ViewSonic PJ250

The PJ250 is ViewSonic's first entry into the fierce compact DLP projector market. Prices of excellent models such as IBM's iLM300 have dropped by over a third in the past six months, making it a curious time to make the venture, but its long-standing prowess in manufacturing display products holds ViewSonic in good stead.

Weighing a kilo on the dot, the PJ250 would be barely noticeable in a bag or briefcase, and as it's the size of the average outstretched hand it won't take up too much space either. Sadly, though, its throw distance is pretty poor at up to 6.6m, and therefore this will only be suitable for small meeting rooms.

Picture quality was pretty disappointing, even with its reasonable XGA resolution and exceptionally high 2,000:1 contrast ratio. The image was very grainy, and only with the Finest Picture setting on full was it clear and up to presentation standard throughout the image. The picture was bright, thanks to the 1,000 ANSI lumens rating, but colours occasionally seemed quite harsh and lacked depth. Also, when watching a DVD, we struggled to get the blacks to disappear however much we fiddled with the settings. We also found it quite noisy, despite the quoted 43dB level from one metre, and far more noticeable than the loudest of notebooks in our labs, and even some PCs.

But at least the PJ250 is easy to carry around and looks good thanks to its sturdy silver plastic exterior. The majority of the space on the front and sides is grated to aid airflow and heat reduction, and there are two fans - one on the front and one on the side. We found it did get quite hot nonetheless, and after only a few minutes' use needed over ten minutes to cool down before it could be stowed away in its case. This is far from handy for someone who's frequently on the move.

The list of ports is not surprisingly limited, given the PJ250's size. It offers a DVI input, a PAL, NTSC, RGB and HDTV (High Definition Television) compatible S-Video port, and a mini-jack audio input. It's unlikely you'll want to use the latter port, though, as the 0.5W speaker is tinny and too quiet to use, be it in a small meeting room or even at home watching DVDs.

On the plus side, though, ViewSonic has supplied all the necessary cables - from international power cables and D-SUB-to-DVI converters to mini-jack-to-phono cables - all of which are held within a handy carry bag that attaches to the projector's case.

We found that the PJ250 wasn't the simplest of projectors to use. The menu system is comprehensive and very well laid out, but the controls were unresponsive and took a while to register and then respond. However, there are infrared receivers on both the front and back, so you can move about as much as you want and still control what's on screen. The remote control has buttons for zoom, volume, pause, digital keystone and page up and down, and is both easy to use and large enough so as not to be fiddly.

While the PJ250's size, weight and looks make it an appealing buy, similarly specified models have a sharper image and cost less. Try IBM's iLM300 or InFocus' LP70 for a better buy.

Author: Mark Walsh