Tiny, stylish, and black: No, we're not talking about a ThinkPad, but rather IBM's new 2.4-pound digital projector, which is sure to turn a few heads and includes a good amount of features despite its small size. The M400 also carries an attractive price tag. At press time, the price listed on IBM's Web site was only $1,849, making it one of the most affordable 2-pound XGA projectors on the market. As can be guessed from its tiny size, the M400 uses DLP imaging technology and thus can beam out some extraordinary, high-contrast images. The M400's native XGA resolution will match well with most notebooks', and its claimed brightness of 1,100 ANSI lumens is more than sufficient for small- and medium-sized conference rooms. The M400 also comes with enough connectors and cables to work with all notebooks and most video and audio equipment. With an optional component-video cable, it will even connect with HDTV equipment.

 

In our lab tests, the M400 did quite well. Its images were beautifully sharp and steady. Our brightness tests agreed exactly with the manufacturer's claim-a rare occurrence. Our contrast ratio result of 266:1 was far below the claimed value, however, but still impressive compared with other projectors we have tested. If it were not for the M400's rather noisy fan, such a contrast ratio would be ideal for displaying DVD movies.

 

IBM implies that you'll reap some special capabilities when the M400 is used in conjunction with an IBM ThinkPad. Indeed, the startup screen for the projector invites you to press the Fn + F7 key combination on your ThinkPad to activate its external VGA connector.

 

We connected the projector to a ThinkPad T42 and our standard Hewlett-Packard 6100 notebook and the M400 performed the same way, with one exception. Surprisingly, the ThinkPad did not recognize the projector's USB connector, meaning we could not use the mouse-emulation capabilities of the projector's remote control. We fixed the situation by loading an appropriate driver program from the M400's CD-ROM disc, but somehow we would expect that two products from the same manufacturer would recognizie each other better.

 

Other slight disappointments include the M400's lens cap. It's hard to attach and hard to remove. Also, we were a bit confused when we shut down the M400. After a leisurely minute and a half of cooling time, the projector's fan quiets down but not completely. You can still hear the fan running and are left wondering when it is safe to unplug the projector without the risk of blowing the lamp. Replacement lamps, which cost $349, last for an ample duration of 2,000 hours.

 

The IBM M400 projector has a 3-year warranty, which is surprisingly long when you consider its attractive price tag. The warranty also includes 3 years of what the company calls Rapid Replacement Service. With this service, IBM will, in many cases, send you a replacement projector by next-day courier. This policy is available from other manufacturers also, but not for 3 years.

 

All in all, the M400 has a lot going for it, but its best feature may be its looks-both on the screen and on the boardroom table.