Aiptek - Mobile Cinema Projector D10

Most significant forms of IT-related technology had their main price drop some years ago, but digital projectors came to the party late in the day and it's only in the last year or two we've seen a plunge in prices.

One of the reasons for this is a new technology for the main functioning parts of the projector. Rather than having a bright projector lamp, an LCD panel and a spinning light wheel, which is expensive, relatively delicate, short-lived and runs hot, we're beginning to see LED projectors, where a matrix of active colour LEDs replaces the traditional three-part system.

The disadvantage of LED projectors so far has been their relatively low brightness, restricting them to pocket and fun devices. Aiptek's Mobile Cinema D10 is portable, but it's a step up in the brightness league. This 180 x 195 x 150mm, cuboid plastic box is only rated at 13 ANSI lumens, around a hundredth of the output of typical business projectors, but is bright enough for some domestic uses.

The D10 is designed as a replacement for a TV in a child's, or possibly a student's, bedroom. It has a DVD player built in and is intended purely for playing movies or Karaoke. Controls are very simple, with a set of four big buttons on the back for DVD playback and a large lever on the left-hand side for focusing.

There's a socket on the right-hand side for power, which comes from an L-shaped black-block power supply. To fulfil its Karaoke role it has an external jack for a microphone, but alas no Karaoke DVD, so you'll have to get this elsewhere if you want to sing along.

Even though the LED projector runs much cooler than a conventional halogen lamp, there's still an internal fan, which runs all the time and makes a noticeable noise. The picture, which is claimed to be usable up to a screen diagonal of 50 inches, is much happier at around 30 inches and even then you'll want to dim the lights.

Given all that, the output from the projector is acceptable for casual viewing. With a resolution of 480 x 240, HD is out and even VGA is some way off, but for untaxing content it's a far cheaper and safer solution than an LCD TV. It's a shame there's no way of getting a signal into it from a Freeview or Sky box, as this absence does make it a single-function gadget.

Starting price at £160