Epson Powerlite S5 Business and Education Portable Projector Review - General Performance 1

Epson Powerlite S5 Lens Throw and Lens Shift

As stated on the first page, the Epson S5's lens is fixed focal length - that is, no zoom feature. As such, normal setup, to completely fill a 100" diagonal 4:3 aspect ratio screen would have you place the front of the projector 11.6 feet from the screen. Also mentioned is that the Epson S5 has digital zoom out, so that the entire screen image can be reduced in size. Doing so uses a type of compression technology, so the image quality degrades slightly, but this does allow you a setup range, as if the projector had an optical zoom lens. Using the digital zoom feature, you could instead place the projector as far back as 17.2 feet. That's a rather good working range. For large type Powerpoint presentations, the digital zoom out likely will never be noticed, and, if you are already feeding the Epson S5 a higher than native resolution, it will already be using compression technology, so that there is already a little degradation. Bottom line, the digital zoom out gives you placement flexibility if needed. I recommend not using it unless you really have to, but if you do, the loss in quality, is still slight.

Epson Powerlite S5 - SDE and Rainbow Effect

Epson Powerlite S5 Audible Noise Levels

The S5 is on the quiet side in terms of audible noise, with a claim of 35db with lamp in full power mode. Even in high lamp power mode, with the fan at its noisiest, the S5's 35 db is reasonably quiet. Drop into low power lamp mode, and the noise level drops to 28 db, which is actually quieter than a lot of home theater projectors, and by any definitiion, very quiet. In a small room, you will definitely hear the fan noise (hi power), but you won't have to yell to be heard over it.

Epson Powerlite S5 - Projector Brightness

Everytime I review an Epson projector, I tend to lecture that they are about the only company that consistantly exceeds their claims when it comes to brightness.

The S5 is no exception. First, it is rated at 2000 lumens. Now, to put that in perspective for you, back about 6-7 years ago, 2000 lumens was what we called an "auditorium projector". Back then 2000 lumen projectors typically weight 15-40 pounds, were audibly very loud, and rented for about $300 - $500 a day for presentation purposes. Those big monsters were widely seen in hotel ballrooms and other larger venues, filling 20 and 25 foot diagonal screens. Of course the lights were kept pretty low. Now, today, you can buy a projector that bright for not much more than a 1 day rental back in 2000. That's progress. But, I digress, so let's get back to the S5.

I measured the brightness of the Powerlite S5 in each of its seven modes. For starters, even in the Epson's dimmest mode, it still managed 1601 lumens.

Epson Powerlite S5 Lamp Life and Replacement

Well, the purpose of the Epson S5 is to produce a very respectable image, at a very affordable cost. Of course, purchase price is only one component, cost of operation is another. The S5 has one of the longest life lamps as well, to keep costs down. Epson rates the lamp as 3000 hours in bright mode, and 4000 hours in economy. Not the longest out there, but better than the vast majority which are rated 2000/3000 hours respectively. Since huge numbers of Epson S5's end up ceiling mounted in schools, Epson designed it so that the projector does NOT have to be unmounted to change the lamp. This makes the S5 rare among lower cost projectors, and this feature reduces labor costs, further making the S5 an excellent projector when it comes to low cost of ownership and operation. IT and AV managers will really appreciate this feature if they are managing a fleet of projectors.

On Using the Epson Powerlite S5 for Home Theater

Yes, you can bring it home and hook it up to your cable/satellite box, or a DVD player and watch movies. That said, this is no home theater projector. Actually, it's colors are very good in theater mode, but there are two serious weaknesses. First, contrast is typical of a business LCD projector, about 400:1, and that's terrible, when it comes to black levels. Areas of a scene that are supposed to be black or very dark gray (or very dark red...), come out medium dark gray (or red...) Lots of details are lost.

The other reason, is resolution. Most home theater content is 16:9 (DVD HDTV) and beyond (movies on DVD are mostly 2.35:1, thus the lettter box at top and bottom of the screen). Well, the S5 doesn't even offer resolution as high as a standard DVD.

So, sure, you could bring it home once in a while, but you can also certainly find a home theater projector out there for under $1000 that is light years better.

Epson Powerlite S5 Projector Review - Warranty

If you've ever read any of my Epson reviews, you already know that I think they have probably the best support in the industry. That comes from being an Epson dealer for a decade, and my interfacing with their support folks since.

But, we're talking warranty here, and Epson's is excellent for such a low cost projector. Not only do you get two years parts and labor, but Epson's "Road Service" program provides for a replacement unit, sent to you via overnight delivery, should your Epson have a problem during its two year warranty.

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Here's how it works: You call them. A direct number is provided, so you don't have to go through long waits (typically 2 minutes or less). You provide them a credit card number they only charge it if you don't send back the broken projector, (and keep both), and they overnight the replacement. You drop the broken projector in the box the replacement came in, and ship it back. You're done. Epson even pays all the freight.

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