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Review: Dell M110 micro-projector

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3rd Jan 2012
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AccountingWEB community manager Henry Osadzinski tests out one of the latest portable projectors to hit the market.

Portable projectors are very popular here at Gadget Zone, especially with “executive peripherals” editor Nigel Harris. He was tied up with his Christmas Countdown (and tax returns) this year, so I stepped in to take a look at Dell’s latest M110 micro model instead.

Weighing in at just 320g and measuring a svelte 10.5x10.4x3.6cm, the M110 is similar in size and weight to the M109S model that Nigel reviewed in 2009. But with a maximum brightness of 300 ANSI Lumens (compared to 50) and the newer model’s 80in display range (25% wider than the M109S) show just how fast the technology is moving.

The M110’s LED light source can deliver 1080-pixel wide WXGA resolution images – enough to impress a darkened boardroom and, at smaller sizes, able to compete with moderate lighting. The device is cooled by two relatively small, high speed fans, but these are comparatively quiet so they shouldn’t interfere with any presentation.

For such a small device, the M110 offers a wide range of input options including HDMI, VGA, audio/video. It can also pull images and video directly from USB drives and SD cards onto its 1GB internal memory. The projector can cope equally well with PowerPoint presentations and still photos or take inputs from a games console or Blu-Ray player. The latter options may disappoint when it comes to sound, however, as the 1W speaker is fairly limited and there’s no way to directly connect another audio device such as separate speakers or headphones. You can, of course, hook these up directly to the laptop if you’re using one but there’s no such luck if you’re displaying anything via USB drive or off the device’s own storage. Also, in order to achieve a comfortable height to view the display at its largest, we’d also recommend you invest in a tripod as the angle provided by the built-in adjustable stand isn’t quite enough.

Available for £325 on Dell’s website, the M110 is priced competitively enough to warrant serious consideration for anyone who has experienced frustration when trying to cram too many viewers around a laptop screen. Thanks to its clear picture, ease of use and decent multimedia functionality, it’s likely to be at home in a range of situations and feels sturdy enough to be able to pop in a bag at the end of the day without any worry.

What we liked

● Plenty of connection options.
● Light, small and robust.
● Quiet, effective cooling.
● Able to compete with larger, more expensive alternatives.

What we didn’t like
● Weedy speaker output with no additional sound connection options.
● Requires careful and sometimes creative positioning for optimal display size.

Price £325

For more info, visit the Dell Europe website.

Replies (1)

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Nigel Harris
By Nigel Harris
05th Jan 2012 11:28

The ultimate paperless device?

Thanks Henry, good to see these portable projectors getting some publicity again.

I think most people tend to think of them as smaller, cheaper versions of the big projectors, which I think misses the point. I recall that the marketing material for of these devices included a video showing an estate agent using a portable projector to show a client the particulars of properties, rather than giving them printed copies. If you use the built-in memory to hold the files these devices are easier to use than a laptop or table for sharing documents, and of course they are completely paperless!

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