Projector Review: HP Notebook Projection Companion

Presentation givers are hearing a lot of buzz nowadays about pico projectors -- both Optoma's Pico Pocket Projector models and other shirt-pocket-sized devices built into cell phones or cameras. HP is aiming higher, but not too high: The computer and printer giant's Notebook Projection Companion ($499) is an admirable attempt to fill the niche between such tiny devices and conventional projectors that are a bear to lug around.

The palm-sized projector is easy to use and performs as advertised, all in a footprint that won't weigh you down -- at 0.9 pound and 3.6 by 1.6 by 4.4 inches, the Projection Companion fits conveniently into your laptop carrying case instead of needing a bag of its own.

Moreover, with its brushed aluminum shell and sleek design, you might even say the HP projector is handsome. You won't be embarrassed to pull it out in front of clients or customers on your next road trip. It might even generate a few oohs and ahs along the way.

A Complete Kit

The projector comes with a video cable, notebook-style AC adapter -- the same adapter, in fact, supplied with HP's business notebooks, so brand-loyal travelers need pack only one -- and an adjustable, foot-long tripod. HP says production units will, although our review sample did not, come with a compact carrying case (seen in the HP-provided photo below).

The tripod is an essential accessory, as the ability to raise the Notebook Projection Companion from tabletop level and tilt it up and down makes it easier for the device to project a full image onto a wall. Without the tripod, you'd likely lose a bit of the picture.

HP's cable sports a proprietary connector to plug into the projector but a standard VGA connector at the other end to link up to laptops. The projector end also sports a composite video connector for plugging in a camcorder.

To use the Projection Companion, simply place it on the tripod and plug in the cable. As soon as we did that during testing, our Windows Vista laptop (Asus, not HP) entered dual-display mode, asking us whether we wanted to duplicate or mirror the desktop on both displays, show the desktop on the external device only, or extend the desktop across both. It also gave us the option to turn on Presentation Settings. (When you're done using the projector and unplug it, Windows automatically returns your laptop to its previous settings.)

After you've made your display selection, press the Power button on the Companion and you're ready to go. Next to Power are buttons for opening and selecting settings in the HP's menu, which you navigate with a large four-way tactile input key.

Although we found the standard settings acceptable, the menu offers users a great deal of control over the projector and the appearance of the images it projects. Options range from color temperature and white balance to auto keystone (to correct the trapezoidal shape of an image resulting when the projector's propped at an angle) and manual RGB settings.

An error light blinks if one of the projector's (fairly quiet) fans fails, and another turns red if the unit's temperature goes over 47.5 degrees Celsius. The projector automatically powers itself down if it gets too hot.

Bright and Easy

Instead of a replaceable bulb, the Notebook Projection Companion uses an LED light source that HP estimates as good for 10,000 hours, which the company describes as up to five years of typical use.

The Companion obviously isn't designed to entertain rows of viewers in a vast auditorium; it's meant for presentations to a handful of people in an office setting, where it capably projects a bright 15- to 60-inch SVGA (actually 858 by 600) image from a distance as far away as 8.5 feet. Best of all, it accurately reproduced the colors of our laptop display on a white wall for both still and moving images. A manual zoom ring allows you to fine-tune focus.

Brightness is often one of the biggest pain points of micro projectors. Not with the Projection Companion, though. HP's work with Texas Instruments to develop the DLP (digital light processing) technology used in the projector paid off, as it delivered a maximum brightness of 100 lumens, impressive for such a small projector.

100 lumens was more than enough to allow us to clearly read bullet points and watch videos during testing, even under moderately lit conditions. By contrast, pico projectors tend to max out at a not particularly practical 10 to 25 lumens.

The Projection Companion's small footprint, better-than-pico performance, and reasonable price blend together nicely, making it an ideal tool for presentation-savvy small business and enterprise travelers. Sure, there are even more mobile projectors out there, but with the majority of those you lose out in performance, especially in terms of brightness and overall image quality, while going larger means you lose out on portability. This is one instance where something small is a happy medium.