Digital Projector Advice Please!

[CharlieOneSix]

Would appreciate some guidance as I have no knowledge of this field – my wife is on the committee of a branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild and they have a budget of up to £500 to buy a digital projector for use when outside speakers come to give talks or classes.

I am guessing that the projector should have 1080p capability plus USB and HDMI ports to connect to the speakers’ various types of laptops. Also are LED projectors worth considering? A projection size of about 60 inches (1.5 metres) width would be needed. Suggestions welcome!

[Milo Minderbinder]

I don't know much about it, but watch out as an increasing number of laptops are now coming with Displayport connectors rather than HDMI.
HDMI is slowly dying as far as computers are concerned - make sure your projector can handle both, or else you have a way of converting the outputs from the laptop to DVI (assuming the projector has an DVI input....)

One thing I have found while helping a friend with his film shows is that using HDMI to output video to a projector while using analogue sound output to an audio mixing desk can cause serious synch problems with the sound. You need to rehearse the show beforehand to make sure you don't get the same problem

[CharlieOneSix]

Thanks for that Milo. I'm so out of touch I had never heard of Displayport!

It seems like the BenQ W710ST DLP projector would meet the requirements and is at the top end of the budget with the river people: 1200x720, 2500 ANSI lumens, HD ready and with 2x HDMI, RCA, Component, S-Video, D-Sub, USB, RS-232, Audio-Out.

Seems we would need to get a Displayport to HDMI adapter and then that combination of interfaces should cope with all modern and not so old laptops. Audio isn't too much of a problem as I understand from SWMBO that the projected pictures supplement the talk/class instruction and audio is not usually used.

Any other comments greatly appreciated!