An excellent multi-purpose portable projector

I'm a trainer/consultant and I was looking for a multi-purpose portable projector for business that I would use for presentations training teaching and showing video clips. When I ordered this projector I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting. The other ones that I ordered through Amazon.com were all out of stock and were cancelled so I went outside my budget and bought this one. It was a bit more pricey than the others but when I received it I was quite impressed.



It projects an excellent bright large and crisp image. It is so small and light. It's only about 2 and a half lbs. in weight but doesn't compromise the image at all. Actually it projects a better image than most projectors that I've seen. The projector design looks really good and professional. I really liked the nylon carrying case that came with it. The whole package fits nicely in this small carrying bag that is about 2/3 size of a typical notebook carrying case. That makes it ultra portable. It has paddings for protection. The space inside the case is a little larger than the projector height but that allows for a small file or notepad to be included. You just need to make sure the projector isn't shaken or mishandled. Only thing I noticed about this projector is its remote control. It's a bit bulky and the design looks a bit outdated compared to the projector itself. But it has a good grip has a nice feel to it includes a laser pointer and various controls which I haven't yet used. Overall this is worth the price. This is an excellent multi-purpose portable projector.More detail ...

Excellent Projector

I purchased this projector for different uses in our church and it is an excellent product. We have used this inside the building for power point presentations training sessions and watching movies. The resolution is very good and the picture is amazingly clear. The only issue I've had with it is that it does get very hot on the casing outside of the bulb but this has never caused any problems. It just feels pretty warm after using it for awhile but I've had it run for 4 or 5 hours before and it works fine. We've even used it outside to project a movie on the wall like at a drive in and it worked great!More detail ...

A New Paradigm for Home Entertainment

After having access to various projectors through employers for several years I decided to purchase the 2300MP for both home entertainment and business use. In my current setup I have the projector connected to a TimeWarner DVR (SA 8300HD). Audio is run from the DVR to a stereo computer speaker and subwoofer system (see review Dell Champagne speakers). It is a quite impressive arrangement. At first glance many viewers' draws drop when they first see the screen which is merely projected on a beige painted wall.



With a throw of approximately 11 feet it creates a screen 7'2" across. The formula for the maximum screen size is: diagonal = 0.618*dist + 0.0192. However this is somewhat misleading as the distance changes with the incident angle (think Pythagorean Theorem). Yet if any single characteristic of projectors can be considered a handicap it would be the limitations imposed by the lens distance to the screen.



Distance also affects brightness as there is less light intensity per square area. However brightness is not a problem with this projector. One of key selling parameters of DLP projectors is the number of lumens which describes the total visible light output. Low-end portable projectors are generally under 1000 lumens. At 2300 lumens this projector is bright enough to hold presentations in a daylight-filled room. In fact the projector is so bright that I have to navigate through the sluggish management menus to reduce brightness when there are scenes with snow-filled landscapes.



While the projector comes with a remote to operate the management controls the whole system of operating the projector is a big cumbersome. This problem is compounded when the projector is mounted on the ceiling. In certain instances it is difficult to determine if the projector is on. The small green status LED's are difficult to see from a distance. As a testament the quietness of the fan it is barely audible and completely unnoticeable when there is any background noise. Unfortunately in about one out of 25 times the projector just doesn't start properly. This sometimes necessitates a hard kill by unplugging the unit. Some of these difficulties may present a difficulty for the non-technical user.



Having a separate tuner (owned and maintained by Time Warner) and projection device is a very very clean setup. This separation allows for added flexibility as evolving video input options that are separate and distinct from the projection device. Despite the distance limitations the setup is a great space saver. Moreover the portability is incredible as it only weighs 4.9 pounds. In my case the [pre-existing] wall is the viewing surface so there additional hardware such as screen.



Before I purchased this projector purveyors of competing products warned me about the rainbow effect which appears on certain images when displayed via a DLP projector. The rainbow effect is a strange artifact that only some viewers can see. Basically prismatic colors form around certain objects with parallel lines such as a pinstripe shirt. In the first couple of weeks I occasionally saw the effect. However I have not seen it in the past several months. In general the picture is fantastic. It appears that most anomalies exist in the video source because DVD's appear crisper than recorded DVR movies which in turn appear better than live broadcast television. With a great picture portability and tremendous flexibility the Dell 2300mp represents the future of entertainment.



Pros

Giant high resolution pictures for entertainment or business

Portability

Flexibility

Great performance for the price

Multitude of inputs (svideo PrPbY RCA VGA)





Cons

Long Startup Time/ Occasion Failed startup

Sluggish management controls

Required skill to setup

Some limitations on setup (screen size vs. distance)

Electrical consumptions and heat generation

No HDMI



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Excellent

Sorry Freddie paid 800 for his I got mine for 300 from Dell web site. That's still a hefty price - wait 5 years and you will find better ones for 99. I am an artist and I work by projecting color slides on my paper or canvas. I have needed to go digital for a long time but the standard laptop projectors are big heavy noisy expensive and too bright. The new little ones either don't connect to a laptop or get terrible reviews. This one is just right. It's also fun to project movies on the bedroom wall but remember the brightness is 50 lumens and your standard video projector is about 2000 so you want total darkness and it's still not the same. The projector is tiny light and quiet and has a lot of nifty sophisticated electronics BUT THERE'S NO TRIPOD SCREW SOCKET!!! the cables and connectors are bulky and awkward the cord to the laptop is only 2' long (get an extension) but it's the best one on the market so far.More detail ...