Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Epson has created a winner here with an all-in-one projector with integrated DVD player and powered speakers. Just add a screen for an instant movie night at home or on the road... even in the backyard. The projector's 2,000 ANSI Lumen rating means that it can drive a very large screen - Epson says up to 14.5 feet diagonally, but at this size, pixel structure is visible and you need a very dark environment to prevent the image from getting washed out. But in the 80-100 inch range, the MovieMate 60 provides a bright colorful picture from DVDs, and looks even better if you plug in a high definition set-top box or Blu-ray player to its HDMI input (720p and 1080i HD sources are supported, converted automatically to the projector's native 540p resolution).
The sound isn't quite a match for the picture, with fairly weak bass, but dialog comes through cleanly and the built-in 20 watt amp and stereo speakers are strong enough to provide better sound than most TVs. The MM 60 offers a headphone output as well as a coax digital output in case you want to hook it up to a more powerful audio system. It also includes a microphone jack so you can rock out with some giant screen karaoke! The unit has a fixed lens with only 1.3x zoom which means it is not that flexible in placement. You will need to have it centered and pretty far back from the screen in order to create a large image. It does well on a coffee table about 8 to 12 feet away from the screen, depending on how large you want the image to be. For larger screen outdoor viewing, it will need to be even further back.
It's tons of fun to connect a Wii or other game console, for virtually life-sized game play. But remember to stand or sit behind the projector when playing so you won't cast a shadow on the screen. It's also an excellent choice for a senior center or local recreation center as you can be ready for a movie night or slide show in just a couple of minutes and you can pack everything away in a closet when not in use.
Although you can project the image onto a white or off-white wall, this will not give you the best results. We'd recommend using the Epson Duet Screen which isn't too expensive, and offers a 80-inch diagonal screen in 16:9 mode (or 65-inch screen in 4:3 mode). It folds away for storage and is pretty easy to set up. Its white matte screen and black frame help to enhance the contrast and brightness of the image giving you a more movie theater-like experience (but hopefully without the sticky floors!).
Overall, we give this 4 stars for its audio and video performance, but it's definitely super-fun and convenient. If you want a big screen experience virtually anywhere with a minimum of fuss and a budget-friendly price, it's hard to do better than the MovieMate 60. A full review is available on big picture big sound (dot com).
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Epson MovieMate 60 Portable projector, DVD and music player combo
