Toshiba TDP-T95

The Toshiba TDP-T95U seems to define the midpoint of the XGA projector market. There are brighter, lighter and cheaper models around, but none boast the same combination of price, brightness and features.

For £1,029.30, this DLP projector's brightness exceeds that of the £1,155 HP mp3135, and the Toshiba's connectivity options are comparable to the considerably much more expensive Dell 5100MP (£1,999). The Toshiba TDP-T95 also boasts features left off many budget projectors, such as automatic keystone correction and a monitor-out port. For the TDP-T95's low price, you'll sacrifice the portability and the fast start-up time we enjoyed from the £1,649 Epson EMP 765 and the accurate images that the Dell 5100MP produced; but for above-average features and connectivity at a low price, the Toshiba TDP-T95 is a great choice.

Inside the sleek, no-nonsense, silver-and-black case is a Digital Light Processing (DLP) engine from Texas Instruments that produces XGA images. The TDP-T95 weighs a relatively heavy 2.9kg and measures 29.9cm by 21.8cm by 10cm, making it a bit larger than most other projectors in the XGA budget category. The projector's size allows for some mobility, but it's better for travelling short distances; the 1.73kg HP mp3320 is a better choice if portability is a chief concern. Toshiba provides a well-cushioned albeit large case that easily accommodates the projector with plenty of room for accessories or even an ultra-portable laptop.

A unique, pop-off cap covers the lens and gives the front of the projector a clean look. Focus and zoom dials aren't labelled, but they're easy to access on top of the projector and work smoothly. The TDP-T95 projects images ranging from 0.75m to 7.5m (diagonal), and it works with computer images as well as high-definition TV images. We appreciate the Toshiba TDP-T95's automatic keystone correction, which the HP mp3320 lacks, and we like that the control panel includes a dedicated button for enabling the feature. Also found on the control panel are the volume adjustment for the projector's weak 1-watt speaker, an input switch button, and controls for navigating the onscreen menu (OSM). The included remote is large and fully featured, with a numeric keypad, which is required for the projector's anti-theft password feature. Our chief complaint about the remote is that its large tilting button enables you to control the mouse pointer but can't be used to navigate the OSM -- there's another set of arrows for that.

The Toshiba TDP-T95's large form factor affords lots of space for input options. In addition to the standard ports for analogue, composite video, S-Video and audio, there are also a monitor-out connector that outputs to a monitor screen, a second computer input and two RCA-style audio inputs. The three-pronged AC cable and the computer video cable are both 3m long -- typical cords are about 1.5m -- giving you plenty of room to place the projector. We were disappointed, however, that composite video and S-Video cables aren't included with the projector.

In our tests, the TDP-T95 put out 1,976 ANSI lumens, just 10 percent below the always-inflated advertised claim of 2,200. We especially liked the Toshiba's low-power mode, which dropped the fan noise to near-whisper levels yet still delivered more than 1,600 lumens, which is more than the HP mp3135 offers in full power mode, and is plenty of light to handle all but the brightest conference rooms. The TDP-T95 produced a 478:1 contrast ratio, which is good for a DLP projector and markedly above that of LCD projectors such as the Epson EMP 765. Rather than using a five-segment colour wheel, as the HP mp3320 does, Toshiba tries to get the best colour balance with new colour correction circuitry designed to produce a more natural image. Unfortunately, it did not fare well in our tests; greens were markedly shifted in a pale yellowish direction and blue was slightly shifted toward green.

The TDP-T95's slow start-up and shutdown times also disappointed; it took 56 seconds to warm up and longer than 2 minutes to cool down. Compared to the Epson PowerLite 765c's 23-second warm-up and 4-second cool-down, the Toshiba TDP-T95U's stats are unimpressive. Toshiba claims that the projector can cool down instantly if the plug is pulled, but this feature is barely mentioned in the manual.

At around £300, the TDP-T95's replacement lamp is affordable; they typically cost more. The bulb should last 2,000 hours, yielding a consumables cost of 15p per hour.

Toshiba offers a two-year warranty, a year less than the industry average, covering parts and labour and an average 90 days for the lamp. Toshiba's Web site has a wide array of resources, including a downloadable user manual as well as an animated tour of the projector's features. There's also Toshiba's Ask Iris knowledge base of technical solutions and a link for support bulletins. If you need personal attention, you can access an online help feature, send email to a technician or call a phone number.

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