InFocus LP400

Thanks to prices becoming ever more attractive, a growing number of businesses are realising how useful a projector can be. Presentations no longer need involve bundles of transparencies and an idiosyncratic overhead projector - just open your PowerPoint file on a notebook, plug in a projector and, like magic, the screen appears magnified on the wall.

As the prices have tumbled, so too have the size of projectors. InFocus' latest model, the LP400, fits snugly into its own shoulder bag and weighs 3.1kg - a huge improvement on the typical 7kg of just two years ago.

The LP400 is InFocus' most basic model and offers direct competition to the Sony VPL-SC50E (reviewed issue 52, p182), which has a street price of £2,650. Both projectors are compact and produce an 800 x 600 resolution image in 24-bit colour but, partially due to the InFocus using DLP rather than the SC50E's LCD technology, the LP400 has a 700 lumens rating as opposed to the latter's 500. As far as end users are concerned, this means the LP400 is substantially brighter, with the important corollary being that the picture will look that much brighter in well-lit conditions.

As many people may be using the projector with multiple sources, ease of use is key, and in this the LP400 doesn't disappoint. It automatically detects the data source, so all you need to worry about is focus, using the manual focus control around the lens, and how big you want your picture. As mentioned before, the LP400 is a basic model, so zooming involves the none too technological feat of moving the projector closer to or further away from the wall or screen.

There are various on-screen controls, but most users shouldn't need to bother with these too often. Brightness, contrast and tint can all be adjusted, and you access these using the collection of backlit plastic buttons on top of the projector. This is made more difficult than it should be, however, by the fact the buttons are extremely unresponsive and have to be pressed down hard before any kind of response is elicited. Unfortunately, you'll have to shell out a rather exorbitant £60 for a more convenient remote control.

Far more important than these niggles, though, is image quality. It may be a basic machine but InFocus has made few compromises with the LP400; the 800 x 600 image produced from the VGA output of a Dell notebook was very impressive. There's no sign of flickering, something the Sony was prone to, just steady, bright detail from corner to corner, and bright, consistent colour reproduction. Not only that, but the LP400 also produces perfectly adequate results through both the S-Video and composite video inputs.

It's not all good news, though. On closer inspection, it appeared that the extreme right-hand side of the screen was very slightly darker than the rest. But, more worryingly, placing the LP400 on a flat surface like a desk results in pluming, cloud-like heat haze patterns appearing in the bottom right-hand corner a few minutes after being switched on. The fan vent, which pumps out a considerable amount of heat, is rather daftly situated right next to the lens. It's not a problem you'd expect from something in this price bracket.

Perhaps more annoying than its positioning, however, is the sound generated by the fan. When it gets up to speed it sounds like someone is hoovering in the next room. As you can imagine, if you're making a presentation in the confines of a small training room the fan's noise will prove extremely distracting. And, needless to say, if you're using sound in your presentation, the LP400's integrated 1W mono speaker will end up fighting a losing battle. The marketing material, which describes the LP400 as quiet, is clearly some way wide of the mark.