HP SB21

If you want portability look no further than HP's latest DLP projector.

Price: £1937.58

Manufacturer: HP

Ratings

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Verdict

Pros:
Small, light and quiet.

Cons:
No zoom.
Hair-trigger standby button.

Overall:
Small, light, quiet and easy to set up.

Ken McMahon, Personal Computer World 30 Jan 2003

It only weighs 2.2lb and is small enough to fit into a handbag (the carrying case even looks like one).

The HP SB21 isn't the world's smallest, lightest digital light processing (DLP) projector; the V-807 from Plus beats it by a whisker. But if it's portability you want then look no further.

The SB21 has a native resolution of 800 x 600 (SVGA) scalable to 1,024 x 768 (XGA), and quoted brightness is 800 Ansi Lumens. Although this is at the low end, the image is easily bright enough for lights-on use at projection distances of less than 12ft.

There are no speakers but this is no loss as, if there were, the quality would probably be little better than those in a notebook to which you'd connect it.

The lens is fixed focal length, but the lack of a zoom is much more of a problem as the only way to adjust the image to fit on the screen is to move the projector.

Other than that the SB21 is simple to set up. The rear panel has a DVI-I port for which an analogue cable with integral USB lead for remote mouse operation is supplied, and S-Video and Composite video ports.

The projector locks onto the incoming signal, although at XGA resolution it was necessary to press the auto image optimising button to get a decent picture.

As is nearly always the case with SVGA projectors, XGA display was readable, but not brilliant. The image quality at SVGA resolution, however, was rock steady, pin sharp, bright and had lots of contrast.

There are dedicated digital keystone and zoom buttons on the flip-up section of the remote, which also has a laser pointer.

But one remote feature that absolutely needs a redesign is the Standby button. Most projectors require a second press of the button to go into standby mode. Not so the SB21 which obliges immediately, leaving you and your audience in the dark for a couple of very long minutes.

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