Customer Reviews

Epson MovieMate 72 High-Definition Projector, DVD and music player combo (V11H257220)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was nervous about spending a thousand dollars on an item I didn't know much about, but now that I've had this projector for a month I consider it worth every penny.

The picture is great, and the projector offers every control and setting in an intuitive fashion. The only thing I don't understand is why it has the swivel base, that seems like a useless feature, but hey, one extra feature is better than one too few.

I've used the projector with game systems, my computer, and of course just in DVD mode. All were set up in less than a minute (the DVD in seconds). I think even grandma and grandpa could get this thing working without the instruction book.

I use it to play movies on my wall at home and the video and audio quality is great, and it's amazing to have a big screen right there in the living room or bedroom just by having moved some pictures around.

The only think I caution you on is to make sure you get the "US" version, there is an international version floating around that apparently has a 90 hour "demo" bulb rather than the standard 3000 hour bulb. Also the warranty is 90 days rather than a year.

This is a wonderful all-in-one projector. Wonderfully intuitive controls, fantastic sound (especially with an Epson subwoofer), tremendous picture quality with upconverting DVD player. At first use, the image seems a bit dark (lamp is rated up to 1200+ lumens), but then we figured out the brightness control on the remote, and it is more than adequate (with 4 levels) for most situations. The enclosed CD .pdf manual answered all our questions once we got beyond the no-brainer quick start guide. I did not print out this extensive manual, but can find what I need to know quickly on my computer on those rare occasions when it is not obvious from the wonderful design of this projector

We got this for use in our church, for both movies for family and youth gatherings, and also for documentaries and educational situations. Ease of use, portability, and wonderful close to HD quality from upconverted DVDs make this a wonderful improvement to our old TV style video presentations. If one were to show an image to an entire church gathering (100+ people) then a brighter projector might be in order, but you will lose the ease and simplicity of this great design! And while the sound is superb, in such a case one might wish to use the church sound system for great reach.

This projector is a wonderful way to get high quality theatre presentations without a lot of wires and hookups. I would heartily recommend it for families at home, or small to medium sized groups in organizations. I would recommend the Epson subwoofer (or similar) for that added "oomph" with newer films, and a screen for the brightest of presentations, though a white wall would be fine in a pinch! Highly recommended!

UPDATE: I added a Sony 5.1 receiver and Polk Audio 10" powered subwoofer to the mix, along with a PS3 for bluray and gaming. Wow, bluray movies look phenomenal on this projector. Using HDMI makes the connection simple (one HDMI wire, one power cable). If my son has the Ps3 player in his room, we can still use the projector with the built in DVD player. In that case, I have another wire (yes, a third cable), an optical audio cable (Toslink), to bring sound FROM the projector TO the receiver, and thus still have 5.1 sound. I also got a nice rolling cart
Da-lite / Welt Projector Cart with Telescoping Center Column Ajdusts from 33" - 49-1/2". so we can move the projector out of the way when not using it, or move it to another room to watch there).

This projector is a great start (or used as-is) for a fun HD home theater system. I currently have an Epson Home 10 (848x480 (DVD) resolution), with a Panasonic HTIB 5-disc DVD changer with speakers and subwoofer (but it has no 5.1 audio inputs so I can't really use it with this projector). I have a manual 120" (10') diagonal pull-down screen. Anyway, I want you to know what I was comparing to.

The video quality from DVD's from this projector are just stunning compared to the Standard Def (SD) image from the Home 10 projector (which wasn't too shabby). We haven't even tried blu-ray yet, but the built-in DVD puts out an amazing picture. Even at 10' in size, it looked like an HD image. The family was amazed.

The biggest worry I had was the sound, so let's discuss that.

The sound is perfectly adequate. I was worried about it, but the best way I can describe it is it sounds better than a good TV. I had 5.1 audio, in the same room, so I have a good standard to compare it to. But I actually like having the sound come from a close source, rather than the far-flung speakers. It's different but very enjoyable. I'm not in a hurry to replace the 5.1 audio system, the sound from this unit is good enough to hold us for a while. (I will probably add a subwoofer as the second "upgrade" after a blu-ray player).

The wife really likes the fact that there is just one wire (power). It's so convenient to use. You can move it to bedroom, living room, outdoors. My only gripe is there is no handle. It should have one because you'll want to move it to different rooms.

Specs:

Video input: It has HDMI input, and a VGA input (and comes with VGA to female component cables if your device is component (the 3 rca cables), s-video and composite. That should cover everything. (the pictures obviously indicate no component, but that is solved with the included vga to component cable).
Audio input: It has RCA left/right audio input, plus audio from the HDMI port.
Audio Output: there is a headphone jack that you can use to output left/right audio, plus an optical digital output for 5.1 output, plus there is a dedicated subwoofer output which probably helps alot with the onboard sound.

The remote has glow-in-the-dark buttons. It has a "coffee-break" button which pauses the DVD and gradually lights up the screen with white light to help you find your way back to the popcorn popper.

In summary, this is a great device. It's simple, throws an amazing HD picture, includes a slot-loading DVD player, has HDMI inputs to add a blu-ray player (or PS3 or Xbox 360), has digital audio out to add 5.1 sound. We have been using a projector for years, and go through a lot of Netflix movies. But now that we've seen the beautiful picture from this projector, we have that "first-time" excitement again, and can't wait for dinner to end so we can have "movie night" every night.

If you are thinking about home theater or projectors, I highly recommend the MovieMate72. It's a great solution. Start with this projector, be blown away by the amazing upscaled picture, add a PS3 or other blu ray player, then later add a receiver with 5.1 speakers. The exciting thing is, 3 minutes after opening the box you are enjoying a 10' picture from your existing DVDs. Nothing beats it for simplicity.

P.S. I don't think we'll EVER turn on the Epson Home 10 again, because this projector is such an improvement in picture quality.

Every piece of electronics has specific things they are designed for and always has strong points and weaknesses that you must know while you are researching your purchase. I love researching what I purchase and I will spend countless hours pouring over reviews of items before plunking down my hard earned $$ on something. This purchase was no different and has proven to be one of my best choices to date.

The first thing I considered while looking over the hundreds and hundreds of projectors out there is what I'll be using it for. Second was image quality.

I needed a projector that could replace a TV, use up the least amount of space, and include as many components that go into an entertainment system as possible. It needed to be close to being a complete entertainment system packed into an easily movable unit. I live 9 months out of the year overseas in an apartment and I need to be able to move my entertainment system easily if needed.

The Epson MovieMate 72 fit that description to a "T"! This unit has surpassed my expectations in build quality, image quality, sound quality, DVD quality, etc. The key word is quality here. It looks nice, no ugly white plastic to look at, only nice piano black. The upscaling DVD player works flawlessly and the DvD's look great. The 5.1 speaker system is outstanding for being so small, they really do a good job of filling the room with sound.

The only item I purchased to compliment this projector system was a subwoofer. Since there was no way to implement a subwoofer into this system, for obvious reasons, and since I mainly watch action movies and shows, it was a must. With the added subwoofer this baby produces a very nice Theater Experience for sure.

Okay the good and the bad:

Pros:

1. Small for what you get. This looks like a big beautiful square box sitting on your table, bigger than most projectors. The size is actually very small considering what you have packed into this unit. No need for me to review all of this since you can simply read about it in the item description above.

2. Picture quality is excellent for this price range. You get what you pay for when it comes to image quality most of the time. For the $$ the Epson MovieMate 72 produces a top notch image, much better than many projector only units that cost much more.

3. The 5.1 Surround Sound speakers work very well for their size. They produce full, room filling, sound that are very acceptable as the sole source of sound for any movie. Adding a subwoofer is the only addition you may need, if you enjoy action movies.

4. DvD player upscales the source to 720p and produces a very nice picture. No need for an additional DvD player unless you need Blueray.

5. Very short throw. You only need to place this unit about 5' from your wall to get about a 100" screen size. Very, very nice!

Cons:

1. Because using this projector you will have to place it in front of you, you will need to run the wires on the floor from your outlet. I purchased a Cord Management Kit that simply runs your wires through molded plastic channels and keeps them neat and flat against the floor. Since the throw distance is so short, you fortunately don't have to run wires very far and it is a trade-off I was willing to accept to get my 5.1 speakers in front of me and all part of the package.

That's about it. The Epson MovieMate 72 has impressed EVERY person I've brought over to my apartment and I will own this baby for many years to come. This unit fit perfectly into what I needed and has outperformed my expectations. I would recommend this to anyone that is on a budget that wants to get a very nice projector for their home, as a very nice business meeting room projector where you need good sound (you can attach your computer to this very easily), or for people that live in an apartment and need the ability to move easily.

Highly Recommended!

I recently bought one of these, and I'm very happy with it. It's reasonably-priced and puts out a good quality, 3LCD picture. We just use our living room wall, which is slightly textured and beige, so don't think an added, costly, special screen or viewing room is absolutely necessary. The DVD player and speakers are an added bonus. You could conceivably use it anywhere to play DVD movies, in its factory-equipped state, without the need for a stereo receiver, an external DVD player, speakers, and all those wires. Anything you want to add just improves it. I upgraded from an older Toshiba DLP projector.

I haven't measured, but at the distance from the wall I have it, I get about an 8-10 foot diagonal picture in my modest living room. The lens adjustment is manual, but its controls easily adjust picture placement on the wall relative to the projector. The projector no longer has to be in the center of the room, just pointing straight at the wall. The projector unit rotates independently from the DVD base unit.

The projector has all the connections I need - HDMI, component, d-sub, and audio input. The speakers are decent in a living room setting, even when the projector is above and behind the couch. I love the versatility: if I want to use my own speakers I can. Any image-producing component I want to plug in can be plugged and played. The lens cover slides in and out of place. I even hooked up my PC output and played WoW.

I don't believe I've seen 720p on it yet, but that's an input limitation--the cable box only puts out 1080i or 480p. There's also a USB port, reportedly for playing movies from an i-"whatever", which I haven't used yet (no i-whatever).

With the size and unlimited viewing angle, it's a much better financial solution than a plasma or LCD TV, even with bulb replacement every 3000 hours or so (of actual use). The Epson site promises free overnite shipping on the bulbs, which can be replaced by you, so you don't have to wait two to four weeks+ for the service place to do it. I also like the replaceable air filter which should greatly extend the life of the product (compared to the Toshiba TDP-T9U which did not have an air filter and was not user-friendly for cleaning and bulb replacement).

I'm so happy with this thing I could go on and on about it all day, but I'll try be to as concise as I can.

Simply put, I love it. I absolutely love it.

Suffice it to say this is one of those rare purchases that you can allow yourself to get excited about making, and then find out that you underestimated how excited you should have gotten. It has exceeded every expectation I may have had - it does everything it's supposed to do, and does it astonishingly well. Truly exceptional picture quality in terms of both color and clarity, ridiculously simple to set up and operate, and extraordinarily user friendly. I'm using it with (most of the time) a 100" Elite Screen, and my little theatre room has quickly become my favorite room in the house.

I also bought a 120" portable screen (an Elite ELF120NWH ezCinema) to use outdoors, which I've already done more than a few times. How cool is it to be able to (in 3 minutes) set up a very respectable outdoor theatre? Sittin' outside on a beautiful evening watching movies - trust me, it's a great time.

Be sure to buy the Epson subwoofer (Epson EPMM30SWS SUB-4A1 Silver MovieMate Subwoofer 40W) - I would describe the sound quality as merely acceptable without it, and considering how remarkable the picture quality is, that's just silly. Power up the sub, plug in one wire, the sound quality instantly equals that of the picture - you end up with a true movie experience that needs no apologies for either the audio or video.

Indoors or out, this thing rocks. Period. And the low price seems even more absurd after you see what it can do.

There ya have it. Obviously I'm a really happy customer. I can say with confidence there's a high probability you will be too. Good luck :)

I have had this projector for over a year, and it is fantastic. I do not have it in a permanent location, but set it up and use it "on demand." Set up happens in about two minutes - it is very easy.

I have used it outside with great results, but most of the time I use it in my house. I connect the HDMI output from my HD cable box to the projector, plug the projector into my subwoofer, plug it into the wall, and project onto a wall painted beige - no screen. We usually watch sports with it - baseball, football, hockey - but movies as well. The picture quality is unbelievable, even on a beige wall, and I project to a slightly more than 150 inch diagonal 16:9 picture (about 140 wide by 77 high). You feel like you are sitting in the front row! I never expected the projector to work on the wall as it does - I expected to need a screen, but the image size and clarity are spectacular. I am not easily impressed from a quality perspective, but every time I set this up, I am amazed all over again.

The HD capability is essential. I would not want a projector that is not capable of HD output.

DVDs look great too. We have also used it with standard def sources, and the picture is watchable at this size, but is not nearly as impressive.

I have also hooked up my computer to the projector and, in fairness, the results good but not great. The projector does have an issue displaying the whole screen at certain resolutions, as has been documented in other reviews. I do not use this projector for computer presentations, however, so it is not an issue for me (and for most buyers, I would imagine).

The sound is surprisingly good from the onboard speakers. When I set it up inside, I hook it up to the powered subwoofer in my family room - one cable, no problem. The sub really adds to the explerience, especially for music. But there is more than enough volume from the projector for my 16 x 26 two story family room.

I am a very happy buyer, who has usd the projector for over a year. My wife and children look forward to using the projector for "big games" and movies. A very fun product.

We love the MovieMate72, we use it on the patio showing on a 120" manual pull down Elite Projection Screen (16:9), on the light brown wall in our bedroom and on the white wall in the garage where our workout equipment is located. We have teamed it up with a $118.00 RF-Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Audio and Video Transmission System with IR Repeater directly to the Direct TV so not only can we watch movies in all these locations but also TV and with the IR Repeater change the channels on the Direct TV from those locations.

I've been wanting this thing since it came out, Now that the price has dropped I jumped On IT! This thing is great! I have it hooked up to my Toshiba HD DVD, My scientific Atlantic 8300HD cable box and my Samsung Blu Ray player!(HDMI Switch is a must) MY pretty Black Eppy comes w/all the standard inputs you need to run it as a stationary Hometheater Projector or as a portable Projector DVD player. I'll be honest when I run a standard def movie via Blu Ray or HD DVD player it looks the same, But movies In High DEF, I just sat there and said "WOOOOOOOOOOOOW" this thing has Deep rich color! The DVD player in the Moviemate 72 is good even my burned movies look good on it. Some may want to ceiling mount it but this does not support that type of installation, so what I did was installed a Standard TV wall mount but u can use a standard tv ceiling mount and put it up there! I can insert my disc face to face now unlike the Moviemate 25 which loads from the back, this is a first generation moviemate I purchased 3-4 yrs ago it does not turn, the Moviemate 72 turns on it's chassis for better loading. Now this is native 720p resolution and up scales to 1080p. If u put a 4:3 movie in you can stretch it out and up to fit the screen 16:9 or make it smaller it has other good little tricks to it, oh' the speakers sound fills the room u can hook this up to a subwoofer I used my old Moviemate 25's I kind use this when I'm not trying to rock my building w/my sound system U can hook this up to a system also through standard RCA cables or digital optical cable but i have mine hooked through the optical cable to my system as well as having my eternal HD devices to the sound system. Bottom line for this product... GO FOR IT!!!!

Overall this is a fine machine. I was disappointed to discover that the only audio OUT capability is optical digital. That wasn't apparent in the features list on Amazon. I'd really like to have used my portable Bose SoundDock with this projector for outdoor movies but that's not possible using the projector alone. The only workaround is to connect an external DVD player and route the audio from the external player to my portable sound system. That said, the sound from the Epson 72 internal speakers is reasonably good. Setup was a snap. Picture quality, with both a standard DVD played by the Epson and a Blu-Ray disk using an external player connected to the projector with an HDMI cable, on my 100" screen is outstanding so it deserves a 4 star rating.