Rollei RVS 1500 projector

Posted by T3 Online on Mon 22 Oct 2007

No competition for its fat-cat cousins.

You can now spend the entire national debt of an African country on a house in the UK and still end up with cramped rooms, so downsizing your kit has never been so important. That's why Rollei has come up with a DLP projector that's small enough to fit in a handbag.

Don't start rejoicing just yet, though, because this model isn't quite as home-friendly as its size suggests. For starters, the only video inputs are PC, S-Video and composite - there's no component or Scart, never mind HDMI or DVI.

Setting it up is a bit of a pain too. You get the usual one-touch extending foot at the front, but more businesslike screw-adjustable feet at the back, so you'll be fiddling around for a while before it's all set straight.

Once you've got it in position, though, the image is surprisingly good. Both colour and detail are perfectly fine, while few rainbow effects are evident. What spoils things just a little is the overly harsh contrast, which results in lost detail within dark and light areas.

Another problem - probably due to its small size - is that the fan sounds like it's working overtime. It really annoys the hell out of you if you're sat too close.

For all its flaws, however, we can't deny the appeal of this projector - it's impressively ickle. That said, if you can squeeze a little extra space out of your lounge, it's worth plumping for one of the superior full-fat options.