A projector with basic features, but the price is right

ViewSonic has built its PJ551D around a 0.55-inch DLP chip that offers the same native resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels as the other projectors in this group. It lets the side down slightly as the maximum resolution can only be stretched to 1280 x 1024 pixels, rather than the widescreen 1400 x 1050 pixels that is offered by the more versatile Acer and Optoma projectors.

Viewsonic sent us its PJ758, which is typically the sort of data projector that you install in a meeting room or lecture hall, as it is rather too large and heavy to carry around. The 3.5kg chassis is large, but it also manages to host the widest array of ports of any machine here.

Last month we turned our attention to a pair of portable projectors, and declared one of them 'eminently luggable'. While we would still be happy to sling that model around our necks, we'd be far more inclined to take this one on the road.

Usually, an 800x600 LCD projector will have a visible grid, but this one is different. By using a 0.7-inch LCD panel, ViewSonic has greatly reduced the chicken-wire effect to give a far more pleasing final image