Monthly Archives: March 2012

Click to view slideshow. Seeing Epson’s MegaPlex iOS device projector at tradeshows didn’t do it justice..  It was set up in a small awkward booth and surrounded by bright lights.  It wasn’t until I got a private screening at Macworld that I really saw what this thing could do. The MegaPlex MG-850HD is an incredibly bright 2800 lumen 720P projector with 10 watt stereo speakers built-in.  But it adds something that you won’t find in many other high end consumer projectors : a 30-pin iOS device dock.  The dock will accomodate anything from an iPod touch, iPhone or even any iPad. Amazon has the MegaPlex MG-850HD for  $612 , Buy.com has it for  $620 This thing is a Portable. Home. Movie Theater – and I mean that in every sense of the word.  At under 8 pounds and with a sturdy handle, it is easy to pack up and take it to the parents house or just move it from the basement to the bedroom.  Because your iOS device is usually the “brains” of this thing and it just starts working immediately upon plugging in, it takes seconds to set up.  You can be watching your iTunes, Hulu, or Netflix videos in under a minute after choosing a destination. As most high end projectors, this one has manual movable feet to adjust projection angles as well as focus, zoom and horizontal keystone. The Megaplex does auto-vertical keystone and iris controls. This thing has some range as well.  With the early Spring weather this year, we turned an evening birthday party into an impromptu outdoor movie showing on the backside of our house (with a sheet over a window).  The Megaplex is rated for over 25 foot diagonal screen and I can attest it looks fantastic even before it is fully dark outside. However, with the release of the new iPad and 1080P Apple TV, something even better happened… No, this thing doesn’t do 1080P so there is no additional benefit from having 1080P devices – though I have to say watching bright 10 foot 720P movies on my wall usually beats my 46″ 1080P display pretty handily. But, my old Apple TV with its 720P Airplay went up for grabs and connecting this to the Megaplex makes everything easier and more portable.  Now, the Apple TV 720P is permanently connected via HDMI and that few seconds that it took to plop down the iOS device are now used to beam video to the Apple TV over Wifi. There are a few problems with this set up of course.  Apps like Hulu and Netflix don’t let me use Airplay for “some reason”).  Also, it is a pain to set up the Apple TV if we are outside of our home wifi network and we usually just end up plopping down the iOS device. One other nit-pick I have with the MegaPlex is that it doesn’t have VGA/DVI/DisplayPort in for Macs (or PCs?).  The easy solution to that is buying an inexpensive Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter which works great.  The MegaPlex becomes either a 1280×800 extra display or a mirrored one for your Mac.  If you have a more recent Mac/Cable, the audio will go through Mini DisplayPort as well. The 10 watt speakers are much better than I thought they’d be.  They easily fill a bedroom or living room but used outside, we were left wishing for a little more noise.  However, keeping the weight and size down probably made more sense than making this a true portable outdoor  theater. That’s one other thing.  When this thing is not being used as a projector, it makes a nice (albeit large/expensive) charging speaker dock for iOS devices. The remote is also very intuitive and helps out a lot to control the iOS device rather than reaching behind the projector to control the iOS device. Conclusion: At just over $600 (though it is listed at $799), this is an expensive 720P 2800 Lumen projector, even though it is on the high end of devices you’ll find today.  However, when you add the excellent speakers, the significant portability, and the iOS device dock, the Epson MegaPlex MG-850HD Projector becomes a “got to have” bargain for those who want to really put what’s on their iOS device on display.. Amazon has it for $612 , Buy.com has it for $620   Projection System:  Epson 3LCD, 3-chip technology Projection Method:  Front / rear Product Color:  Black Driving Method:  Epson Poly-silicon TFT Active Matrix, 0.59-inch wide panel without MLA Pixel Number:  1,024,000 dots (1280 x 800) x 3 White Light Output:  2800 lumens 1  (ISO 21118 Standard) Color Light Ouput:  2800 lumens 1 Aspect Ratio:  Native 16:10 widescreen Native Resolution:  WXGA (1280 x 800) Resize:  16:9, 4:3 Lamp Type:  E-TORL™ 200 W UHE Lamp Life:  Up to 5000 hours 2 Throw Ratio Range:  1.30 — 1.56 (wide/tele) Size (projected distance):  33″ – 320″ Keystone Correction: Horizontal ±30 degrees (slide bar) Vertical: ±30 degrees Contrast Ratio:  Up to 3,000:1 Color Reproduction:  Full-color (16.77 million colors )   Continue reading →