Epson PowerLite 990U Projector Review

The Epson 990U projector is a powerful, feature packed classroom projector with impeccable color and brightness. The 990U weighs in at 7 pounds and includes a formidable 16 watt mono speaker that should stand on its own in a classroom or boardroom without any need for extra speakers, but there is the audio out option if you need it.  This WUXGA (1920x1200) Full HD resolution projector costs around (typical street price from authorized Epson dealers) of about $1080 and claims to deliver 3800 lumens.

The Epson 990U is part of Epson’s new PowerLite lineup that includes two other projectors built for the classroom, with quality image, brightness, and sound performance at affordable prices.  The new PowerLite series includes native WUXGA, WXGA, XGA resolutions among all the projectors.  The series comes with Epson’s remarkable color brightness and color gamut, three times higher than that of competitive single chip DLP projectors in similar price ranges.  In addition, Epson claims to get 12,000 hours of lamp life in Eco mode on each projector in the series.  All in all, it looks like a pretty solid series based on my experience with this top line 990U.

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors Report. 

The Epson 990U is most often ceiling mounted (but small business is also likely to use it as a portable).  Schools, on the other hand, will likely mount it, but if not, it may be destined for a rolling AV cart so it can be easily moved from room to room. The lamp can be changed while mounted if/when it does need to be replaced.  Since the projector’s lamp will last almost 6,000 hours even at full power, and far longer using various eco features, many users will never need a replacement lamp.

Designed primarily for the classroom and schools, the Epson 990U has the ability to connect up to 50 Chromebook, Mac, PC, iOS, and Android devices, and simultaneously display up to four screens, with Epson iProjection (wireless module sold separately for about $100).  That same ability, of course is valuable in business conference rooms, and huddle spaces.

Teachers can also push content from the projector to wireless connected devices using Epson’s iProjection software and control which device screens to display; meanwhile students can make notes and send their work back to the projector at the teacher’s discretion.  Lastly, for the school minded, you can utilize RJ-45 and optional wireless connectivity for remote projector management and presentations over the network, leaving you the ability to centralize school announcements among other things in all classrooms.

Bottom line, as you’ll soon read, this projector is an award winner, performing brilliantly in all facets, brightness, color accuracy, powerful speaker, interactive and wireless features, all packed into the Epson PowerLite 990U and making this projector perfectly suited for any classroom or school environment, and well up to the standards of any business professional on the go or in the boardroom.  Even better, if you join Epson’s Better Futures program, you can have this projector for $825, saving $254 per projector.  Plus you get all the benefits of the program including competitive pricing on all Epson projectors, 3 year limited warranty & 90 day lamp warranty, free next-business-day replacement with free shipping both ways, access to Epson’s PrivateLine toll-free tech support at no charge for the life of your warranty, and your own dedicated Epson account manager.