Geoffrey Morrison

They’re called SIM cards, and they’re not much discussed in the States, but are commonplace pretty much everywhere else.

To find out why you should care (potentially), read on.

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Bright 1080p for $1,000
No rainbows (for those who care)
Minus
Contrast ratio is mediocre
Color accuracy is only average

THE VERDICT
Despite a bright image, poor contrast and otherwise average performance put Epson’s 1080p budget projector out of contention at the $1,000 price point.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised it was bright. I mean, it’s an Epson projector; of course it was going to be bright. But 42 foot-lamberts and 1080p for $1,000? That’s not too shabby. It’s perhaps even more impressive that all of that light bursts forth from such a tiny package.

Small, bright, a pair of HDMI inputs, even 3D capability: The PowerLite Home Cinema 2030 ticks all the boxes for a projector in our modern era. But box ticking is one thing, and not the thing we’re interested in.

I’d like to think I can learn from my mistakes, and like any “teaching moment,” I figured I’d share a few of these semi-painful revelations in the hopes you won’t suffer the same fates.

One of them even looks like bacon.