Review of the LumenLab $500 projector with $30 bulbs

I made a few mods and upgraded, see updates below.

Today I received the long-awaited EVO v1 projector from LumenLab. I heard about this thing on Engadget a few months back. It's the $500 projector that eats $30 bulbs. It's hard to decide which number to drool over first. I've heard the big projector manufacturers whispering something about making sub-$500 projectors in the near future, but the bulb cost savings of the EVO really brings a smile to my face. It probably costs more in electricity to run this thing than bulbs. That's quite a break-through! These cost savings could have a pretty profound impact on the mobmov guerilla drive-in movement, if it works as advertised. After all, that's the biggest cost of running a mobile movie drive-in.

Well, does it live up to the hype? That's what I'll attempted to find out today. I understand and don't expect luxury from a $500 projector, but I'm going to try to find all the flaws I can.

The box
Pretty standard and what you would expect from a box. If anything it looks clean and well-packaged. A good start.

Unboxing
I don't mean to be harsh, but my immediate impression is this thing is definitely from China. Not to dis Chinese manufacturing - but they don't exactly have the quality down pat. Quantity, yes, but not quality. I guess the font of the manual gave it away. That's not a bad thing, looking like a Chinese-made product. But it's not something that Panasonic or InFocus would put out - and it has no LumenLab branding. I don't understand why companies don't just submit their own manuals for printing. It makes me wonder how generalized this particular product is or will be. I mean, was it intended to be a LumenLabs product, or is it a mass-produced product destined for a variety of labels? I don't know the history of LumenLab, but I don't see them just remarketing a Chinese-designed projector. This has got to be their design. Still, the generic manual feels that way.

Remote control, lens cap, cable adapter, fuse (?!), RCA cable, and standard power cord. Pretty standard stuff. Except for the fuse. That's like including a replacement screen with a new laptop. It's not that it's not a nice gesture, it just makes you wonder why.

Your standard size projector. Doesn't feel too big or that small. It has a satisfying weight, nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, I would have hoped for a slightly smaller unit, but it's not elephant big. It's definitely bigger than my Panasonic AE700u though.

I notice some strange markings on the *inside* of the lens, and one fingerprint. Hmm. Not a good sign.

Nice. A very Chinese lens cleaner cloth booklet. Maybe I can get those markings off the inside of the lens. I'll attempt that later.

Plenty of connections. A manual keystone control you can operate with your thumb. Cool.

Notice the poorly mounted stickers. I know I'm being nit-picky, but seriously. How long does it take to affix a label properly?

Two fairly short plastic-topped screws in the front allow you to prop up and position the image. They have washers. That seems like an odd choice.

The rear legs are screws. Metal. Might want to put pads on there if you're setting this on a car dashboard (ala MobMov) or table.

Okay. Gave the manual a quick read. Mainly because I'm usually humored by the poor translations inside. Found this section under troubleshooting.

Um.

"Prompt Voice"? They can't be serious. Maybe it's a translation error.

Turning it on

Whoa! I jump.

The freakin projector talks. Seriously. The EVO (who is apparently female) shouts at me in a distorted voice (in serious need of a lozenge): "Starting up. Please wait."

Let me get rid of this rant now. Why, in the name of all that is holy did LumenLab decide to give the projector the power of speech? Better yet, why did they forget to add the setting to turn off the volume? Frankly, one of my first tasks will be to open it up and unplug the speaker. This is supposed to be a cheap-as-possible barebones projector. Why did they bother with this worthless and practically anti-functional speaker? I've never used the 1-watt speaker in my Panasonic, so I really doubt the need for one anyway. Could I see myself using this talking projector in a boardroom? No.

Anyway. When it's done, it tells me it's done: "Powered up!" Shivers. But the screen is visible. Cool. I select the VGA input for my compy. Screen pops up.

The fan is a little noisy. Not too bad, but it's really noticeable.

The Picture

Focus. While the lens looks super-cool and really expensive, the manual focus ring feels very cheap. It sort of wobbles around as you twist it, making a very uncomfortable plastic-on-plastic sound. It felt broken when I first played with it. However, I am able to achieve even focus with little effort.

No zoom lens. Didn't expect one, but I miss it. Having a zoom lens is pretty important thing for running a mobmov, as it helps you project from a variety of distances with minimal setup time.

No lens shift that I can see. Angle of projection is more or less dead-center, meaning it's a little difficult to position the screen with the fixed lens. But it does have a little knob to adjust for keystone distortion. I think it's manually rotating the screen inside. Haha. Ah, sweet simplicity.

Hello there Mr. Screendoor! The screen door effect is a slightly annoying side-effect of older/cheaper LCD projectors where you can each individual pixel. Not a show-stopper (pun intended), as it's not very noticeable for movies, but pretty visible for brighter applications like powerpoint.

Bright. It seems bright enough. Since this was my main concern, I'm happy. Not bright enough for a lit room, but okay in a room with dim light filtering in, or a dark warehouse with a streetlamp outside. Still, it could do with a bit more lumens. It's definitely less bright than my 1000 lumen Panasonic.

Pretty simple menu. Note that the sound volume doesn't seem to have any effect on the projector's voice. You must listen to her at FULL VOLUME. Go figure.

Notice the inventive legs on that baby. Besides demonstrating my creative prowess, I did this to demonstrate the projector's straight-ahead projection angle. It may be hard to mount it in a suitable location, or, you'll have to get creative and angle it with some keystoning.

Final impressions on a first indoor test.

I'll shortly be doing a mobile movie field test and do a side-by-side with my Panasonic AE700u. But I wanted to get this review out for a quick peek on the day of arrival.

Overall, I am really happy with what I see. Sure, it feels a little cheap assembly-wise. But it's frankly a lot better than what I expected for the price. With bulbs running at only $30 for 6000 hours, I can own a projector that actually projects decent video and use it without the guilt that usually comes with running a projector. That's pretty phenomenal. And something that could serve to change the world of film viewing forever. Yes, that's an intentionally unfounded statement, but check out mobmov.org for more info.

Update: After reading a bit about the EVO 1.0 on Lumenlabs.com, I took to modifying it a little. There are a few simple mods you can make to it to make the experience better, such as removing the speaker (bye bye voice prompts!) and replacing the stock fans with quieter units. These two modifications cost about $20, took about an hour of my time, and didn't seem too dangerous. They also took care of the two most glaring problems with the EVO. Herein lies another huge advantage of the EVO over other projectors - it's clearly "open-source". If you don't like the LCD screen, the lens, the fans, or anything else, you can just root right in there and make the mods yourself. Try that with a Panasonic or Sony.

Update 2: I replaced my EVO v1 with a 1.1, and things have improved. Check out my new review of the EVO 1.1