BenQ PB6110 DLP Projector

Reviewed by

Brian Nadel

on 04/29/2005

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Page 2

All of these minor flaws are more than made up for by the PB6110's top-notch performance; it has a brightness rating of 1,610 lumens and a superior contrast ratio of 764:1. The PB6110 leaks a fair amount of blue light out the back--think of it as a built-in reading lamp for your notes. The projector has four preset modes: Presentation; Vivid, for gaming; Video; and Economic, which lowers the brightness. We found that the Presentation setting produced the crispest, sharpest, and brightest image and worked equally well for movies and gaming. The PB6110 handles reds extremely well, but we found that blues looked greenish, and greens took on a yellowish tint. The lamp is easy to change (a replacement costs $400), and it's a good thing, because the lamp is rated for only 2,000 hours (500 hours less than other budget projectors). And its operating cost is a high 20 cents per hour. Unfortunately, you have to manually reset the projector's lamp timer--an annoying extra step, especially because most other projectors' lamp timers automatically reset.

In addition to a printed manual and setup sheet, the projector comes with an electronic version of the manual on CD. BenQ provides an excellent three-year warranty that includes a replacement unit during the first year (if necessary), though the warranty is void if you use the projector for more than 2,920 hours in any year. Like the others, the lamp assembly is covered for only 90 days or 500 hours of use. BenQ's Web site offers manuals, a knowledge base of known issues, a few general FAQs, and an e-mail link. For more-personal support, BenQ offers a 24-hour, toll-free help-desk phone line for the life of the product.