Posted on May 25, 2016 By Art Feierman
The Epson Powerlite W29 is a feature laden, yet very affordable projector for classroom or business, suitable for portable use or installation.
Of Epson’s extensive line of business and classroom projectors, the $599 PowerLite W29 is right in the middle of the $900 955WH above it and the $450 VS345 below. But, schools can get it through Epson’s Brighter Futures program for $479 with an extra year of warranty coverage, making it one of the best values for classrooms around.
Overall, the PowerLite W29 packs a lot of projector into a small package that can be carried from classroom to classroom during the day. It uses a trio of LCD panels to create a native resolution of 1,280 by 800 (WXGA) and 16:10 aspect ratio. The projector creates a bright image with acceptable color balance and has the bonus of using the company’s inexpensive ELPLP88 lamp that costs $79 and is rated to run for 5,000 hours. This reduces its operating expenses, making it one of the cheapest projectors to use.
It may lack WiFi wireless networking but the projector has built-in wired Ethernet networking. This can be used to display presentations and lessons stored on a school’s servers, let students or teachers project items directly from their tablets or phones and even take control of the projector.
The basic XGA PowerLite 97H and the WXGA resolution Powerlite 99W received Hot Product awards. An evolutionary update, the W29 carries on with an excellent mix of value and performance.
Rated at delivering 3,000 lumens, the PowerLite W29 projector is surprisingly small and light and can travel during the school day from room to room. At 5.8-pounds, it won’t be confused with a pico-projector, so an AV cart might be a good idea. It has 3 mounting points underneath for a permanent ceiling set up as well as three adjustable feet for use on a shelf or table.
At $599, it is a good value, but Epson’s Brighter Futures program allows schools to get the projector for an economical $479. It’s cheap to keep because it uses Epson’s ELPLP lamp, which is rated 5,000 hours of use and costs just $79, rather than $200 or $300, to replace. This makes it one of the cheapest classroom projectors to operate.
Its 1,280 by 800 its resolution can’t touch the detail delivered by full HD units, but it should be more than adequate for most teaching tasks and its color accuracy was quite good for a business projector. The standout was its excellent uniformity of focus, which provided a super-sharp image from corner to corner.
We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors report, in which this projector is considered.
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