Weighing in at 6.6 pounds, and measuring 3.8 by 11.2 by 10 inches, the DLP-based Toshiba TDP-T40U ($1,398.75 direct) is on the big side for a mobile projector. It makes up for that with a bright image and an assortment of conveniences, including a pass-through monitor connector and two computer inputs. What's more, the XGA (1,024-by-768) resolution is a good choice for presentations that include things like large spreadsheets or software demos.

You'll find a fair number of connection options on the back, but if you want to use a second computer or an external monitor (or the S-Video, composite video, audio-in, or audio-out connections, for that matter), you'll need to buy the cables elsewhere. The projector comes with only one SVGA cable, along with a power cord, a soft carrying case, and a sensor you can plug into your computer's USB port to control the mouse from the projector's remote. The hard-shell carrying case is a pricey $249 option.

Setup is a little less straightforward than it could be, as there are two setup menus. But once you find the setting you're looking for, adjusting it is easy enough. We couldn't improve on the auto-sync settings in our tests, although they left a little jitter on test images designed to bring out jitter. Given that there's no digital input, that minor amount of jitter is the closest you'll get to a rock-solid image. Focus and zoom controls are strictly manual and easy to use.

Measured brightness is a substantial 1,611 lumens, which is bright enough to project a good-size image with typical ambient lighting. Contrast ratio was excellent, at 306:1, and image uniformity was good, as suggested by the 1.41:1 brightness variance. Image quality was generally good, although yellows tended toward a mustard color (which is typical of DLP projectors) and greens were a little dark. And, of course, we saw the breakup effect that DLP projectors are known for, with white objects splitting into red, green, and blue if you sweep your eyes across the screen.

If you need the XGA resolution, the TDP-T40U is certainly a viable choice. It's bright, and reasonably priced.

Benchmark tests: