3M MPro150: Bottom Line
3M has produced a Pico projector that strives to be competitive against based on its specifications. The projector is well designed and is well thought out. I liked how they put inputs in logical places and made navigating the menu system easy because of the nice control panel. Overall, just a very nice design. For instance the focus is in the front where would expect it to be and the inputs for all your video signals are in the rear. Controlling the functions of the projector can be done from the top. The buttons designed in such a way that getting used to adjusting things without looking down should come easily after a little use.
One thing I really liked was the bendable tripod stand. It was really easy to use and since it features a mount screw that is compatible with most digital cameras, you can use as double duty to take pictures with. And, what better platform to share those pictures, than using the 3M MPro150.
Brightness at a manufacturer rated 15 lumens is on the low side, but video quality is satisfactory. As mentioned, we measured 9 lumens in our lab. Since the 3M MPro150 is a native 640x480 projector with the ability to only accept a 480i video signal, I can't recommend the 3M MPro150 for much more than showing images and some documents from your PC. In regards to saying it is decent for office documents, I think only certain documents with little data would be acceptable. You can feed the projector higher resolutions for showing spreadsheets, but even if you have the image set at 50 inches diagonal, you still are going to have a hard time viewing certain office documents.
Overall, the 3M MPro150 is lacking the resolution that it would need to acceptably display the kinds of files it claims to be able to project, though it would work well enough for Powerpoint sized type and images. It features a nice picture if you do not feed the projector for compressed content, but does not do the best job projecting higher resolutions. With the high price point, carefully consider the pros and cons before purchasing the 3M MPro150.
