Price

$350, just like its predecessor.

Verdict

What a difference 10 months make.

While the 12-lumen projector isn't noticeably brighter, the throw is substantially tighter, so at the same distance you get about 25% more picture. In terms of use, I could comfortably watch a screen of about 32 inches on the 120 (as opposed to the 110's 20 inches) and could get nearly 50 inches out of it in a very dark room before the picture just got too blurry to enjoy. A 32-inch screen size may not be great shakes in the age of $1000 50-inch plasmas, but in a dorm room or other close quarters, it sure beats a laptop.

The MPro120 is a bit larger than the 110, owing not just to better optics, but to a larger battery—with up to four hours of juice, rather than just one—and built-in stereo speakers. (The 110 is really just a monitor.) The speakers are loud, and not as tinny as one would expect. It won't give you the full butt-shaking DTS treatment, but I was surprised when I started a video, left the room, and heard everything clearly, 20 feet away through a doorway. As you can see from the slides, the video handled the Blu-ray of Generation Kill surprisingly well via composite output, and I wasn't even vexed by the 480x640 resolution. Given what I was trying to pull off, it looked good.

Connections & Accessories

• VGA adapter for laptops
• Composite adapter for AV sources
• Female-to-male RCA converters so any video output kit for your phone, iPod or camera will work
• Small Gorilla Pod-style tripod
• Built-in flip-down stand for just a bit of lift

When I reviewed the MPro110, I bitched that it was pretty flimsy too. Not so with the MPro120. It's sturdy, has nice firm buttons for volume and brightness, and has a focus dial on its face that stays where you put it. The MPro110 and MPro120 are so different despite their naming, my theory is that 3M shot the guy who built the 110 and hired his arch-nemesis to build the new one.

Does this mean you should buy a pico projector? If you have $350 to spend and find yourself in situations where a very portable 32" monitor that requires relative darkness would come in handy, go for it. It's still not good enough for corporate presentations, and it's still not a true theater-on-the-go. My thought is, if it got this much better in just 10 months, why not wait another 10 months for even more improvements—and perhaps a tiny cost drop? [Product Page]

Vast improvements in build quality and image size, compared to predecessor

New features such as stereo speakers, plus included tripod, make it a more self-contained theater

Cost didn't go down from last version

As improved as it is, the video experience could be much better

This is still a very niche product

The Price: $300

The Verdict: If you have the cash and really want a little projector that can go wherever you go, this is the one to get. It's got a much better build quality than the visually comparable 3M MPro110, but it's got so many more goodies, you'll be entertained for hours before even loading your first movie.

The key difference is that, unlike the 3M, the Aiptek has an SD card reader so it's always ready to play something, even when nothing's wired to it. You transcode files to Motion JPEG AVI or MPEG-4 ASF—you can use whatever software you want, but if you don't have an app, the thing comes with ArcSoft's PC-only Media Converter—and they're recognized with ease by the projector, along with JPEG stills and MP3 music files, which play fine by themselves, but not in the background of a photo slideshow where they belong.

The 3M, if you recall, had a VGA input along with a composite A/V input, but of course no SD reader. The Aiptek doesn't have the VGA input, but it's a tradeoff I can live with. The Aiptek does have a basic component video input, so you can run low-grade standard-def sources in there with no trouble.

You get a lot more for the money, too. Aiptek's projector comes with a nice little tripod for quick-and-dirty setup, and a remote control if you're going to give a presentation. (Speaking of that, the manual recommends converting PPT and PDF files to JPEG and loading them on SD card for best results. Like I said, "quick and dirty.")

The beefs I had with it were basically the same as with the 3M: You really can't set the thing back more than five feet or so when by which time the picture—at that point about 50 inches diagonal—really starts to blur. I'm not even going to begin to talk about contrast, color accuracy, motion blur and all of the things we examine in higher TV technologies, but I do have to admit, in a sufficiently dim setting, the video for both projectors was entirely watchable.

In two weeks I've gone from not believing much in the pico movement to being a fervent supporter. And if you're going to be an early adopter, I am happy to say that, because of the Aiptek PocketCinema V10's better geek features and much improved build quality over the 3M MPro110—and $50 cheaper price to boot—I found a pico projector that I can genuinely recommend. The only hold back is that they're just gonna get better and better. [Aiptek Product Page]

The Price: $350

The Verdict: I am in love with the concept, and this little LCOS-based 640x480 projector does some amazing things given its size and resolution. But even understanding its limitations, it still has some major build-quality issues that prevent it from true awesomeness.

As a portable projector for still presentations and videos alike, it has its strengths and weaknesses. It powers up easily, connects to composite and VGA sources (including component if you have the right cable adapters), and never gets so hot you can't touch it. It's got a tripod screw like most cameras, so you can easily position it where you want to. 3M doesn't disclose the lithium-ion battery life though it should given the LED's constant brightness. Still, plugging it into a wall isn't a big deal, so battery life may not matter. (I will continue to test that and update if there's anything significant.)

The MPro110 isn't going to be of help in a big boardroom—you can only get up to a 40-inch screen (by positioning it about 6 feet), but even then, fine details are blurred. Your best bet for readable viewing is a 20-inch screen at 4 feet. Update: It supports up to 1024x768 resolution input, but it doesn't display at a resolution greater than 640x480. Ironically, the fuzziness is more of a problem for the businesspeople for whom the product was intended—I didn't suffer much watching slightly blurred DVD rips or cable-box TV at the full 40 inches, though like most projectors, near-pitch darkness is required.

As you can see from the shots, there's some pinch distortion and not a lot you can do about it. There's no optical or digital compensation like on larger projectors—in fact the only control besides on/off is focus, and that only goes so far. Brightness-wise, it's okay, but it suffers noticeably the farther back you pull. Its colors are impressive, especially here, given the fact that I was projecting against a dark yellow wall.

Again, I was forgiving of limitations based on size and functionality—my biggest problems were in construction. The focus dial felt flimsy and wouldn't hold its place if jostled. Worse, it was hard to keep my computer connected, because the projector's VGA cable wouldn't stay inside the projector's jack.

Yeah, $350 is a lot for a toy, but it's not the reason I wouldn't recommend this. If 3M could apply more quality control, this would be a novelty more of us might carry. I can see it being a fun way to watch movies in hotel rooms when traveling, and as the technology behind brightness, throw and resolution improves, these could become hot sellers indeed. [3M MPro110 Product Page]