PROJECTOR REVIEW

Dell 1100MP review

7.3

Editors' Rating

Rich Malloy CNET

Published: 22 Jun 2005

The Dell 1100MP is the ideal multipurpose projector: light enough for business purposes, bright enough for entertainment applications and extremely affordable. Although this stylish projector is one of the smallest in the budget class, it's also one of the best performers and, for less than £500 (ex. VAT), one of the best deals on the market.

This pint-size projector measures a mere 25.1cm wide by 21.3cm deep by 10.1cm high, about the size of a thick dictionary, and sports a sleek grey-and-silver design. The 1100MP is definitely light enough to take on the road, weighing only 2.2kg; with Dell's impressive selection of cables included, the 1100MP's travel weight is around 3.2kg. Only the Hitachi Performa CP-RS55 is lighter.

The 1100MP has a handy assortment of controls on its top panel. The power button is large and illuminated with a blue LED -- a useful feature in dark rooms. Five other buttons, arranged in the shape of a cross, make it easy to navigate the projector's on-screen menu, quickly adjust digital keystone correction (which corrects distortion caused by tilting the projector) and switch between video sources (such as a notebook PC or an HDTV). The projector itself lacks volume controls, although the remote has them for the 1100MP's mediocre-sounding 2-watt speaker. The remote has all of the controls that are on the projector, as well as page-forward and page-back buttons for PowerPoint presentations.

The projector's back accommodates a fairly extensive row of ports and connections, including VGA in and out, S-Video, USB 2.0, audio in and out, and an IR receiver. You'll find an impressive assortment of cables in the box, including a long, 3m AC cord and cables for VGA, S-Video and USB; there's also two audio cables and video cables, which most projectors do not come with. Most of the cables have a Velcro strap for neater storage.

Based on a Texas Instruments' DLP technology, the 1100MP performs quite well. It exceeds the advertised brightness rating of 1,400 ANSI lumens by almost 10 percent, achieving 1,534 lumens; it also delivers an impressive 687:1 contrast ratio, falling just behind the best-of-breed BenQ PB6110. The 1100MP takes a fairly long time to warm up -- 49 seconds -- almost twice as long as the BenQ device. Its small image size is also disappointing; 1.5m from the screen, the 1100MP can create a 39in. diagonal image, which is tiny. In general, image quality is superb, but the 1100MP has trouble resolving very light grey; in our colour tests, the reds were spot-on, but blues tended to look green while greens had a yellow cast. We saw no flicker and were very impressed with the projector's quietness and coolness. The native SVGA resolution and very sharp focus look great for both DVD movies and HDTV.

Near the end of our testing, the 1100MP stopped working, which gave us a chance to test-drive Dell's support services. Dell's Web site offered little help beyond an electronic copy of the projector's manual, but the company's toll-free, 24/7 help line was much better: after a 10-minute wait, a technician correctly diagnosed the problem as a blown lamp. Replacing the lamp was fairly simple and involved loosening four screws, two of which had to be transferred to the new lamp. Dell rates its £149 (ex. VAT) replacement lamps for 2,000 hours (2,500 hours in low-power Eco mode). The operating cost works out to 7.5p per hour -- about average for budget projectors.

With a one-year warranty that includes next business day exchange, the 1100MP costs £484 (ex. VAT); a three-year warranty costs an additional £110 (ex. VAT). As with almost all projectors, the lamp is under warranty for only 90 days. Dell also offers a Complete Care policy, which handles any damage except that caused by theft, loss or fires, for £69 (ex. VAT) for one year.