Mitsubishi WD390U-EST Projector: Bottom Line
The Mitsubishi WD390U-EST projector is one of at least a couple hundred current model projectors that weigh in the six to ten pound range, can be used as portables or mountable projectors, and boasting 2000 to 3500 lumens. These types of projectors are the mainstay of the commercial projector market (business, education, government, house of worship...). In fact Mitsubishi alone offers more than 20 projectors, that fit that description. That said, the WD390U has several attributes that make it fairly unique, especially its ability to present some files found on remote (and local) servers, and interactive control functions possible using iPads and the like. While that encompasses a lot of "sexy" capabilities, one of the most striking features of the Mitsubishi is its lens based ultra-short throw design, that typically places it between about 20 and 40 inches from the screen. (Placed at 39 inches - let's call that 1 meter - from the screen, and you'll have a 10 foot diagonal image!)
The short version is that I was most impressed with this Mitsubishi WD390U projector. This "ultra-short throw" (or very short throw) projector, starts off as a very solid DLP projector that even without all its fancy "networking" related abilities, has to be considered a well thought out projector. With the interesting mix of things that this "Cloud projector" can do in terms of presenting and controlling the presentations, the WD390U may not be totally unique, but it is far more capable that most other portable/small install projectors on the market. It should be noted, that Mitsubishi is also releasing this month (April '13) another projector with similar capabilities, but in its new LaserVue line with long life digital light source operation (instead of lamp). We will be reviewing one of the new Laservue projectors this spring as well.
Sporting standard WXGA 1280x800 resolution, the WD390U should be a great projector in the classroom, conference room, training room type environments. Having 3000 lumens provides it enough brightness to handle a fair amount of ambient light even on screens up to about 100" diagonal, much larger if there is respectable lighting control.
Although this WD390U is not a traditional interactive projector using wands, it certainly has interactive capabilities. You can, for example display content from your computer, and use an iPad, iPhone or (we did not test) an Android device, to control it. If you have software with any interactivity, such as the ability to annotate over a powerpoint slide, then that's what appears on the projector. It's interactivity done differently.
What the WD390U can't do interactively is save such annotations in a finished video clip, that might, for example be loaded onto the web so a student that missed the class can watch it later. That's not to say that software for your computer might not be able to capture that, but it's not normally a relatively simple "record that" and save.
In the course of testing the WD390U I explored almost all of the network and interesting source connections except two. Those were the USB Display, which is a common enough feature, and not complicated at all, and the standard analog inputs (instead using HDMI), because again, that's pretty basic stuff. Also did not use the composite video or S-video (haven't in years, except for hooking up my Wii.)
But we did work successfully presenting from photos, spreadsheets, word documents and and other content from over a network (the cloud if that's part of your network). We were able to connect over wifi to control my MacBook Pro, using MirrorOp which comes with the projector software. You can scale the image to appear in one of four windows when using LAN Display. View four four computers at once, select and enlarge the one you want to look at. That's a good collaboration feature. We never hooked up a second computer to see both at once, but we were able to effortlessly put the MacBook's image in one corner or another then go back to full screen.
Complaints? Only one really: The WD390U is a typical DLP projector when it comes to color handling. It's low on color lumens and, more to the point, cannot reproduce really great reds and yellows except in its least bright modes. Brightest modes are most affected. In less bright modes such as Theatre, colors start looking rather good, but still not great. That's not to say the brighter modes are unacceptable, unless color accuracy is very important. Over all, in terms of color handling, I would say the WD390U is a little better than the average small business DLP projector.
Most impressive is the projector's overall sharpness, quite often a noticeable limitation with other ultra short throw projectors. In fairness, this projector doesn't get quite as close to the screen as mirror based ultra-short projectors, but it has the sharpness advantage on all of the projectors with even shorter throws, including Epson's ultra short throw Brightlink projectors, which we have found to have the best overall sharpness of the projectors that sit only a few inches from the screen.
Mitsubishi's WD390U-EST in terms of standard projector operation and performance such as brightness, is a very good projector. What makes the WD390U most interesting is both the "cloud" and network support for presenting documents and images and remote computers, and by offering a solution that allows you to control a computer from your iOS or Android device. That last essentially gives the WD390U basic interactive abilities. Not the least of the nice features is the almost ultra-short throw operation of the WD390U, that allows you to place the projector close, typically on a telescoping wall mount 2 to 3 feet from the screen wall, or a very close table.
All considered, although the WD390U is not an inexpensive projector, I have to still consider it a very capable projector with a strong value proposition!
