Optoma DV11 480p Home Theater Projector with Built-In Slot Load DVD Player

Amazon Customer Reviews

(4 out of 5)

A great choice as long as the price is right

I also purchased this projector during the Black Friday sale and found it to be a great bargain at $550. However, this wasn't the model I originally intended to buy that day and, despite being greatly pleased with the value, buyers in general should keep some things in mind.

I was originally going to buy an Epson projector which are known for strong reliability and bright images. I couldn't find one at a reasonable price so I ended up with the Optoma DV11 - but only because of the price drop.

There are three major technical specs when it comes to projectors: Brightness, contrast, and resolution. The DV11 has OK brightness (about 1300 lumens) and contrast (1:2000), but its resolution is basically SVGA (480). I've tried the projector in three completely different settings and with different DVDs and found that it does great in a dark room and performs best with already bright images. However, it does rather poorly with dark images.

For example, the middle of the day football shots in "Invincible" looked superb, but the dark images of "Battle Star Galactica" were rather poor. The blacks and greys were muddled and you could see pixels in many shots. "The West Wing," which is slightly brighter, had some of these problems as well but at a much lower level. On the opposite side, "The Incredibles" looked, well, incredible. That's to be expected, however, since just about any current projector should be able to handle animation.

There's also the issue of DLP (like the Optoma) versus LCD (like the Epson) technology which I didn't concern myself with at the time of purchase. If you think this is important (and there are differences) research the terms and see what experts have to say about what's best for what.

Despite these criticisms, the DV11 has some major selling points. The contrast on this model is higher than all the introductory Epson models which hover in the 1:400 to 1:500 range. Those are really bad numbers on the Epson side. However, those projectors have brightness levels in the 2000 lumens range which means you won't need as much darkness while playing games or movies. And as for resolution, all the projectors in the below $600 range are at SVGA.

The big selling point with the DV11 is the built in DVD player and adequate speakers. I didn't think this was a necessity until I used the projector in three locations over two days. Having an all-in-one is extremely important if you plan on using the projector in more than place.

As of this writing the DV11 is going for about $800 on most sites. That's just too high in my opinion. If you're going to spend that kind of money then you might as well throw in a few more hundred and get a projector with more brightness and XGA resolution. This is especially true if you don't need a built in DVD player and plan on just using the projector in one location. But at under $600, this projector is steal by 2007 standards. I'm definitely pleased with the purchase. Just do your research and know what you need and want before buying.

Edit: As of this writing the Optoma HD70, with 4000:1 contrast (twice that of the DV11, and HD XGA resolution, is going for $800 after rebate. It doesn't have a built in DVD player, but it's a far superior projector. Still no regrets on buying the DV11, but if I had had $800 to spend, I would have chosen the HD70.

(5 out of 5)

Great Product

This is an incredible product. I had no idea that projector technology had come so far and at such an affordable price point. I was skeptical when I ordered the product, but I pointed it at a dark brown painted wall in a dark bedroom to test it and it delivered a movie theater quality picture, crisp and huge and unbelievably bright considering the background. I can't imagine what it looks like on the proper screen. Also the speakers on the unit are good quality and more than adequate for viewing a DVD with the built-in player. Obviously, if you want a movie theater experience, hooking the product to surround sound is the way to go. And the throw is short. You'll be surprised at how large a picture you can get at a relatively close distance from the projector.

(The bad news is that Amazon shipped this item without additional packing. It arrived in the original box, inside which the projector is in its carrying case with a little Styrofoam around it. I don't know if that is what caused the damage, but there was a short between the volume controls and the DVD player on the first unit I received. Every time I attempted to adjust the volume it shorted the DVD player and the disk restarted. Amazon covered the return shipping cost because the product was defective. I ordered a new unit which arrived in good working condition. We love this projector and have been using it often for several months.)

(5 out of 5)

All you'll need for AWESOME outdoor movies

You should also buy the KLP GMXA-2.1 multimedia speakers ($99.99) and a 12' inflatable outdoor movie screen ($179.99 from walmart). Then for under $1200, you will be watching and hearing your favorite movies in your backyard!

No doubt this thing is great. Slip in your DVD and play a 12 foot extremely clear image of your movie. Researching this and its predecessor, the DV-10, I noticed that most complained about the sound (if anything). So here's my solution: instead of an expensive receiver and sound system, buy the 3 piece KLP GMXA-2.1 speaker set designed for use with computers. We just watched Happy Feet last night by the pool. More than enough sound to keep the neighbors up. The bass was great. The image was crystal clear. Simple to hook up the speakers to the DV-11 (all necessary cords included), and the blow up screen was awesome...it is a vertical screen with inverted V tethers that need to attach to included stakes or something else. That is all you'll need!

(2 out of 5)

ok for movies, not at all suitable for digital photographs

I bought this digital projector for our local nature club - based on the reviews and the product literature it seemed like an ideal item. We had 2 objectives for the projector - running nature DVDs before our club meetings began while people arrived and got settled, and as a digital photographic projector that could either be attached to a laptop (for PowerPoint presentations), or used with the built in DVD/CD player to show jpeg nature images by our guest speakers. The unit performed ok as a DVD movie projector.

The performance as a digital photography and laptop connected PowerPoint projector was poor in comparison to similar or cheaper projectors out on the market today. After a 1 month trial (1 monthly club meeting), we returned the Optoma DV11 and upgraded to an Epson 77C (and saved $300 Canadian). In the future when we want to show a DVD, we'll have a laptop there or may buy a cheap portable DVD player to hook up to the Epson.

The main problems with digital photographs were:
1) showing digital photos from a laptop (connected by the VGA cable) produced marginally acceptable results. Showing exactly the same digital files burned to a CD and inserted in the projector's built-in DVD/CD player resulted in significantly lower resolution - the image colour was not true and the image had poorer resolution which showed up as a significantly 'blockier' image.
2) the CD player would usually (2 out of 3 times) lockup when moving to the next image. The only way to recover was to power off the projector, unplug it and wait a minute, then power it on again and eject the CD quickly. Though the manual (badly written in fractured English) indicated that large jpeg files were a problem, this problem happened consistently with small image file sizes (<1MB).
3. Overall resolution was SVGA at most (perhaps 800x600) which isn't suitable for high quality nature photography. Also, all of the preset projection settings seemed to have significant problems with wash-out in the light areas of the pictures (really noticable, and unacceptable).

Optoma technical support (in Canada) did make some attempts to work through the problems, but overall I was unsatisfied with this unit for the specific needs our nature club had.

(5 out of 5)

Get one

I have every toy known to man. From two wheels to whatever. Without question, this portable DVD theater is the best of all. I also purchased from skymall a inflatable big screen. Its like a portable drive in theatre once you turn on the Optoma. Portable and take it anywhere. Clarity of teh Optoma is better than any plasma or hdtv I have. It has built in speakers, dvd player, can take up to 5 different formats etc. Hook your computer up to this thing or photos, or whatever. More fun that anything I have owned. Get one - but also get the skymall inflatable screen. Comes in a small duffle, but blows up to a small drive in theathre screen. huge.