3M PocketProjector MP160 connects to virtually iPod and iPhone
Product Features
- 32-lumens brightness for full 2-hour battery
- SVGA (800x600) resolution
- Compatible with: PC, DVD, iPod, iPhone, digital camera, smartphone, gaming consoles
- Two, .75W stero speakers
- Light source: LED - 20,000 hours typical
- VGA input/output
Plug 3M PocketProjector MP160 connects to virtually iPod and iPhone into your digital media device and watch the fun begin. With its 30 lumens of brightness and enhanced picture quality‚ videos‚ photos and games come alive with images up to 80” in size.
With its bright‚ crisp images and robust sound‚ 3M PocketProjector MP160 connects to virtually iPod and iPhone provides great versatility and value. Use it for business presentations‚ family gatherings‚ school lessons – in short‚ anything you’d use a projector for. Its light weight‚ compact size and attractive price make the MP160 hard to beat.
The image quality and brightness of the new MP160 make it ideal for projecting files‚ charts and spreadsheets. And the superior sound makes music‚ movies and videos come alive.
The 3M PocketProjector MP160 connects to virtually any gadget – computer‚ cell phone‚ iPod®/iPhone® or PDA to share files‚ photos and movies virtually anywhere.
Customer Reviews
This projection device was made for business presentations, home slide shows and alike. It is not a replacement for a one thousand dollar high definition projection system, nor was it meant to be. I found it to be exactly as advertised.
What you get ?
- a light, easily hand-held unit (weighing less than 11 ounces), with 32 lumen intensity and two very small(0.75watt)internal speakers.
- a small, flexible, tripod
- a case for the unit, which holds only the unit
- a wall charger that is adaptable for US, EU, UK and AUS electricity plugs (please note that the voltage in these systems varies, so it is very important that this adapter be used as this insures that the correct voltage and current is delivered to the unit)
- cables enabling one to use a computer (PC and MAC), camera, and phone as a source
How did my unit perfrom
The device I received performed as advertised, specifically (based on using it with a lap-top PC, tested with PowerPoint presentations and movie DVDs):
- The setup was very simple and straightforward. The unit only allows one to view the state of the battery and to change the sound level from Mute to one of four other levels. However, given the very low level of the sound coming from the projector, the speakers would probably always be used at the highest level unless earphones were being used (there is an earphone jack on the projector). There is a focusing wheel, but no other picture adjustment.
- Fully charging the unit from a complete discharge took a little less than the three hours stated in the description of the device. While charging, a yellow/orange light is illuminated, which goes out when the unit is completely charged. The advertised run-time on battery is two hours, and I found that the unit lasted a bit longer than this. At 2 hr, 10 minutes, the green light denoting that the unit was on changed to flashing red, and this continued for another ten minutes before the projector turned off.
- The resolution was adequate for a PowerPoint presentation using 24pt type. The output from my computer was only VGA, which is far from being HD. However, the text was fine, but not as sharp as it is on the computer screen. This is not very surprising, given that the image was enlarged over that viewed on a 15 inch screen.
- I tested this using a darkened room in the daytime and the same room at night. I found that in the daytime, I got good results with a 36 inch to 48 inch diagonal picture. As expected, the picture was even sharper at less than 36 inches, but going to a very much smaller screen defeats the purpose of the device. At night, when the room was even darker, I got a reasonably good picture up to about 60 inches. The image quality was a function of the darkness of the room and how well aligned the projector was with the screen. I used both a white and beige poster board screens and found both acceptable. I was also able to use the room wall, which is beige and textured. The advertising material suggests that the picture can be used with up to 80 inches enlargement, but at this size there is a further degradation in the intensity and sharpness of the image. Again this is just simple physics as the intensity and sharpness of any image degrades as it is enlarged.
- The sound for the unit comes from the earphone jack on my computer and as such it is very weak and tinny. I got better results by not plugging in the speakers on the projector and just using the speakers on the computer.
What i did not like
- While the setup and use of the unit is straight-forward, I would have liked a functional manual. The unit comes with a thick booklet containing a Warranty and Safety Guide, but it is in 10 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and four Asian languages) and does not tell anything about the operation of the projector. There is also a Quick Start Guide in these ten languages, but most of the information is displayed pictorially. As I said, I found the setup and operation easy, but I still had a few questions. It was not clear how to hook up the sound, but I deduced that it had to be through the earphone jack as there was no other way to do this. I still do not know exactly how to read the battery indication icon, as I see little difference between fully charged, fully discharged, or anything in-between. This is not much of a problem since I plan to use the unit when it is fully charged and use it for less than 2 hours, or use it with the charger hooked up.
- As noted, the speakers are weak and tinny and are not very useful for even a moderate size room.
How do i rate this device?
This is a five-star unit for its intended purpose, which is primarily for business presentations and home slide shows. It is very useful for a traveling businessman as it enables one to carry a presentation on a very small screen laptop or even a tablet and show it to a moderate size group. The unit can easily fit in a large laptop case or attaché case, along with the tripod, charger, and cables. I found that enlarging the image to three feet diagonally enabled me to clearly see 24pt type at 15-20 feet. The image was not perfectly sharp, but was very readable. If you are expecting a perfect image, you will be disappointed, but I found the image very acceptable for a business presentation. For my use of this device, the poor sound quality should not be a problem, as I have never used sound with my presentations. However, if you are showing a prepared presentation that employs sound, you will need better speakers. You could use auxiliary speakers with your laptop and forget about the internal speaker in the projector.
Please remember that this review is based solely on my tests with a laptop PC and on its suitability for business presentations. I give this projector five-stars for its suitability for this task, but this is NOT a good choice for showing a movie to a group of people, nor was it intended to be used as such. The image is only VGA and the sound is poor.
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