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Tired of squinting to see that copy of Ghostbusters you rented on your iPhone? The iPhone has a beautiful screen, to be sure, but a 3.5” movie can be tough after a couple hours. Enter the new Honlai QingBar MP101 microprojector—a tiny projector with a built-in iPod dock. Videos play through the dock connector, and the MP101 delivers a picture up to 37” to a nearby surface, rivalling a medium-sized flat panel TV. The projector’s specs are:

• Size: 3 x 4 x 2 inches (approx.)
• Aspect Ratio: 4x3 (fullscreen)
• Focus Method: Manual Adjustment
• Lamp Brightness: 10 - 15 lumens
• Contrast Ratio: 200:1
• Screen Size: 15-37”
• Speaker: 2 watt embedded stereo speakers
• Display Colors: 16.7 million colors

The MP101 does come with a few serious drawbacks to balance out the convenience of its dock connector (which includes charging—always a plus). For one thing, that 4x3 aspect ratio will make watching DVDs feel so…last century. Even many TV shows available in the iTunes store are in the 16x9 ration that HDTV was made for. The brightness and contrast are also lacking in so tiny a projector, so it will be crucial to have a dark room and a bright white wall to project the image on. And the low-power, built-in speaker is probably not going to deliver the deep bass and full surround sound that home theater enthusiasts demand—and judging from the specs, it doesn’t look like there is an audio out option to bypass the internal speaker. 

Drawbacks aside, the QingBar MP101 would make a useful portable video solution for iPod/iPhone users with a wall and some free time. No word yet on when or if it will be available in the US; currently, it is available in China only. If it is, would you use it as a full time video solution, or as an impromptu movie night projector?

Product [Honlai QingBar MP101 microprojector]