Certainly the most eye-catching feature of the Epson PowerLite S3 is the $799 direct price. But don't misread the price to mean that the S3 is anything less than a first-rate LCD projector. The SVGA native resolution (800-by-600) is the right choice for most presentations, and the overall design is excellent, right down to the pass-through monitor connector and the 5.6-pound weight that makes the S3 light enough to take with you in the supplied soft carrying case.

One of the few corners this package cuts is that it supplies only one cable. You'll find S-Video, composite video, and audio connectors on the back, as well as a USB connector for controlling your mouse, and an SVGA connector for connecting to your graphics card or to component video output. But the only cable that comes with the projector is an SVGA cable for your computer. Also missing from the unit is a digital connection for a PC. But the auto-sync feature for analog mode is truly automatic, syncing without you having to do anything. And in our tests, it yielded as rock-solid an image as you'll get from a digital connection.

The rest of the setup procedure is also simple, with a manual focus and digital zoom. The keystone adjustment, unfortunately, is strictly digital, which tends to introduce artifacts. We had a minor problem with the remote, as the buttons are packed so closely together and have such small labels that we often had trouble finding the right control button. But the controls on the unit itself follow a well-designed layout with easy-to-read labels.

The S3 isn't as bright as you might like. We measured it at 1,255 lumens—about 25 percent lower than the claimed 1,600-lumen rating. That's bright enough to project a decent-size image with typical ambient lighting, but the image may appear slightly washed out. The contrast ratio was an acceptable 171:1. As the brightness variance of 1.21:1 suggests, we didn't see any obvious hot spots or darkened areas.

Image quality was excellent, with no flaws worth mention showing in either our DisplayMate test screens (www.displaymate.com) or with full-motion video. If you use sound as part of your presentation, you'll find the volume barely loud enough for a small conference room. For bigger rooms, you'll want to plug your audio cable into a separate audio system. That's a common issue with projectors, however, and doesn't detract from the S3's value as a bargain-priced projector that's truly a bargain.