Everyone I show this to seems very impressed by how small the projector is yet how bright and clear the picture displays. For my tests, I tried a USB thumb drive, a laptop (using the VGA-to-Universal cable that is included), and a Blu-Ray player via HDMI. I fired up Planet Earth on the Blu-Ray, and it looked wonderful. Next, I ran a video game from a laptop for about an hour, and the projector did get hot but not hot enough to hurt to the touch. I also launched some videos, JPGs, and MP3s from my USB drive. The picture is gorgeous and video plays very smooth and fast. The menu system is somewhat intuitive for those familiar with modern electronics although there are some advanced features worth reading about in the manual. There are a lot of options available in the menu that one comes to expect from a modern projector including mirror imaging and image flipping to project in all sorts of environments.
PROS
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+ Clear, bright picture that updates fast
+ Small size (doesn't fit IN your hand but does fit ON your hand)
+ Doesn't get too hot
+ Somewhat easy to navigate menus and buttons
+ Lots of input port types
+ Simple carrying case
+ Feature rich in both projector features and multi-media features
CONS
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+ Remote not included (hard to understand this decision) -can order separately
+ No convenient way to elevate projector; uses awkward elevation screw on bottom
+ Can't remove elevation screw (which makes it hard to project level in some cases)
+ No lens cover
+ Lens scratches easy (no instructions on how to clean lens in manual, btw)
+ Horrible speaker (most smart phones sound better than this)
+ JPG slide show mode won't let you launch an entire folder
You have to pick a file in the folder to start slideshow, but the slideshow won't include any sub-folders.
Overall, this little guy is an excellent portable projector. The complaints I have are relatively minor and can often won't be a concern for someone using this with a laptop (for example, one could use the laptop speakers instead). The device is pricey but compared to the competition plus the convenience and features of this device, I think the price seems reasonable.
This is amazing for the size. You read 4 x 4 x 1.5 in size, but it's still shocking when you open it up and pull it out. I've got power bricks bigger than this thing.
First thing I noticed immediately as others have pointed out no lens cover. Seems a glaring lack for something that's designed to be taken places and used on the road at various locations.
Second thing I noticed was power cables the box it all ships in includes two other power cables for people outside the US. Not just adapters for an existing cable, but entire cables for specific plug types, so they're solid and sturdy and *not* the kind that slide off to change. That was a very nice inclusion on 3M's part, real cables, not just adapters.
The case they give with it is alright but I'm not a fan of the "handle" which kind of gets in the way of opening it fully, since the handle is stitched, just a small strip of material, that goes right over the opening. You can move it back when you open the cover but there is no slack, so I immediately think "first point of failure" for the stitching.
Inside, it's got a "suspended" pouch that the projector goes into (I've uploaded some pics of it), and on the left and right are spaces for the brick on one side and the cord on the other. Beneath the projector is the space for the included VGA to proprietary plug cable that is used to plug into the projector. The cable has it's own plug type, so if you want other cables you'll have to purchase them. Shouldn't be much of an issue generally since VGA is so common, and if you're going to do something else, the HDMI port is built into the projector, no adapter cable needed. Same with the USB port.
I fired it up, plugged it into my 15" current model Macbook Pro, and for some reason it just would not display anything. Now I've got another projector I use regularly here at the office, as well as my 24" monitor I extend to, so my computer uses extended screens all the time. Plugging this in, setting source to VGA (even setting to auto) and it would NOT output anything despite all the settings being right. The display properties on my MBP even showed the control panel for it as it should for a secondary monitor device, but nothing seemed to matter, nothing went out. After unplugging and replugging my display port adapter several times, it finally kicked in, but it was about 10 or 12 minutes after first plugging it in and trying to get it to display something.
Once it was on, and I focused it, I was pretty impressed with the clarity of the text on the wall I was projecting to. This is a conference room we use every other week for our technical meetings, so I'm very conscious of what we're used to seeing, and with the current "normal" sized projector the text never gets very clear, especially when I'm doing remote sessions to other servers and the software I use for that (Cord) scales down the 1920x1080 desktops to fit in the smaller resolution display. So habitually we just don't try to actually READ things on the remote desktops, I'm just showing the techs where things will be for whatever I'm trying to show them. This actually displayed things so they were legible and pretty clear considering the source. And for the normal things that weren't being scaled, like apps and photos and such, it displayed very well.
Of course, that's where I noticed the first downside of it darker desktops with white text on the icons don't display very well along the edges especially, regardless of how far away or how close I am to the wall and how well it's focused. It's as if there's a problem with all the dark background and the light colored text. Black text on white shows up better in that same area. So depending on your subject material, some text may display better than others depending on the colors and backgrounds.
Unit isn't too loud, a little quieter than the full sized one I've been using, but it does put out about the same amount of heat. Cooling down after you're done (hitting the power button twice to turn off the lamp) goes quicker though, even after having it up and projecting for 45 minutes or so, the fan only ran for like 90 seconds or so before it shut itself off, evidently satisfied with the temperature the LED's dropped to in that time. Unit was still very warm to the touch afterwards though, when I was carrying it back to my office. Not enough to burn, but definitely still hot on the outside.
It's still a shock to see it sitting on the table, just because I'm used to the full sized ones. Granted, with the cables and such the bag is still too bulky to just toss in my laptop case to take with me, but at least it's small enough that, as an additional case to carry somewhere, it's negligible.
The sound, as others have mentioned, isn't very good. Depending on the environment and ambient noise, you may still want to use some better external speakers. I've never been one to use a projector as a sound source anyway, so I didn't see this as worth taking away a star or anything.
Adjustement keystone is easy to adjust, but actual physical height is annoying. Most projectors have a quick adjust foot in front to elevate and adjust the angle, this has a small set screw type foot. So you have to turn and turn until you get where you want to be, no easy "lift the font and push the button till the foot hits the table" type of adjustment. And there's no side to side either to compensate for the surface. being uneven or anything. You pretty much are limited to pivoting it left or right and tilting the front up a bit.
The documentation is only on disc, which is a disappointment considering there's a large manual in there that's a hundred and some pages long, with only 10 pages per country about the warranty and safety information. I would've rather they included a printed manual in whatever language of the country it was purchased in, and throw all this useless information on the CD instead... But at least the manual is in PDF format so you can print out the file for your language easily enough, or just copy it to your computer's desktop or something convenient.
I only had one stick to try with photos, and as someone else mentioned, it won't parse folders and gather everything on the stick to play. This may be good for some people (i.e. you may have multiple folders with information specific to one thing that you'd like to display without having it play stuff from other folders) or a hinderance to others (like me, who organize photos by folders for year, month, and date).
If it were a normal sized projector, I'd give it a 3 since there's nothing THAT outstanding on it (remote has to be purchased separately, etc). It performs the functions as well as others out there. But since this thing is insanely portable and easy to take with you, that certainly rates another star because that's what sets it apart from the others I've used in the past. The size is simply mind boggling.
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I'll admit, I got this particular projector with the hopes of using it as an outdoor projector. In that sense, I've been fairly disappointed in it. It isn't that the projector isn't bright and powerful, it is that the speaker is completely dreadful. Worse yet is that there is no way to plug speakers into the unit to get a better and louder sound. This makes using it for entertainment or video presentations nearly useless. That is unfortunate because otherwise it is a great machine.
It is as small as you can imagine and easy to use. The picture is bright and crisp, essentially looking like a giant HDTV. Unfortunately without a better audio options I can't give it more than three stars. But depending on what you want it for, it may be a 5 star item for you.
Read Best Reviews of 3M Mobile Projector MP410 Here
The MP410 is excellent for video and stills. My experience is limited to input from micro SD only, have not gotten the USB or internal memory to work. However, I have run a few .mp4 videos and a number of high res. stills. The cool side is that the HDMI input is very smooth from my iPhone 4S....making this little jewel very useful. With the HDMI setup, I am able to skim off the audio with a HDMI2HDMI + Audio [also from Amazon]. With this, I send the audio to the Pit Bull portable audio. The end result is just short of unbelievable.
The onboard speaker in the MP410 is very tinny and seems to be only mono (?). Anyway this feature drags down my rating seriously. And this is tragic since 3M [actually, the outsourced engineers who did the real work] could EASILY have added a 3.5 mm audio out jack which could patch into a credible system. Sorry 3M, one more case where your focus group was not awake....or, perhaps you needed it to get to market early.
Bottom line, this is a great and fun little gadget, just right for group presentations. Very portable, quality video. And, PS: the remote control is very nice.
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I wondered how will this little projector would do as far as brightness, clarity, and color brilliance.
It doesn't disappoint. Remember though, it is a small little projector. It's not one of the behemoths, so it doesn't hold up to the big players, but for what it is, it's pretty amazing.
-Size --
A big, big plus is the size. In it's case (which is another plus), it measures 9.5" x 7" x 2.5". That's small enough to put in a laptop bag with your laptop.
-Colors --
Colors are a bit saturated, but that can be adjusted in the menus. It also has different modes: Presentation mode, Bright Mode, Movie Mode, PC Mode. Each mode is different, when selecting, you have to press the okay button to see the change. The presentation mode really makes white a lot brighter, probably for slideshows with white backgrounds. It also seems to tone down the saturation.
Movie mode seems to be a good all around mode, but it's a matter of preference. Play around with what suits you the best.
-Adjustments and Setup --
Has a foot for adjusting. But you can also angle the edges of the projection to get a square projection on the wall. Those are adjusted by the Up/down buttons or V. Keystone. It's great that those options are easy to get through and you don't have to go through the menu to find them.
The left button by itself lets you select the source.
So you don't have to first use the menu button to get to the menu items that the direction buttons let you get to.
-Sound ---
If you're on a Mac and plug in through HDMI and want to use the speakers on the projector. Connect to the projector. Then go to Settings > Sound > Output and select 3M MP410
That being said, the speakers on the projector are not good at all. The sound is distorted when coming from the speakers.
You can adjust the sound from the menus on the projector, but for the quality of the sound, you'd be better off hooking up some speakers to your laptop.
-Heat --
The projector gets really hot. Just FYI. The fan will run almost the whole time. You'll want a good surface that the projector can sit on so that it can vent well.
-Projection Size --
Here's where the projector is amazing.
At 5 feet away from the screen/wall, the projection is 3.5 feet and the details, color, brightness, are fantastic.
At 9.5 feet away, it's a 6 foot projection.
At 12.5 feet away, the projection is 8.5 feet. That's huge, when you look at it. It takes up a whole wall that we tested it on.
Even at this distance, focus is still sharp enough to view 12 point font (12 point on the computer screen). It's not as bright, but it's still very good especially for a projector of this size.
-Brilliance --
The projector is bright and brilliant.
-A few Misc Notes --
Fan turns on right from the start. Gives off a bit of noise.
Use the menu to select the input if using an HDMI connection for the first time.
Wish it had a cap for the lens to prevent scratches.
It would also be nice if it came with an HDMI cable. It doesn't, but it's got an HDMI port and that's what I used to connect my Mac with the projector. If you're having trouble with the colors or brilliance, get an HDMI cable and use that.
Overall, great projector.
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These cameras work very well as security devices and are reliable and easy to set up. I have two in place. I ordered this as an additional camera and the design has been changed. There is now a fan on the power unit of the camera which makes a noticible noise. This may not be a problem if the camera is placed out of the way somewhere but would be heard if it is in a public/ open area.
