Recommendations for Notebook/Projector combination

[FredBear]

I am looking for a laptop/notebook and digital projector to buy and I would
be grateful for any recommendations.

I belong to a small crinklies club and we often give presentations in
peoples homes or in community centres so the lighting factor varies but,
using a combination of borrowed/hired equipment, I am beginning to realise
that it is not as straight forward as it seems. For example, I get the same
resolution on the screen as I get on the laptop and have difficulty getting
the picture on the screen right. I have mostly been using a Sony Vaio which
doesn't seem to do the business very satisfactorily.

What I need is a laptop and projector which work together straight out of
the box. I don't know all that much about it but I suspect I need something
like both machines to be native XGA 1024 x 768 and the projector to be 2000
to 2500 lumens DLP and the laptop to be nothing special other than with a
DVD, wireless and Bluetooth. If it had a dual screen graphics card it would
be very helpful. By that I mean so I can see the laptop in one resolution
and see the screen in a different, better, one but without a lot of hassle
setting it up. Since the whole circus has to be humped about to different
locations, weight might be a major consideration.

Many thanks.

--


(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

 

[Dr.H@l0nf1r£$]

I am looking for a laptop/notebook and digital projector to buy and I
would be grateful for any recommendations.

I belong to a small crinklies club and we often give presentations in
peoples homes or in community centres so the lighting factor varies
but, using a combination of borrowed/hired equipment, I am beginning
to realise that it is not as straight forward as it seems. For
example, I get the same resolution on the screen as I get on the
laptop and have difficulty getting the picture on the screen right. I
have mostly been using a Sony Vaio which doesn't seem to do the
business very satisfactorily.
What I need is a laptop and projector which work together straight
out of the box. I don't know all that much about it but I suspect I
need something like both machines to be native XGA 1024 x 768 and the
projector to be 2000 to 2500 lumens DLP and the laptop to be nothing
special other than with a DVD, wireless and Bluetooth. If it had a
dual screen graphics card it would be very helpful. By that I mean so
I can see the laptop in one resolution and see the screen in a
different, better, one but without a lot of hassle setting it up.
Since the whole circus has to be humped about to different locations,
weight might be a major consideration.
Many thanks.

Laptop:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124974
I recommended one of these to a friend; she bought it, she loves it. I've
been on it too and thoroughly recommend it. : XP Professional installed with
the ability to upgrade to Vista should one wish to do so without the
nescessity for a component upgrade. (Although I suggest an extra 1MB RAM
installed if upgrading to Vista.) Performance is superb, display is clear
and sharp, although colours may be a tinge wishy-washy if not viewed 100%
directly. For the price it's a bargain.

I saw a nice projector in the last copy of Computer Shopper; but I can't
find it right now.

 

[Mortimer]

:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124974
I recommended one of these to a friend; she bought it, she loves it. I've
been on it too and thoroughly recommend it. : XP Professional installed
with the ability to upgrade to Vista should one wish to do so without the
nescessity for a component upgrade. (Although I suggest an extra 1MB RAM
installed if upgrading to Vista.) Performance is superb, display is clear
and sharp, although colours may be a tinge wishy-washy if not viewed 100%
directly. For the price it's a bargain.

As with any laptop, check what sort of screen it's got. Most modern laptops
have highly-reflective screens which give a sharp image and more vibrant
colours - but at the expense of being able to see yourself and the
windows/lights in the room reflected in it. For me, this sort of screen is
not fit for purpose, given that you often use laptops in "hostile"
envronments like on a train or in a car, where you can't just draw the
curtains or turn out the lights.

I had to search far and wide to find a PC with an etched screen like you get
on a flat-screen monitor for a desktop PC. I can recommend my Acer
Travelmate 2492 - Windows XP Pro and a matt screen.

 

[FredBear]

<< Laptop:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124974
I recommended one of these to a friend; she bought it, she loves it. I've
been on it too and thoroughly recommend it. : XP Professional installed
with
the ability to upgrade to Vista should one wish to do so without the
nescessity for a component upgrade. (Although I suggest an extra 1MB RAM
installed if upgrading to Vista.) Performance is superb, display is clear
and sharp, although colours may be a tinge wishy-washy if not viewed 100%
directly. For the price it's a bargain.>>

Thanks for that.

I see from the spec that it has an onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 graphics
chip and I can't find anything meaningful with Google. Since I'm not very
knowledgeable about graphics cards, do you know if it is has dual output or,
if not, how well it works with a projector?

 

[thoss]

If it had a dual
screen graphics card it would be very helpful. By that I mean so I can
see the laptop in one resolution and see the screen in a different,
better, one but without a lot of hassle setting it up.

I think most or all laptops have this: hit a function key to choose
local, remote or both screens.

I have found one peculiarity on some laptops when using PowerDVD for
showing DVDs. When making adjustments to the setup a message (such as
pause, volume 75% etc.) shows briefly in a corner of the laptop screen.
On some laptops this message also appears on the external screen; on
others, including my Dell, it does not. I assume that this is a
deliberate design feature, and may well apply to programs other than
PowerDVD.

For your presentations you would probably want everything to go to the
projector. This function is never spelled out in the specification, so
you would have to check this by running computer and projector with a
suitable program in a dealer's showroom.

 

[John Jordan]

I see from the spec that it has an onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 graphics
chip and I can't find anything meaningful with Google. Since I'm not very
knowledgeable about graphics cards, do you know if it is has dual output or,
if not, how well it works with a projector?

It has a standard VGA output, like virtually all laptops. There
shouldn't be any trouble using display-cloning or whatever with a
projector, although you can get compatibility issues. That's all down to
the ATI driver anyway.

 

[Tony Wright]

In message <[email protected]>, FredBear

[cut]

What I need is a laptop and projector which work together straight out of
the box.

You won't get 'matched' component in the sense of 'they work seamlessly
out of the box' What you have to do is match the components yourself

I don't know all that much about it but I suspect I need something
like both machines to be native XGA 1024 x 768 and the projector to be 2000
to 2500 lumens DLP and the laptop to be nothing special other than with a
DVD, wireless and Bluetooth. If it had a dual screen graphics card it would
be very helpful. By that I mean so I can see the laptop in one resolution
and see the screen in a different, better, one but without a lot of hassle
setting it up. Since the whole circus has to be humped about to different
locations, weight might be a major consideration.

I've fit quite a few projectors in educational environments and rather
than suggest particular products some general thoughts:

1. Projectors have a native resolution the same as a TFT -- any other
resolution is achieved by compression or interpolation with usually less
than satisfactory results. So go with a higher res. XGA (1024X768)
2. Aspect ratio -- if the aspect ratio of the laptop screen (say a
widescreen) is different than the projector (say 1024X768) then what you
see on laptop screen and projection may be different without
considerable playing. So I'd suggest matching these 2 in hardware as it
were. AKA a laptop with a 15" non-widescreen does 1024X768 natively out
of the box and so would an XGA projector.
3.Pay some attention to sound if it is likely ever to be used. The
speakers in projectors are usually 1 or 2 watt efforts that are almost
useless -- in classrooms I fit proper speakers high up. Speakers in
laptops vary widely from not much use to excellent.
4.I've mostly fit HP and BenQ projectors and had few problems with
either but bear in mind they have almost all been ceiling mounted (some
in cages) so I can't really comment on their portable ruggedness -- the
BenQs come with a carry case and every cable you'll ever need. I'd
suggest you go with the highest number of lumens you can afford since
you may not control ambient light -- I've never fit lower than 2000
lumens even in a small workshop classroom. Also consider the dB sound
level the cooling fan makes as some can be very intrusive.
5. Comments on laptops: Vista is a resource hog just to get it started
so you need a much higher specification machine to get it to run well,
consider WinXP. In no particular order: I like Asus, Lenovo (ex -IBM),
HP and Toshiba laptops. I prefer Intel CPUs and chipsets. I'd agree with
another poster about the non-reflective screens being better than the
shiny in more environments. I've a Lenovo/IBM R52 Centrino with 15" matt
TFT/XPP that Just Works (TM) which is important to me. I also advise
people to purchase a laptop with as many connectivity options as
possible so currently Bluetooth is usually an option while
WiFi/RJ45/modem are standard. The reason being that you can usually
transfer data one way or another but doing it direct from one device
straight onto the laptop is easiest.
6. Consider a portable projection screen over using walls etc. A matt
white wall works very well for those people at centre of view but drops
off sharply for those viewing at an angle. The projection screens with
tiny glass beads embedded in them have excellent angle of view and are
neither expensive nor heavy.

2p

 

[FredBear]

Tony,

Thanks for that, it is very useful stuff for me.

I will probably go for the HP NX6325 which was recommended to me here. I
will get a projector with similar attributes i.e. resolution 1024x768, XGA,
2600 lumens. I was looking at Optoma but I see that the BenQ machines have
an optional wireless add-on which you plug into the DVI socket. That might
be an advantage for me. Have you used it? and if so, does it do the
business?

I've got a couple of small powered speakers from a previous PC which work
fine with my borrowed laptop.

Regards,

Ian Millward

In message <[email protected]>, FredBear

[cut]

What I need is a laptop and projector which work together straight out of
the box.

You won't get 'matched' component in the sense of 'they work seamlessly
out of the box' What you have to do is match the components yourself

I don't know all that much about it but I suspect I need something
like both machines to be native XGA 1024 x 768 and the projector to be
2000
to 2500 lumens DLP and the laptop to be nothing special other than with a
DVD, wireless and Bluetooth. If it had a dual screen graphics card it
would
be very helpful. By that I mean so I can see the laptop in one resolution
and see the screen in a different, better, one but without a lot of hassle
setting it up. Since the whole circus has to be humped about to different
locations, weight might be a major consideration.

I've fit quite a few projectors in educational environments and rather
than suggest particular products some general thoughts:

1. Projectors have a native resolution the same as a TFT -- any other
resolution is achieved by compression or interpolation with usually less
than satisfactory results. So go with a higher res. XGA (1024X768)
2. Aspect ratio -- if the aspect ratio of the laptop screen (say a
widescreen) is different than the projector (say 1024X768) then what you
see on laptop screen and projection may be different without
considerable playing. So I'd suggest matching these 2 in hardware as it
were. AKA a laptop with a 15" non-widescreen does 1024X768 natively out
of the box and so would an XGA projector.
3.Pay some attention to sound if it is likely ever to be used. The
speakers in projectors are usually 1 or 2 watt efforts that are almost
useless -- in classrooms I fit proper speakers high up. Speakers in
laptops vary widely from not much use to excellent.
4.I've mostly fit HP and BenQ projectors and had few problems with
either but bear in mind they have almost all been ceiling mounted (some
in cages) so I can't really comment on their portable ruggedness -- the
BenQs come with a carry case and every cable you'll ever need. I'd
suggest you go with the highest number of lumens you can afford since
you may not control ambient light -- I've never fit lower than 2000
lumens even in a small workshop classroom. Also consider the dB sound
level the cooling fan makes as some can be very intrusive.
5. Comments on laptops: Vista is a resource hog just to get it started
so you need a much higher specification machine to get it to run well,
consider WinXP. In no particular order: I like Asus, Lenovo (ex -IBM),
HP and Toshiba laptops. I prefer Intel CPUs and chipsets. I'd agree with
another poster about the non-reflective screens being better than the
shiny in more environments. I've a Lenovo/IBM R52 Centrino with 15" matt
TFT/XPP that Just Works (TM) which is important to me. I also advise
people to purchase a laptop with as many connectivity options as
possible so currently Bluetooth is usually an option while
WiFi/RJ45/modem are standard. The reason being that you can usually
transfer data one way or another but doing it direct from one device
straight onto the laptop is easiest.
6. Consider a portable projection screen over using walls etc. A matt
white wall works very well for those people at centre of view but drops
off sharply for those viewing at an angle. The projection screens with
tiny glass beads embedded in them have excellent angle of view and are
neither expensive nor heavy.

2p

 

[BigH2K]

In message <[email protected]>, FredBear

[cut]

3.Pay some attention to sound if it is likely ever to be used. The
speakers in projectors are usually 1 or 2 watt efforts that are almost
useless -- in classrooms I fit proper speakers high up. Speakers in
laptops vary widely from not much use to excellent.

Tony

Hi Tony, I too fit projectors for primary schools but have no experience of
fitting wall mounted speakers for them, for my own benefit what do you fit?

Some of the schools have active speakers branded "JungleRex" which are
adequate but I've never had any luck finding anywhere that sells them, these
were supplied & fitted by Compulease under a contract.

Peter.

 

[Tony Wright]

Hi Tony, I too fit projectors for primary schools but have no experience of
fitting wall mounted speakers for them, for my own benefit what do you fit?

I normally fit 2.1 systems with satellites and sub-woofer mounted high
up on brackets available from Focus or B&Q. Mounting them high gives
good performance and keeps them out of harm's way. The Creative Labs
systems often have a Volume control that can be routed down beside an
IWB. The models change so fast that I just look them up as and when
needed though I like Creative Labs, JBL/Harmon Kardon and Altec
Lansings.

For less than ~30' square classrooms, most of the sub 40 GBP offerings
will work well. Once you get much larger than that (like auditoriums)
you should be looking at much more powerful options.

 

[BigH2K]

I normally fit 2.1 systems with satellites and sub-woofer mounted high
up on brackets available from Focus or B&Q. Mounting them high gives
good performance and keeps them out of harm's way. The Creative Labs
systems often have a Volume control that can be routed down beside an
IWB. The models change so fast that I just look them up as and when
needed though I like Creative Labs, JBL/Harmon Kardon and Altec
Lansings.

For less than ~30' square classrooms, most of the sub 40 GBP offerings
will work well. Once you get much larger than that (like auditoriums)
you should be looking at much more powerful options.

Cheers mate, I'll consider it.