InFocus IN1126

The InFocus IN1126 ($1,099 direct) is a compact and very light?yet?bright data projectors geared to business travelers who need to frequently make presentations to small groups. Although it's highly portable, you do need bring your computer or other input source to run presentations from as there's no port for a USB thumb drive. Its image quality is fine for typical data presentations.

The IN1126 is rated at 3,000 lumens of brightness. It has native WXGA (1,280 by 800) resolution, compatible with widescreen laptops with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It measures 2.8 by 8.6 by 7 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.4 pounds. This black and boxy projector has both zoom and focus wheels; it was easy enough to bring it to a fairly sharp focus quickly.

The projector is identical in appearance, dimensions, and features to the InFocus IN1124 ($975 direct, 3.5 stars), except that the IN1124's native resolution is limited to XGA (1,024 by 768 pixels). The Editors' Epson PowerLite 1775W Multimedia Projector ($1,199 direct, 4 stars) has WXGA resolution; it's wider but considerably thinner than the IN1126, and weighs slightly more.

The IN1126 packs a typical selection of ports for an ultraportable projector: HDMI; S-Video; an RCA jack for composite video; audio-in; VGA; and a USB mini-B port that you can plug into your computer for remote mouse support, allowing you to use the projector's remote control in lieu of the mouse to advance slides and the like.

One port that would have been a useful addition is a USB type A to let you run a computer-free presentation off of a USB thumb drive. Without it, you still have to lug a laptop with you; the projector does come with a soft carrying case for protection.

Performance The IN1126 threw a 6-feet diagonal image on our test screen that stood up well to ambient light with the projector about 10 feet away. In testing with our DisplayMate suite (www.displaymate.com), data image quality was reasonably good, fine for typical business presentations. Some minor color issues showed up: white lines against dark backgrounds tended to look yellowish, and there was some yellow fringing on the right and top edges of the projected images. Colors in general?especially yellows and light blues?looked somewhat darker than they should have, and medium grays looked slightly greenish.

Also, the rainbow effect common with DLP projectors, in which bright areas break up into their component colors when one shifts one's gaze (or, in the case of video, when an object moves), was apparent to me in some test images that tend to bring it out. But unless you're a stickler for accurate color or your content demands it, the IN1126 should be up to the job of showing business presentations while you're on the road.

Video Quality
The IN1126's video quality is adequate for showing fairly short clips as part of a presentation. The projector did reasonably well in retaining detail in both dark and light areas. Colors generally looked fairly true. However, the rainbow effect was more pronounced than with an average DLP projector, and obvious enough to me that people who are sensitive to it probably wouldn't want to watch long videos with this projector.

The IN1126's sound system is more feeble than most. It was barely audible, even when I sat right next to the projector with the volume turned fully up. Though its 1-watt speaker doesn't get the job done, it does have an audio-out jack, so you could connect it to powered external speakers. The InFocus IN1124 has a similarly weak sound system, while the Epson 1775W's was better.

The InFocus In1126 is a solid, capable, and highly portable data projector, well suited to businesspeople that need to make frequent presentations while on the road. It has higher resolution than the similar InFocus IN1124. It's narrower and slightly lighter than (if not as thin as) the Editors' Choice Epson PowerLite 1775W. The Epson 1775W, though, has Wi-Fi connectivity (through an included dongle) and a port for a USB thumb drive. Its still and video image quality both proved very good in our testing, and as an LCD projector it by nature lacks the rainbow effect seen in the IN1126. The IN1126, though, is worthy of being on your short list for an ultra-light data projector.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the InFocus IN1126 with several other projectors side by side.

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