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If you’re setting up a home theater and find that even the biggest 4K TVs are coming up short in the size department, you’ve got another option. Today’s best projectors are capable of delivering a cinematic experience right at home, but those theater-grade units will cost you a pretty penny (although there are also plenty of cheap projectors out there if your needs are more basic). To help you save some cash, we’ve rounded up the best projector deals you can score online right now, with our picks covering a nice range of features, sizes, and price points.
Today’s Best Projector Deals
- Apeman Mini Projector — $90, was $130
- ViewSonic PA503S Projector — $285, was $459
- Epson VS250 Projector — $310, was $370
- Epson EX3260 Projector — $415, was $500
- Optoma HD146X Projector — $549, was $949
- BenQ TK800M 4K Projector — $1300, was $1450
How To Choose A Projector
Projectors span a huge range of features and prices, and the age-old axiom “you get what you pay for” applies here. You can get a cheap projector for less than a hundred bucks, while high-end, theater-quality 4K projectors can run into the thousands. You probably have a set budget in mind already, however, but you’ll want to be aware of what features and specs to look for before you buy the first cheap projector you find that suits your wallet.
The basic specs to consider when shopping around for projector deals are the picture size and resolution, brightness (typically expressed in lumens), and throw distance. “Throw distance” refers to the optimal and/or maximum distance the projector can place an image on the viewing surface while still maintaining a good picture at the advertised size and resolution, and your needs here will depend on what room(s) you plan to use your projector in. Brightness is an important consideration, as projectors are typically darker than a TV’s LCD panel. A brighter picture naturally looks better and a projector with sub-bar lumen output might not look very good even in a sufficiently dark room.
More complex modern features you’ll find even on some cheap projectors today include built-in smart software, wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or both), and content settings (for example, optional color presets that are optimized for sports, games, movies, and so on). You’ll also want to look at the ports to make sure that your projector works with whatever input source(s) you’re hooking up to it, but most modern projectors will feature standard hookups such as HDMI connections for use with Blu-Ray players, laptops, and gaming consoles. Many projectors can let you play media directly from devices such as USB flash drives or external hard drives as well.
Then comes the audio. Pretty much all units have built-in speakers, which is usually fine for a cheap projector or a portable one that you might be moving around frequently. For a projector that’s going to be part of a more permanent high-definition home theater setup — one that will likely feature some sort of surround speaker setup along with an A/V receiver to power it all — you’ll want something that can be integrated into your sound system and that is compatible with whatever surround sound standard you’re using.
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