Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this projector to be used at functions for a social club. We generally show DVD's in a room that is only slightly darkened, with the projector about 15' from the screen, and club members view it from 20 - 50 ft away. So we needed a projector with some muscle to get an image large and crisp enough to be enjoyed from the back of the room. I researched lots of projectors, and this one seemed to offer the best quality for a reasonable price. We weren't disappointed - the image is about 8' wide and very sharp. It has lots of fancy features which we probably won't use, but the basics are easy enough to figure out. My one gripe is that there is no operating manual - only a CD with the manual on it, which might be convenient if you have a dedicated laptop you are using with the projector, but useless if you are using it with a DVD player. If you are a first-time projector buyer (like I was), I recommend the following link, which I found on the Radio Shack website:[...] They had a very nice explanation of what all these specification acronyms actually mean in terms of a good picture. In a nutshell: Lumens - higher number means brighter picture in a less than dark room (very important for us) Resolution - the fineness of detail (i.e. high-def - see the website for details) This projector isn't really high-def, but it seems you have pay twice the price for the next higher level. Contrast ratio - higher number means a greater difference between the lights and darks - (important since our DVD's are shot in low lighting) Throw ratio - how big the picture will be - a smaller number actually means a bigger picture. The Viewsonic website has a nifty calculator that helps you see how big your picture will be at a given distance. Hope this helps the non-techies out there! Happy viewing!