Review: Acer P1265 projector

Most projectors around the £500 mark tend to be restricted to an 800x600 resolution, so it's good to see the £535 Acer P1265 features a resolution of 1,024x768.

This still isn't enough for the lowest of the HD resolutions (1,280x720), but it accepts signals up to 1,920x1,080 and scales them down for crisp results.

The attractive black box houses plenty of ports, including DVI, VGA, S-video and a stereo 3.5mm jack in to feed the 2W mono speaker inside.

It's based on Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology with a six-segment colour wheel that should reduce the rainbow effect associated with the technology. We noticed some rainbow colouring, especially in fast-motion scenes, which suggests it's not a perfect choice for movies, but it's perfectly adequate for the occasional clip.

The 180W bulb comes rated at 2,600 lumens and Acer says it can create a massive 300in (7.6m) image when place 12m from the projection screen. We were sceptical of this figure until we placed it twice the distance and created a much bigger image in a well-lit office.

Although dim in places, it remained readable. When creating 2m projections, the picture looked bright and had vivid colours, thanks in part to Acer's Colorboost technology.

Focus and zoom are controlled by two manual wheels above the lens, while a remote provides quick access to other functions. An extendable foot allows for vertical adjustment but there's no horizontal tinkering, which makes it a poor choice to put in a corner of a room.

A bundled carry case enhances its fantastic value for money, but what really makes the P1265 a good package is how quiet it is; the small amount of noise coming out of it was drowned out by a nearby notebook.