Benq MP626

I definitely think so. The HD home cinema projectors I looked at were, apart from being much more expensive, blighted by various degrees of 'the rainbow effect', which led me to conclude that 'they' haven't got 'the HD thing' quite right yet - certainly not at the lower end of the price range. Consequently I went for this XGA MP626 with its HDMI port and have been delighted with my purchase - especially considering the 3-year onsite warranty. Obviously the resolution is not as high as a full HD projector or even a 720p projector, albeit pretty close to the latter. Then again, you pay one heck of a lot more for 'HD' devices without, in my view, actually getting the level of increased quality that justifies the extra money spent. Whereas all my blu-ray movies play great on the MP626 to the extent that it will be some time (and considerable price reductions) before I consider anything that is notionally perceived to be 'better'. MP626 is also brilliant for PC presentations, can be controlled over a LAN and has, besides an HDMI 1.3 port that supports sound for the onboard speaker, a wide range of connectivity options (just look at the back of the unit). MP626 also comes with a well-made soft carrying bag and the entire package exudes quality.

Consider:

1. The length and nature of the UK warranty
2. The contrast and brightness specs
3. The operational sound level (very quiet)
4. The fine image quality
5. The wide connectivity options (including HDMI 1.3 with sound support)
6. Quick cool down time
7. Zoom facility
8. No rainbow effect (that I can detect)
9. Keen price

Altogether, for anyone wanting a 'do-it-all' projector at very reasonable cost, I can highly recommend the BENQ MP626.

Had the BenQMP626 projector now for 4 weeks and love it. We use it for work and play in our creative digital agency Pink Squid office - Attached to MAC, PC and XBOX360 - for most of the day.
The inputs are extensive and more than you need and better than some higher priced HD projectors. It is also 3D ready which is amazing, but not sure what to do with this yet!!
Menu system is clear ans easy to use with the handy credit card sized remote. You can even link it to LAN port and control all menu settings from any connected PC and browser (semi useful if your projector is mounted up high and you have lost the remote!)

We project from about 5 metres back - which gives us a massive 4m x 2m picture size and still the quality is crisp. Our wall is close to windows, but even with muted winter daylight, it performs well - Although best option is when blinds are down or complete darkness. Like most projects it pumps out loads of heat, but designed with lots of vents, so it never gets to a point when you think it will melt - surprisingly not much of a post boot down fan ether, a good thing I think.

Internal speakers are nothing to write home about, but for a travelling business man then it saves you having to carry external speakers - But if like us, you have 2 projectors. Keep the Benq in the office and link it to a proper speaker system. Benq always supply a well made carry bag - this alone is worth £30 if bought separately, but this fits properly snug.

In it's slick gloss black body, with over sized matt aluminium lens tube, this MP626 projector looks good enough to eat, but paired with the new Black XBOX 360 250Gig + Kenect then your street cred is sky high. As the title says, best Price for Picture Quality and function and inputs - Benq does it again.

I bought this for my Xbox mostly, but also have a computer hooked up to it. Initially, it seems weird as there are some rainbow effects that come off white light but now I don't see them. It is very bright and the quality is excellent. I noticed a massive difference when I connected the Xbox to this with an HDMI cable. You can literally see every detail and every line. It's so clear it makes the games look bad! It projects a square (4:3) shape image which means you need to be more than 2m away for a large screen size. I put it in my cellar and it is not as large as I had wanted. In a normal living room it would be perfect.
Overall, a fantastic quality HD projector for a decent price. I would particularly recommend it for someone looking to hook it up to an Xbox with an HDMI cable.