We have just purchased our first compact LCD projector, the iSival 720P projector, model MP720B1. The demo we saw on Youtube removed most of our doubts that it would work for us. Since I teach public and private courses and one can never be too sure about the projectors on site, I wanted a projector I could take with me, and this one works quite well.
We have also installed it as a TV in the bedroom. Normally I don’t like having a TV in the bedroom, but this configuration works too well to pass up. Projecting onto the slanted portion of our bedroom ceiling&mash;we have a steep A roof—we get a good picture of around 80-90 inches, which beats our TV by a decent margin. The picture sharpness doesn’t match up, but it performs well enough to enjoy thoroughly.
We paid a total of USD 434 + CAD 105 or around CAD 540 for the projector, shipping, and import fees. We bought it directly from the manufacturer iSival Instruments.
We had some difficulty connecting it to my MacBook Air: the computer wouldn’t detect the projector as a display without re-booting. Fortunately, a little testing revealed the solution:
- Connect the adapter (DisplayPort to DVI in my case) to the cable (DVI to HDMI in my case)
- Connect the adapter/cable to the projector, then
- Connect the cable to the MacBook Air.
This sequence works for both DVI/HDMI and VGA connections. I plan to purchase a DisplayPort/HDMI adapter in order to get direct HDMI output to the projector.
A portable TV capable of 1080P for less than CAD 600. Not bad, and an easy value to compute. Even at 8 minutes of life energy per dollar (approximately $30k/year salary), the entire setup costs you 80 hours of pre-tax energy, and I’ll bet you’ll enjoy the projector for more than two weeks.
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