Greetings,
I really wanted to love this projector, but...I just walked away liking it. I really enjoyed my time with the Vivitek QUMI. Maybe it was the fact that the QUMI was half the size of the PLED-W500, and that made it more impressive. The PLED-W500 is brighter than the QUMI, but I found I enjoyed the overall picture quality more on the QUMI. I put a lot of hours on the Viewsonic, I practically beat Fight Night Champion and Brutal Legend on the PS3 in the time I had it. I also watched about half of the movie Knowing on it.
After all the time I spent with it, I was just pretty "mah" about it. When I had the QUMI I projected a 60" screen while reviewing, with the PLED-W500 I went with a 70" screen. Don't get me wrong, this projector is perfectly acceptable, but there wasn't any "wow" factor. This projector is also street priced about $150-$200 more than the QUMI. I don't see where the extra brightness warrants that much higher of a price tag. I also noticed that there was a lot of lag time in between the PS3 switching resolutions, which was VERY annoying.
It also has an automatic keystone feature, which I found to be bothersome. If you move it, then it will keystone and you'll have to wait for it to level out before it switches back. It takes 5-10 seconds to readjust. I would rather adjust manually if I felt the need.
I am cheap, as you have probably figured out by now. So, hands down I would recommend the QUMI over the PLED-W500, just based on price alone. Based on picture quality I felt the QUMI also had a slight edge. Brightness definitely goes to the PLED-W500, so if you want a larger screen then the PLED-W500 is hands down the winner. Let's move on to the meat of things...
The Good:
Bright for a LED projector
Portable
Easy to set up
3D capable, though not on the 3D Vision compatible list
Plays content from mass storage such as an SD card/USB drive
Comes with a carrying case
The Bad:
The built-in speaker is not great, but at least there is sound
I found the automatic keystone feature more of an annoyance than a help
The Ugly:
Time between resolution change was pretty painful
Price
No audio out, so you are stuck with mediocre sound
I am hoping to get another projector in the near future, but I am not sure what Art will throw at me next. I am going to Wonder-Con Anaheim in March (for my birthday). I will post a blog here about it, and post any game news that I see while there. If you have any questions about the PLED-W500 post a comment and I will get back to you.
Until we meet again...
-Ebenezer
