I originally bought this projector with work in mind. As an artist who makes painting, there are many shortcuts in laying out a canvas and projecting an image onto a canvas is one of them. Since I use the computer as a tool for initial design I thought a projector would make perfect sense in expediting the process. I did some research and found the MP 1100 for $200 off the retail and made the plunge. Unfortunately, the transfer process was hindered by the logistics of squaring the image with the canvas, low resolution (800x600 pixels) and a cranky graphics card in my computer that didn’t split the two screens (monitor and projector) as easily as I would have liked. Experiment failed but now I had a projector with nothing to use it for… Welcome to the living room!

I now have the projector hitched to my XBOX 360 (the old XBOX before that) and I have a decent, but not great and certainly unexpected home theater setup. I’ll look at the projector from that angle. Grades are based on cost vs performance and don’t represent an absolute.

Brightness: B+

It’s not the brightest out there but it does a good job even during the day if most ambient light is subdued. At night it is obviously fine and the picture causes no eye strain even after a long movie or a marathon XBOX session. For business use, there is plenty of brightness for a presentation in a dim or even lit room. I used it for awhile in my semi lit studio and it was plenty bright enough to make out small details.

Picture Quality: B-

Unfortunately, the resolution is low and I wish I had gotten one level up in the Dell line for that reason. My budget was tight at the time so I’m living with it. For games, there is no hint of HD as things run at a very low resolution but because it is projected you see things more clearly by sheer size so that is a decent trade off. Movie and TV watching are good with movie being surprisingly good. There are a good number of controls available (brightness, contrast, color, white intensity, etc) and with some tweaking you can get a very good overall picture. The whites can appear blown out if you turn the white intensity up higher but it is a necessary evil because the overall contrast is more pleasing with brighter whites. Color is not overly vibrant and the projector suffers with its muted tones. The adjustment for picture size is a little limited with about a 15% increase in picture size from smallest to largest – could’ve used a little more adjustment here. I've used it in the 15-20 foot range and the picture is about 5x7 feet at the largest and I'm not sure it would hold up much bigger because of the low resolution. Overall, the biggest drawback is resolution and everything else is decent to good. Its not an HD image nor does it pretend to be but for the price the image quality for movie watching especially is more enjoyable than a similarly priced but much smaller TV.

Miscellaneous: B

Great case! Everything fits neatly and the case feels sturdy and durable so portability is certainly a great option. The projector is small and light which also adds to portability and ease of setup. You get a good selection of hookup wires included with component, VGA and RCA among the choices. Included is a good remote which is invaluable in accessing the menus. All menus can be accessed through the buttons on the projector but its sooo much easier with a remote. The little legs underneath the projector for leveling and raising could be a little more secure (bigger) – two in the back and one in the front and they are a little bit of a pain to use but only a little. I have never used the onboard speaker and I can’t imagine its much to speak of. The bulb is rated for 2000-3000 hours so I imagine that’s a few years worth at least.

Overall: B-

This little projector is solid, easily portable and decent for a very budget home theater. I would spring the extra $400 and jump up in the Dell line up for the next model with higher resolution. For the price, you quickly get over what the projector lacks and realize that bigger is better and its very fun to watch projected movies over a smaller but higher def TV picture. For a business projector I think it would be more than adequate for presentations because of its brightness and relative ease of use. For the price, I don’t think it can be matched.


Recommended: Yes

Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 600