Epson EB-W7 review

LCD projectors like the Epson EB-W7 tend to be slightly larger than DLP machines, but in its favour the EB-W7 has a great look. The white plastic finish feels solid and the menu buttons, while well spaced, are a good size.

The projector itself has an overall weight of 2.3kg, which gives it a semi-portable feel, but it is a rather bulky machine to carry around. The lens is hidden away under a protective cover, so you run less risk of damaging it in transit or simply when stowing it away. It's a manual cover and underneath you'll find good-sized focus and zoom controls, so ensuring images are pin-sharp is an easy task.

Connections on the back of the system are adequate. There is no HDMI port, but you'll find the full array of analog ports for connecting to your laptop. We found that setting up the projector was quick, but using the onscreen menu proved a little complicated, so fine-tuning settings could be tricky.

The 2200 ANSI lumens brightness rating makes this a bright projector and we found it more than usable in a range of home and office situations.

Our presentation test highlighted how usable this device is. With crisp whites and sharp blacks, backed by a good throw-range, this is ideal for an office environment. Our video tests also proved more than acceptable, with a great range of colours that had real warmth to them.

However, with its native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, this is a 16:10 aspect ratio projector, so while movies look sharp, it doesn't natively support widescreen images, so there is a letterbox effect.

The Epson EB-W7 is a good all-round projector that delivers sharp and warm colours. The lack of a high-definition HDMI port limits its future-proofing, but for offices and schools where older laptops hold sway, we feel this is a cost-effective and highly usable machine.