Acer H5350

This is the cheapest projector we tried out in our mini group test, and our first impressions certainly supported that fact.

The small and boxy chassis certainly won’t win any awards, but its tiny 2.3kg weight and the supplied bag make it easily portable. This makes it ideal for taking to friends houses for an evening’s entertainment.

Unfortunately it’s not the easiest projector to setup. There’s no lens shift capability (like on the Epson and Panasonic projectors), the zoom lens has a very small range, plus the focus dial is awkwardly positioned.

You’ll have to place it in just the right position, and then fiddle with it a while, before filling your chosen wall with HD loveliness.

Pocket rocket

Once you get it up set up though, you’ll be instantly impressed by the brightness and sharpness.

We didn’t think it quite lived up to its 2,000 lumen rating, with the Panasonic besting it in direct tests, but it’s easily bright enough to use with a lamp on. Colours were vibrant, but not the most lifelike we’ve seen. And while there was plenty of detail in HD sources, the overall effect was a touch softer than the Mitsubishi.

There are all the inputs you’d expect on a home cinema projector. Though it lacks luxuries like a SCART input for connecting a Freeview set top box, and there’s only one HDMI input.

A small remote control can be stored by slotting it into the top of the main unit, be careful not to lose it though as there are no other controls.

Cheap date

Acer claims the supplied lamp will last up to 4,000 hours in the 1,600 lumen eco mode. This should make this projector very cheap to run – though replacement lamp prices are currently unavailable. One downside of its small size and bright lamp is that it’s rather noisy when in use.

If you want to use your projector with the lights on, and don’t want to spend much money then this is a good choice. However, the Mitsubishi HC1100 has better image quality, while the Panasonic PT-AX200E is far easier to integrate into your living room.