23 January 2006 0:00 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

It seems that the world has gone big screen mad of late, whether it's gearing up for the arrival of HDTV in the UK or simply having the best picture possible for the price, it seems size truly does matter. So why not opt for a projector, so you can get the picture to suit the size of the room and when you're done with it, put the blighter away.

In the last 12 months, projectors have gone from tantalising but expensive office tools, to affordable and portable accessories that can now be bought from any high street tech-store. One of the companies at the forefront of projector technology is HP and with the mp2220 it's bound to gather a few more accolades.

It's a neat and tidy box that measures a 87 x 261 x 218mm, so can be carried with ease. Based around DLP technology, you'll find this a powerful and slim projector. With a base specification of 1400 ANSI lumens, supported by the standard 2000:1 contrast ratio, the mp2220 is bright enough to use in a room with variable lighting conditions and still give great image quality. With native support for 4:3 aspect ratio, you can change the view to support widescreen if necessary. The control menu is thorough but easy to navigate and we had little trouble in setting the device up.

One of the problems of opting for a small unit is the lack of connectivity on the unit itself. So it is with the mp2220, connectivity is restricted to the D-Sub, S-video and video available for connecting to sources. With infrared spotted on the back as well as the front of the unit, using the remote control unit is easier than we expected. We would have liked a DVI port for connecting to a digital source but as this is primarily a work tool, it'll connect to your notebook using the VGA-out port.

Weighing in at a mere 1.1kg, it's less than half the weight of the average notebook, so it can be added to your mobile kit without too much hassle. To be fair, it's small enough to drop into your normal bag. To this end, HP doesn't supply it with its own carry case, but you do get a pouch to put it in, as well as a separate holdall for the cables.

Small projectors usually suffer from plenty of heat, so need quite a powerful fan to keep things cool. So it is with this unit but it didn't get in the way of our enjoying a DVD to test out the image quality, which is stunningly sharp.

Verdict

Given its business focus, we found this unit also doubled up for multimedia at home. While it can’t compete with dedicated home-theatre set-ups - it lacks support for High-Definition and only has analogue inputs, it’s a fraction of the price and make an ideal choice for home or office.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

HP

Price as reviewed

£1039

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The good

Lightweight, powerful, stylish

The bad

Limited connectivity

Quick verdict

Mixing good looks with a lightweight design, HP has designed a projector that appeals to the mobile professional as well as the home user

Score

Winner

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