Home CasaVerdeSmart ,,,,,There are now projectors for all budgets and that of DBPower that our editorial staff was able to try recently is among the most interesting solutions from the point of view of quality in relation to the selling price: it costs only 88 euros and is an excellent compromise for those who want a very good product to be used in small home environments without giving up the comforts of recent technologies.
In addition to being able to read files from USB sticks and SD cards, it can in fact transmit everything shown on iPhone and iPad in a flash simply by connecting them to the projector via Lightning cable, therefore with all the advantages that this entails thanks to the possibility of accessing a infinite multitude of online content.
As did
The projector is sold inside a cardboard box with handle, very useful for reusing it also as a carrying case, especially if we consider that it is housed inside a soft compartment that is also resistant to shocks.
The projector is quite compact, specifically measuring 18.7 x 15 x 7.5 centimeters and weighs less than 1 kg (965 grams). The case, in our case of white color (there is also the black version) is made of very robust polycarbonate. The front lens, 5 cm in diameter, is protected by a cap attached to the projector through a small elastic strap, very useful to avoid losing it.
On the front and on the back there is the IR sensor for the remote control. On one side there is the input for the power supply, on the other the HDMI socket for connecting to a computer, two USB outputs, one dedicated to reading files from keys and hard drives, the other for connecting an iPhone or iPad. Then there are the SD slot and the headphone and AV inputs, for connecting to an external stereo. On the back there is also the VGA socket for connection to older generation computers.
On the bottom there are four soft rubber feet and a 1/4 '' screw connection (which can possibly be covered with a special screw included in the package) useful for fixing it to a tripod, for example. On the upper surface there are instead two dials, one for adjusting the focus, the other for slightly adjusting the inclination, as well as a rubber replica of the buttons on the remote control to manage the various menu items even without this. last.
How does it work
Using the projector is very simple: just connect it to the mains and hold down the ON / OFF button on the remote control or on the projector itself for about two seconds to start the projector. After about 5 seconds, the main image of the menu is already projected on the wall towards which we aimed the projector.
The farther the projector is from the wall, the larger the image projected to the latter, but the brightness of the images also decreases at the same time. In order to have a correctly focused image, the projector must be at least at a distance of 1.5 meters from the wall: in this condition, a projected image about 2 meters long side is obtained (equal to a screen of about 32 meters). ''). The maximum usable is 5 meters away from the projection surface, in this case the projected image will be about 170 inches.
The menu is pretty clear. There are 6 icons, each of which allows you to manage the different projection options offered, including reading files on USB memory, SD card, via AV connection, PC, HDMI or directly from iPhone and iPad. The settings panel is also quite understandable: here, in addition to being able to select the Italian language, you can adjust the settings related to the image including contrast, saturation, aspect ratio, etc. You can also adjust the sound (the projector has a built-in speaker) and the timer for automatic shutdown. There is also a useful option that allows you to rotate the projection in 90 degrees, very useful if for example you fix the projector on the ceiling upside down or use it from particular positions (for example placed vertically on a shelf ).
How is it going
The first thing that strikes you is the silence of the projector: the hum of the fans is minimal and as soon as you start playing any movie it is dominated by the audio track of the latter, even if it is reproduced by the built-in speaker, very good for listening to a movie in silence (if you watch a movie in company, connecting an external speaker via AUX cable really makes a difference).
Brightness is very good. The manufacturer speaks of 1500 lumens, in practical terms even with a brightly lit room it is possible to distinguish the contents projected on the wall well. It certainly greatly improves visibility in low-light rooms and even better when completely dark, showing images that are almost as bright as those of a TV.
The resolution is good: the user manual speaks of Full HD at 1080p. In practice, it seemed more than enough for watching a film, discreet also for viewing images and texts, such as for the use of a slide projection in PowerPoint, where even the smallest texts at 2 –3 meters away are quite legible. To give a practical example, with a Word document, we were able to read well the texts written at size 12 in Arial, while with texts of size equal to 10 even with a hawk view it is difficult to read well.
Use with iPhone and iPad
The function that seemed most interesting to us concerns the transmission of the contents present on the iPhone and iPad. No applications are required: just connect the device with a Lightning MFI cable and within seconds it is recognized as an external monitor, mirroring everything that happens on the screen.
The projector also recognizes the orientation of the smartphone, thus adjusting the projected contents accordingly. There is no latency with when streamed on the iPhone compared to what is seen on the projector, not even in terms of the audio stream. Everything is instantaneous and the convenience of this system makes using the projector truly a pleasure.
We used it to watch an entire episode of Ulysses on RaiPlay without any problem, projected the movie on the ceiling above our bed. From this point of view the heat dissipation is also excellent: the fans, combined with the large and numerous openings, do their duty, returning at the end of the projection a device so hot, but not excessively, so much so that it is enough to turn it off and leave it at rest. just five minutes to allow it to cool enough to be stored in the box without fear of damaging it.
Conclusions
For the price for which it is proposed it is really a gem: small, easy to use and powerful enough to be able to project a large image on white walls and ceilings (that it is white is essential: on a room where we have a slightly ocher wall the brightness is significantly reduced), with good brightness and an equally sufficient audio power of the integrated speaker.
In our opinion, the most interesting use is through the connection to an iPhone and iPad, to transmit photos, videos and games on the big screen, as well as for the possibility of accessing all the contents scattered on the Internet in real time. Without forgetting that it can also read files from hard drives, USB sticks and SD cards.
Retail price
The DBPower projector is on sale on Amazon for 87.99 euros. It is available in two colors: black and white. When we write with our code, you pay € 79.99: WVLKV5LD
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