ViewSonic PJ258D iPod DLP Projector

ViewSonic PJ258D iPod DLP Projector

The Bottom Line
If you are a mobile type that is looking for a projector that can pull double duty showing your presentations during the day and watching movies thrown from your iPod, PC or notebook at night the ViewSonic PJ258D iPod DLP Projector is great. For home theater buffs, the PJ258D doesn't cut it due to the lack of any HD inputs making it unable to function in most home theaters which is really too bad since ViewSonic says the projector can do 1080i and 720p resolutions.

Pros

* Small, portable size
* Very bright
* Great for making iPod video watchable on big screen

Cons

* No HD inputs of any type

Description

* Lack of any HD inputs limits the usefulness of the projector.
* Very bright for a compact projector.
* Instant shut down feature lets you unplug and go with no cool down period for the bulb.

Guide Review - ViewSonic PJ258D iPod DLP Projector

The first thing you notice about the ViewSonic PJ258D iPod DLP Projector is how small it is. Weighing in at only 3.9 pounds and measuring 11.3” x 7.5” x 3.5” it is a very portable unit ideally suited for use by mobile professionals needing to be able to show presentations on a large screen or wall.

After the workday is done, the claim to fame of the ViewSonic PJ258D iPod DLP Projector is the iPod dock built into the projector. This allows you to dock your iPod and watch any video content stored on the device on a screen or large wall. I was able to get about an 80” screen size from about ten feet from the wall. The image was bright and clear with good colors and realistic skin tones with my Underworld Evolution test film.

Using the ViewSonic PJ258D iPod DLP Projector from my PC via the analog D-sub input was fun, the brightness makes it easy to project large images and test is easily readable. I also had fun playing PC games with a large 80” screen size, though the native resolution of 1024 x 768 is sorely lacking for PC gaming these days.

Overall, the only real sore point for me with this projector is the fact that ViewSonic says you can project HD images, yet opted not to include any type of HD inputs. This single omission virtually ensures that no home theater lover will purchase this projector, as the only input source other than the analog D-sub for PC is a single S-Video connector.