If the television commercials are credible then a TV set is a perfectly normal Christmas gift for lots of New Zealand families. Not mine I'd have to say, as profoundly generous as they usually are.
Still, it's a thought. There is even a two-for-one deal so some lucky people will
find two new LCD screens under their tree. Of course, if the Jones family is getting an LCD screen (or two) then some of the Joneses' neighbours will looking for an edge - a big plasma screen or an Optoma MovieTime DVD projector.
Now there's a thought - a DVD player and projector combined in one funky portable, plug-and-play unit. It's even got a pair of 5W speakers built in, so it is a projector that needs nothing more than a dark room and a white wall.
Optoma is a Taiwanese company, a major OEM manufacturer of single chip DLP projectors, so they have plenty of experience.
Shaped a bit like Darth Vader's helmet, it has a credible 1000 lumens brightness and uses Texas Instruments' DLPTM display technology. Resolution is 854 x 480 native, up to 1280 x 1024 compressed. PC and Mac compatible, it could, at a pinch, double as a power point presentation projector.
It has been sensibly given a short-throw lens so that it can perform in small rooms as well as big ones. Set up on a table 1.5m from the wall it will throw an image bigger than a 50-inch tele. If you can move it back 10m from the wall the image will measure over 3m on the diagonal. Correction of +/- 15 degrees provides flexibility in case you can't set it up dead in front of the screen.
Optical audio out allows for connection to a 5.1 surround sound speaker system, but alternatively you can add a powered subwoofer to the stereo speakers on board for a 2.1 system. It has a remote control of course, S-Video, composite RCA video input and RS232 plugs and is also HDTV compatible. Small and simple but comprehensive enough, now there's no need to go without big screen movies even at the remotest bach.
A drop-down 1.8 gain screen is available as an optional extra, though at $3300 the MovieTime on its own will probably suffice as a Christmas gift for that someone who you thought had everything.
The Optomo MovieTime DVD projector
If the television commercials are credible then a TV set is a perfectly normal Christmas gift for lots of New Zealand families. Not mine I'd have to say, as profoundly generous as they usually are.
Still, it's a thought. There is even a two-for-one deal so some lucky people will
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