I've been rather busy recently, so no ops. However, I went on a magical holiday and can't wait to sh...
I've been rather busy recently, so no ops. However, I went on a magical holiday and can't wait to share - when I get the time. Soon I hope!
Anja :)
Member since:14.03.2001
Reviews:16
Members who trust:1
I bought this projector for work at the beginning of the summer, and after 3 months of use and abuse this might be a good point to report back. Everyone who used it absolutely loved it…
The projector is described as "Travelling light and bright with the Philips UGO (tm) Series, one of the smallest projectors in the world. Anywhere you go anytime you go" and I guess as far as it goes that is absolutely true. Whoever saw it when it was new reacted with "is that all??". It is indeed very compact, smaller than a notebook, it its own padded travel case, with an extra bag to carry cables etc - but that one is less fragile so happily gets squashed into any available space. I have now carried it in my hand luggage across Europe several times and it really makes a minimal
impact, it is about half the size of a notebook.
---- Technical Specification ---- XGA (SVGA available as well) 800 ANSI Lumen Compact design.Weight: 1.3 kg/2.9lbs Unequalled high contrast ratio of 800:1 Digital picture enhancements: Digital Zoom (x10)Digital FreezeDigital keystone correction Advanced compatibility for both data and video input. (Data, Video & SVideo) --------------------------------------
The projector was used to show the inevitable PowerPoint presentations, direct screen demonstrations, Photos, Videos and was successfully connected to a wide range of laptops, of variable specs, ages and brands and never did the projector fail to show clear bright images. It was also successfully connected to a Video Player and a VCD player. It does have built-in speakers though they were not tried at all, and I think they will not be sufficient for more than the very basic sound effects. It does not come with a cable for Mac's but any Mac with a SVideo out socket was successfully used for projection too. Except for the Mac cable it comes with all other cables you need for all input sources, as well as a PS/2 cable to plug into the mouse port (see below)
The machine was used in a barely dimmed conference room, during the middle of the day, and was still visible to a useful degree. What I'm trying to say is that you don't need a completely blackened room to get a good result. Images were clear and sharp throughout, and the manual focus lens contributed to ease of use. It has a height adjustment and a adjustable foot for levelling. It achiever a large projection field even at only a couple of metres distance from the wall, and was perfect for the large conference room size. I have of course not been able to test it at distances greater than ~5m. This is an opinion of a non-specialist user so I can't comment on colour true ness or distortion, all I can say that I noticed no problems.
The fan is audible, but not so as to disturb even a quiet discussion in a conference room. On the other hand being able to hear the fan stop after you turn the projector off is useful as this is the point at which you are allowed to disconnect it from the mains (c. 2 mins)
The projector comes with a number of handy safety features designed to projects bulb life. Overheat detector: on overheating it will just switch the bulb off and give it time to cool down. Yes this happened to me, admittedly I was using it in a hot room in the middle of the day in Turkey, and temperature was probably approaching 40 deg C, with no air movement. This only happened once, and the projector was used for prolonged periods every day in relatively hot conditions. The second feature is the on/off switch: it has a built-in delay which prevents rapid on/off to protect bulb life.
It comes with a remote control which gives access to a mneu to control set-up functions, image adjustments such as keystone correction, brightness and contrast etc. Another useful feature is the ability to display total lamp usage. With an official lamp life of 1000 hours this is useful to know. Replacement bulbs come as a complete cartridge-type unit, which slots into the projector body. The cost of these is - apparently - around £400, so all the above features to protects the bulb are doubly welcome!
The remote control also offers a basic mouse function if the projector is plugged in to the computer's mouse port. This is a feature that requires practice to work well, as you normally loose the use of the touchpad on the laptop, and the remote control is basic to say the least in terms of mouse 'driving'. If you're a whiz with keyboard operation this is not a problem, but the remote mouse is really not suitable for much more than a few basic moves.
The unit is expensive at £2599 inc VAT, but as XGA projectors go this one of the cheapest. From our point of view it has been a worthwhile investmen
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