The Epson VS330 XGA 3LCD Projector ($429.99), part of Epson’s value series line, offers easy portability and a good port selection for its price. You’d figure that the company had to make some compromises in designing a sub-$500 projector, and our testing showed mediocre image quality and a feeble sound system. That said, the VS330 ($581.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) is a good choice for people looking for solid performance in a portable data projector at a modest price.

The VS330 is based on 3LCD technology, which was developed by Epson and employs three LCD panels, each of which processes light of a different primary color. It has XGA (1,024-by-768) native resolution and a rated brightness of 2,700 lumens. This two-toned projector—with a white top and a dark base—is reasonably light at 5.1 pounds and measures 3.1 by 11.6 by 9 inches, so it’s easily portable, though it lacks a carrying case.

There is a decent selection of ports for the price: VGA-in; HDMI; S-video; three RCA jacks for composite video/audio; a USB type B port for connecting to a computer to enable USB-Plug-and-Play operation; and a USB type A port for running presentations computer-free from a thumb drive.

The USB type A port also supports an optional Wi-Fi adapter ($99 direct). Epson, however, does not include it among the accessories listed on the VS330’s product page, choosing to downplay the adapter because it sees the VS330 as an entry-level projector appealing in part for its very low price. For customers looking to add Wi-Fi, the company suggests the Epson EX5220 Wireless XGA 3LCD Projector ($649.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) which includes Wi-Fi as well as other premium features for not much more than you’d pay for the VS330 plus adapter.

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Data Image Testing
I tested the VS330 with it placed about seven feet away from our test screen; it stood up well to a fair amount of ambient light.

In data image testing using the DisplayMate(Opens in a new window) software test suite, data image quality was average, adequate for typical classroom or business presentations. Text quality was a strong point, with text blurred but readable even at the smallest (6.8-point) size for both white-on-black and black-on-white type. Colors were bright, as is usually the case with an LCD projector. There was a bit more tinting than we’d like—yellow in some white backgrounds and green in gray backgrounds. Changing color modes didn’t eliminate the tinting. One other issue is that the projector showed dynamic moiré in images that tend to bring it out. This shouldn’t be a problem unless you use images with hatching or closely spaced lines.

Video and Audio
The Epson VS330’s video is free of potentially annoying rainbow artifacts. (The downside of it being an LCD projector is that it lacks 3D capability.) Otherwise, video quality wasn’t particularly good, and I’d limit its use to shorter clips as part of a presentation.

Color tended to be a little off—there tended to be too much red—and there was often a loss of detail in bright areas. I saw posterization—abrupt shifts in color where they should be gradual—in several scenes. Strangely, when I first hooked the projector up to the DVD player over an HDMI connection, the projector played the video (Terminator 2) in Sports mode. When I switched to Theatre mode, image quality and issues were pretty much the same. Sound from the projector’s single 1-watt speaker was soft, adequate only for a small room.

The VS330 is lighter and lower-priced than the Epson PowerLite 93+ , the Editors’ Choice for XGA portable projectors. The latter has a better range of ports (it has Ethernet, a second VGA-in as well as monitor-out, and RS-232), better image quality for both data and video, and a much louder sound system. But if you need easy portability and/or are on a tight budget, and are not too picky about image quality, the Epson VS330 XGA 3LCD Projector offers decent value for the money.