wait for it to completely focus first. This isn't an issue for me because I have mine on most of the time. Who flips the tv on 30 seconds before they want to watch the most important thing they will ever see? AND you'll still be able to see it AND read it.

I have posted four youtube videos and will post more if you have a question or want to see something. Just ask!

You won't be disappointed!

Want Optoma ML500, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, Mobile Projector Discount?

If you are considering this project, first thing to do is to ignore the 5 star reviews. I enjoy my ML500, but it's has too many issues to be a 5 star product.

If you decide to go with the ML500, the first thing you want to do after you unbox it is to throw the remote control that it comes with in the trash. Get yourself a logitech controller. The include remote is terrible. The second thing you want to do after you set it up is to find one of your THX certified DVDs and run the THX optimizer that is on the disk. This will help you get the best picture from you ML500. Don't worry about ordering the THX optimizer glasses, you don't need them. Also run the optimizer a time when the light level in the room is at the level you will normally use the projector.

My ML500 is ceiling mounted projecting a 132 inches on a smoothed and white painted wall. I use it for blu ray movies and games on the PS3. With this configuration, the room must be totally 100% dark to enjoy the picture. Any light from light fixtures or windows completely washes out the picture and makes it unwatchable. Maybe if I project a smaller image or used a $200 a gallon screen paint it might be watchable with some light present, but I doubt it. This isn't a huge issue for me as I usually watch movies at night, but I would like to play a PS3 game during the day sometime.. I mainly game on the XBOX which is on a LCD TV, so not a big issue for me. Lumens gets ***

One thing the ML500 has no problems with is colors. Colors are bright and very pretty, even at 132 inches. Colors get *****

Next lets talk about focus. It's true that the focus ring is tight so it's tough to get it exactly where you want it. You might read in other reviews that the image on the ML500 is "soft". I can confirm that this is true. Adjusting the focus and contrast with the THX optimizer will help though. I would say that it's good enough for movie and games, but forget it for anything text heavy and don't even try web surfing. The text will give you a headache. Now here is something I can't explain.... my project and screen doesn't move, it stays in the same place. However, I find myself adjusting the focus every time I use the projector. Doesn't matter if I let it warm up for 10 minutes or not. focus gets ***

Fan noise, forget it, it's terrible. Even being mounted 6 feet over my head it's loud and distracting. noise *

Sound forget it, you'll need to use a receiver if you want good sound. sound *

Movies and games do look great, but the one thing that hurts them is the ML500s refresh rate. When the camera in a game or movie is moving forward or flying, it looks amazing. But, when the camera moves from left to right or right to left is when the 60hz refresh rate becomes apparent. It's not smooth. If they came out with a new model that the only different was a higher refresh rate, I would buy it. refresh rate gets *

Even though the contrast ratio on paper looks bad, on my white screen in total darkness, it looks good. The blacks are black and the whites are bright. With any light it is terrible though. Contrast ratio ***

I'll update this review later, but even though I have pointed a lot of negatives about the ML500, you have to consider the price and $ saving not having to replace bulbs. Not to mention it is fun watching a movie on a 11ft screen.

I hope the next model has a slight sharper image, 120hz refresh, and make it compatible with the optoma 3dxl.