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3M MP225 Mobile Projector Review

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 12:01

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(Before It's News)

There is a short list of essential technology for the attorney on the move.

You could always carry a portable whiteboard, but that’s not nearly as snazzy as having a nice projector that you can stick in your computer bag. Fortunately, 3m’s MP 225 Mobile Projector has got you covered.

What I like about the projector

The projector is very easy to use out of the box. It comes with two cables—one to attach it to your iPhone or iPad and one for charging the battery. As a side note, the packaging of the product made me yearn for Apple’s awesome packaging. The quickstart guide was buried in the bottom and even then, the quickstart guide would really benefit from: step 1, step 2, etc. The information is all there, but it would really benefit from some reorganization and clarity.

Aside from my gripes about the packaging and instructions, the device itself is very easy to use. The controls are simple and the buttons do what they are supposed to do. Power, volume up/down, and mute. In that sense, it is almost idiot proof, which means at least half of most attorneys could figure this thing out. It’s also relatively small, I’d say about half the size of a brick, so you can easily fit it in a briefcase or computer bag.

The big test was picture quality and it passed with flying colors. I was projecting onto a white wall in daylight and it looked pretty darn good. I imagine that using a screen and dimming the lights would make it look even better (which the directions recommend). The focus was sharp and again, pictures and videos looked very good. I’m speculating, but I think if you used an actual screen, it would look similar to a HD tv.

If you find yourself needing a portable projector for presentations, I think this would certainly get the job done.

What I don’t like about the projector

The gripes I have are fairly minor and will hopefully be fixed as 3M tweaks their product. The cable did not have a tight grip in either my iPad or iPhone, which means it fell out pretty easily. If you are using your iPhone or iPad as your remote for your presentation, that could become pretty annoying and cause havoc with a presentation.

Although the picture quality was great, I’m miffed there isn’t a autofocus feature or button. The focus turn dial works fine, but it would be nice to worry about that only when necessary. Most projectors with autofocus work really well. Adding that feature would potentially make this projector 100% idiot proof.

The final gripe is more of an iPhone/iPad gripe. When connected to the iPhone, it only projects pictures and videos, it does not duplicate or mirror your screen. I don’t think that’s a dealbreaker, but it is annoying. When connected to the iPad, it does mirror the entire device. Unfortunately, that requires a special cable that was not included with my test version, so I was not able to test it out.

Who should buy it

Any attorney who frequently makes presentations and wants to bring their own technology. This projector is small enough to stick into your computer bag. Which means you can literally bring your presentation anywhere and have it look darn good.