Projectors Get Positively Petite

Not long ago, traveling with a video projector for your presentations was something you wanted to do only if you had Sherpas to carry the gear and an audiovisual technician to run it once you got there. But in the year since I last visited the subject (Tech & You, Nov. 23, 1998), things have changed dramatically for the better. The lightest projectors have lost a third of their weight and are now well below five pounds. The units are easier to use than ever. And the cheapest lightweights go for less than $3,000.

Projectors are not for everyone. But if you're tired of having half a dozen people huddle around your laptop to squint at your spreadsheets or of struggling to get the cranky old projector at your customer's site to show your PowerPoint slides, you may be the ideal customer for one of these sleek new units. If you can get by with a three-pound mini notebook computer, such as a Sony VAIO 505, you can pack a laptop and a projector with less weight, for less cost, and in about the same space as a top-of-the-line presentation notebook that was popular two years ago.

TOP SHELF. The sexiest of the new projectors is the LP330 Dragonfly from InFocus Systems Inc. (800 294-6400 or www.infocus.com). Weighing in at 4.8 pounds and just 2.5 inches thick, the Dragonfly will easily share a bag with a laptop and the required cables and accessories. In addition to an aesthetically pleasing design, its features easily put it at the top of this class.

Of the three laptops I tried, the Dragonfly is the only one with a zoom lens. A zoom is a trade-off: It adds complexity, cost, and weight, but without it, the size of the projected image depends entirely on how far from the screen the projector is placed--and that's not always something that you can control, especially when you are traveling.

The Dragonfly gives a presenter maximum flexibility in other ways. Like all of the new projectors, it offers true plug-and-play convenience, synchronizing itself automatically with your notebook's video output. It comes with a wireless remote that both controls the projector and serves as a mouse for your laptop. You also can attach a wired mouse, with either a round PS/2 plug or the newer universal serial bus. All this convenience does not come cheap: At nearly $6,000, the Dragonfly is the Mercedes of the field in more ways than one.

The model MP1600 is the first projector from Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) (www.compaq.com/products/projectors), and it is a striking but curious product. It has a vertical design, like a standard projector set on its side. While that makes it look a bit odd, it has the advantage of raising the lens, so that less distortion-causing tilt occurs in many setups. And at just over four pounds, it's the lightest in the field. The biggest drawback is the lack of a remote. You can partly overcome that disadvantage by using a wireless remote mouse with your laptop, but that makes for an unneeded hassle.

The Compaq is also the only projector without inputs for standard broadcast-type video. It requires a $250 snap-on accessory to gain that capacity. For presentations, this omission isn't a big deal, but it complicates entertainment use of the projector. Set up a portable screen, hook up a DVD player or VCR, plug the audio into your stereo system, and voila: instant home theater.

In the company of the Compaq and the InFocus, the Lightware Scout is an ugly duckling: boxy and without a bit of design flair. But a sub-$3,000 price tag makes up for a lot of ugly.

Of course, getting the price that low required compromises bigger than an uninspired industrial design. The Scout puts out less light than the others, meaning its images are more likely to be washed out by ambient light. Its resolution is lower, and it uses an older LCD technology rather than the Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing used by the Compaq and InFocus. That makes its pictures a bit less crisp, especially when generated by a laptop with 1024 by 768-pixel resolution. But the Scout is a top pick for a budget-minded buyer.

There will be more ultralight projectors hitting the market soon. Later this fall, NEC Technologies (NIPNY) will offer a 5.5-pound projector that puts out an extremely bright 800 lumens. For road warriors grown weary of lugging around heavy projectors or taking their chances with the gear they find at their destinations, this is a welcome improvement.

Questions? Comments? E-mail tech&you@businessweek.com or fax (202) 383-2125

By STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM

TABLE: Three Lightweights

              COMPAQ              INFOCUS
              MP1600              LP330

WEIGHT        4.2 lb.             4.8 lb.
DIMENSIONS    2.5 x 10.5 x 9 in.  8.75 x 9.75 x 2.5 in.
BRIGHTNESS    600 lumens          650 lumens
RESOLUTION    1024 x 768 pixels   1024 x 768 pixels
PRICE         $4,500              $5,500

                    LIGHTWARE
                    SCOUT

WEIGHT              5.3 lb.
DIMENSIONS          7.5 x 10.5 x 3.9 in.
BRIGHTNESS          500 lumens
RESOLUTION          800 x 600 pixels
PRICE               $2,995


DATA: MANUFACTURERS

PHOTO: InFocus' Lightweight LP330 Video Projector