Government Computer News
Image isn't everything
With portable projectors, size, weight and features also count for a lot
In America, everyone says bigger is better — at least until they pack their suitcases.
Digg
De.licio.us
Slashdot
Technorati
Frequent fliers know business-trip survival means traveling light, taking just what they need and not getting bogged down with extra pounds that limit mobility. But getting caught empty-handed is worse, so road warriors need tools they can rely on.
To that end, we rounded up some of the most popular ultraportable projectors on the market and tested them for brightness, color quality, portability, ease of use, features and value.
A truly great projector would be light and easy to carry, not much bulkier or heavier than a laptop PC — perhaps even less so. But travelers usually don’t know where they will be making presentations, so their projectors have to be bright enough to handle rooms where the lights can’t be dimmed or the curtains closed.
And of course, color accuracy is also essential, especially for jobs where red or pink can signal the difference between a tornado and light rain — or an enemy division and platoon.
Ease of use is also important because our traveling heroes can’t waste time figuring out how an interface or remote control works. They have more important work to do.
And finally, these elements should come together in as inexpensive a package as possible.
A high-performing product can cost more than a stripped-down model without penalty, but if all else is equal, the product with the lower price wins.
As a group, the tiny powerhouse projectors impressed us, but we were perplexed that none of the five contenders had a Digital Visual Interface port, which offers flawless video when set to a projector’s native resolution. Instead, each had a standard analog port, from which pixels’ appearance can be affected by adjacent pixels, electrical noise and other forms of analog distortion. This was recorded in some in our tests, even though we did our best to minimize it in the lab environment.
![1105 Government Information Group [justice]](/images/1105logo_website.gif "Government Computer News [justice]")
© 1996-2008 1105 Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
