Thread: ViewSonic PJ2SBD Projector

It was the digital watch in the 1980s that had the entire electronic world on its toes. Everybody was trying to incorporate the technology into their design some or the other way. And now in the 2000s, it's the iPod that has taken the world by a storm and everybody is trying to integrate the small media player in their products. Tracing the same path, the ViewSonic after having built a considerable reputation in the LCD and the projectors domain, has now decided to enter the iPod catering sector with their ViewSonic PJ258D, logically called the ViewDock Projector.

The ViewSonic PJ258D features a piano black finish and resembles the cross-section of an aeroplane wing. At 1.8kgs it's quite light and measures a fairly diminutive 288
x 190 x 83mm. So, just as the iPod here you have a portable projector with you. The lens sits to the right of the face of the unit and features both focus and zoom functions. The top of the device is different to most projectors ie the top dock features no buttons with the function buttons situated on the rear instead. The ViewDock is the only slot on the top of the device.

For a budget projector, the PJ258D comes with a fairly good number of features,
but the highlight is the ViewDock, which is the ability to listen to music, and view slideshows and movies from an iPod. It comes with three different iPod adapters that fit into the provided chassis and it is very easy to switch between the adapters as well. The projector produces a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 768, which means it can reproduce 576p or 1080i picture quality. Also of importance is that the PJ258D
has a very high brightness of 2,000 ANSI lumens.

This means it will be viewable in a semi-lit room, which makes it perfect for presentations and is appropriately termed as a 'business oriented projector'. Moreover, it features a decent amount of connections including PC, composite, S-video, 3.5mm stereo mini plug audio-in and component-video (with the optional PC-to-component adapter). If you think this is not enough, then the PJ258D comes with a remote, which can also control the iPod. It is fully featured with a ergonomically placed buttons, and even includes a laser pointer for presentations.



And to round it up, the ViewSonic also features onboard speakers, with a fairly good sound. This enables to spice up your presentations from the iPod with some real good sound effects. The PJ258D does a lot of things right it's stylish, solid-built. and light. It'll play from a lot of different media sources (desktop, iPod etc) and gives a good amount of brightness. It's the most ideal of a 'prosumer' (professional + consumer) kind of product it's all business in the front, party at the back. The iPod dock itself will allure consumers, while its portability and high performance is the best fit for people at work.