The 3M MPro110 pocket projector

Presentations have come a long way since the days of 35mm slides and a Kodak Carousel (remember them?).

Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple’s Keynote have made sure of that. Oh, and while I think of it when you are putting your presentation together think about how you use images. Many people just throw in full-size JPEG images which means that you end up with very bloated PowerPoint files. These can end up too big to e-mail.

It is much better to size your images in Photoshop before you import them. It is quite easy to work out how big to make them. An average digital projector has a horizontal resolution of about 1024-1280 pixels, but images straight out of a digital camera are likely to be around 3000-4000 pixels wide. Place these straight into PowerPoint and you’ll end up with enormous PPT files.

If you are going to use an image full screen your imported image needs to be about the same size as the projector’s resolution – about 1024 pixels wide. Any bigger and you are not gaining quality, but just bloating your files. If you are using an image at half screen size then about 600 pixels wide is fine.

Anyway, back to the main story. Once you have your PowerPoint presentation you still need to have a digital projector to connect to your laptop – and that is where the trouble starts. Firstly, they are still quite expensive with replacement bulbs costing the earth. A quick tip – after using your projector switch it off and let it cool down completely before moving it. The bulb is less likely to blow in future.

Projectors are also bulky and not the sort of thing you want to carry around. By the time you have taken your laptop, your briefcase and your projector you start to look like a packhorse.

But 3M has come up with a product that it hopes will change all that. It says its MPro110 pocket projector is ideal for travellers who deliver a lot of presentations but do not want to carry bulky desktop projectors around with them.

Measuring just 115x50x22 mm (4.5"x1.97"x0.88") the projector is more like a large mobile phone. It weighs just 152 grams (0.33 lbs) and has a built-in lithium ion battery that can provide enough power for about 40-60 minutes.

If that isn’t enough it also has a power supply/charger.

The secret of the projector is that it uses high-powered LEDs and not incandescent bulbs. The LEDs have an estimated life of more than 20,000 hours so should see you through to the end of your career! It is also silent in operation as it doesn’t need a cooling fan.

There are only two controls – an on/off button and a focus ring, although this was quite loose and it was easy to lose focus if you moved the unit around.

3M says the projector is particularly useful for giving impromptu sales pitches to customers while on the road or in a last-minute meeting.

I tested it with both an Apple and Windows PC and it worked well, projecting in its native 640x480 pixel VGA mode. This is quite small, but it will also support 800 x 600 SVGA, 1024 x 768 XGA and 1280 x 768 WXGA modes.

The projector is no match for a full-size projector though and I found that in subdued lighting (but not a dark room) it could only really project up to about 24-30 inches across (60-75 cm). You really need a screen too to make the most of the projected image - something else to carry.

Its own literature says that in a normally-lit room it can manage up to 5 inches (127mm) wide, which is miniscule, but in a darkened room it can project up to 50 inches (127cm) wide.

I can see that as LED technology develops these units could get brighter and brighter. After all, a projector like this was unthinkable just a couple of years ago.

It also needs a small tripod really as laying it on a desk meant that you lost the lower portion of the image. In fact, the company’s own PR photographs show it being used with a mini tripod so I don’t know why they don’t supply one in the box.

So in all, the projector does what it says on the tin, but I’m left wondering if you really need one at all. Given that most venues that you visit are unlikely to have full blackout conditions the usefulness of the projector is going to be limited.

And if you are in a completely dark venue the chances are that you would be using a “proper” projector anyway. If you just presenting to a handful of people then it might be better to use a large-screen laptop, such as a 17- or 20-inch model.

So the 3M Mpro110 is an odd beast. For small presentations you could just use a laptop and for bigger ones you need a proper projector. If you do happen to present to five or six people, in a room with subdued lighting, then I can see that it could be valuable.

At a street price of around £235- £285 it might just be worth having one as a spare for your normal projector. But don’t buy one expecting it to do everything you want. As one review said “it is more of a geek’s toy really”.

posted by Steve Nichols @ 7:02 AM Comments: 0