14 DAY TRIAL // Despite being quite overcrowded, NEC's seemingly endless projector lineup has just gotten two new additions in the short-throw department, namely the M300XS and M300WS models.
Right from the start, it's important to mention that these new devices replace two other products in NEC's lineup, namely the NP610S and NP510WS models, and target roughly the same market segment, namely mostly the educational one.
Both new projectors offer quite a good level of brightness, namely 3000 ANSI lumens, the only major difference between the two being their respective native resolutions, namely XGA in the case of the M300XS and WXGA in the case of the M300WS.
Since we're talking about short-throw projectors, it's no surprise that it can create very good-quality images from just around 3.6-feet away (that translates into 0.47:1 throw ratio), while the device's built-in 10W speaker will also play an important part, especially when playing video in the absence of a full-fledged speaker system.
Another interesting feature provided by these projectors is the Virtual Remote (DDC/CI), enabling users to control the devices right from their computer, without any messy wires getting in the way, while one will even be able to control the audio volume of an external speaker connected to the projector via the latter's own remote control.
As most other projectors on the market, this thing also packs plenty of connectivity options, including here a HDMI port, dual computer and USB inputs.
In fact, the USB port is extremely important, given the fact that it supports an USB viewer function, meaning that users will be able to easily view photos in JPG format.
Now, given the features listed above, the fact that these things are not exactly what we'd call affordable is not exactly a huge surprise, the M300XS and M300WS being slated to arrive in stores at some point in March 2011, for $999 and $1,099, respectively.