2. Toshiba TDP-FF1AU Mobile Projector

by Ed Tittel

Convincingly and winsomely positioned as a pocket-sized LED projector, this DLP unit has a native resolution of 800x600 pixels along with 400 lux of brightness and a 1500:1 contrast ratio. And it comes in a tiny 18 ounce package (26 ounces with battery pack). For grads or dads who need to take their shows on the road, there's probably no less taxing way to schlep a projector along for PowerPoint and other sorts of presentations.

The palm-sized remote parked on top in this photo shows how small this projector really is!

The TDP-FF1AU accepts a standard 15-pin VGA connector, but also has a standard yellow RCA jack for composite video. According to Toshiba, the unit can display a multitude of video formats, including SDTV (NTSC), HDTV (ATSC), PAL and SECAM, as well as 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, and 1080i. The bundled remote makes it easy to operate untethered, and it includes a USB port into which you can plug a Flash drive containing presentation materials. Its diminutive size also limits the size of the image the TDP-FF1AU can project. Toshiba recommends screens sized no larger than 68" diagonal, which makes it fit nicely on an old-fashioned pull-down projector screen. Recommended projection distances range from 16" (1.3 ft) to 100" (8.2 ft).

The lithium ion battery pack attaches to the TDP-FF1AU's rear panel and delivers about two hours' worth of usable life; it requires 3.5 hours to fully recharge. The USB port is a nice touch, because it enables users to play presentations from a Flash drive without attaching a computer, or to grab images from any of a number of phones and music players whose storage is accessible via USB. Note, however, that the unit includes no real processing power: the only way to play a slide deck from the USB drive is to save each slide image as a JPEG file, then sequence your way through them one screen at a time.

We think the Toshiba TDP-FF1AU is a pretty nice projector, as ultra-light, ultra-compact models go. At prices that range from $650 to $700, it's a great value for the money.