By Mike Lee, a freelance writer

TINY was the first word that came to mind when I took this USB projector out of its box.

If normal projectors are elephants, then the Aiptek T20 would be a mouse.

Smaller than my wallet is how compact this appliance is.

So you will think nothing of carting it to a friend's house to, say, beam a holiday movie clip.

However, be prepared for limited functions.

Firstly, the projector's 640 x 480 pixel resolution is the bare minimum.

PowerPoint slides and DVD movies will look all right but other things like photos will not.

You are better off viewing those slide shows on a notebook screen as even a 10-inch netbook will manage 1,024 x 600 pixels.

Also, there is no keystone correction for image alignment.

So any slight tilt of the projector will skew the projected image into a trapezoid shape instead of a rectangular one.

As you might have guessed, there is no autofocus either.

At 122g though, the projector has already shaved off a lot of weight.

The lightest ones that run on power from the usual wall socket are around 1kg.

The T20 runs on just USB power.

So the only cable you will need to take along is the bundled USB Y-cable.

One of the two USB plugs is for sending video data from the computer to the projector; the other is to boost its power for brighter projection.

Trust me, you will need the latter USB port as this projector is not terribly bright.

The room needs to be almost pitch dark before you can see images clearly.

Hence, the largest recommended projection size is around the size of a 42-inch LCD TV.

Also, the device gets quite warm after about 20 minutes of use.

Software installation was a bit of a hassle.

You need to switch the projector to Auto Run mode before you install, then switch to Projection mode after restarting your notebook.

It is a good thing that the drivers are loaded into the projector itself.

This means you can plug it into a Windows-based PC without needing any additional setup.

A mini-tripod is bundled with the projector so that it will be stable when resting on tables.

Without the tripod, the smooth finish of the projector makes it prone to sliding.

Final say

Though not as full-featured as larger projectors, this gadget is incredibly portable.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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