Projecting a Clear Corporate Image

If at first you don't succeed... then try your competitor will probably win the contract

First impressions can be lasting ones. What kind of first impression of your company do you give when going out to try to make a big sale or land a contract?
Do you rely on stapled, laser-printed handouts, or colorful (and soon outdated) brochures? Do you crowd five client reps in front of your 10.4-inch laptop screen while you try to operate the keyboard almost blindly from the side? Or are you an eternal optimist, always hoping against hope that there will be a large-screen monitor in the room that you can hook into (and dejectedly falling back on one of the above options when there isn't)?
Or maybe you carry an LCD (liquid crystal display) projector panel so you can project your Powerpoint presentation on a big screen. Unfortunately, a conventional LCD projection panel requires a bright overhead projector (OHP) - something that you can't conveniently carry with you, and not always available at the client's office.

reviewed by Wm. Auckerman

The truly portable EzPro measures about 26x16x32 cm and weighs just 4.2 kg (about half the weight of its main competitors). "You can just pick it up, and off you go. And it's dead simple to use," enthused one user I spoke with.

The EzPro 550 (JPY698,000) has been a big hit here at LINC Media. We asked the product's Japanese distributor, APTi (Advanced Peripherals Technologies, Inc.) to come to our office and give us a demonstration. (They were the only company confident enough to do so; the others either insisted that we come to them for a demo made under controlled conditions, or palmed us off on a "know-little" agent.) That one demo, made under what can only be described as adverse conditions, was all it took. We immediately ordered the SVGA-capable EzPro 550 and had it in time for an important sales presentation the following week. "Thanks to the EzPro, we came across much more professionally," says LINC Media Account Executive Simon Laight. (And we won the contract.)

Let's get technical
APTi's EzPro 550 uses a 6.4-inch amorphous-silicon TFT active-matrix panel with up to 800x600 RGB resolution. The color range is 16.7 million, and brightness is 300 lumens. The projected image size ranges from 40 to 160 inches (a projector-to-screen distance of 1.5 to 6 meters). "Even with the lights on, the picture is fairly clear and readable," says Laight. "A screen gives best results, but if none is available, a blank, light-colored wall will do."

One nifty feature is that the projector unit has a spare lamp installed. If the 400-watt halogen lamp burns out during a presentation, it is the work of about 20 seconds to slide the new lamp into place. No fumbling with a spare stuffed away in a bag, or burning your fingers trying to remove the burnt-out lamp.

The EzPro 550 supports (IBM and VESA) VGA and SVGA, Apple Macintosh (640x480, 67 Hz), and NEC PC-98 and Fujitsu FM Towns (640x480, 60 Hz) input. The video input port accepts NTSC, PAL, and SECAM signals. For sound, use the two internal 3-watt speakers, or hook up an external speaker system.

The EzPro's standard remote control unit offers on-screen display control, digital zoom and pointer, tracking, and frequency adjustment. A remote mouse is an optional feature.

Is it worth the price?
How much is your corporate image worth? In Japan, where decisions are often based as much on proper form as on actual substance, it won't take many extra sales for the EzPro portable LCD projector to pay for itself.

Do potential clients weigh a "little" thing like how you make your sales presentation? Definitely. One satisfied EzPro user I spoke to proclaimed, "It certainly gets noticed." Asked whether he meant the projector or the projected sales pitch, he replied "both!"

LINC Media's Laight agrees. "Not only does it help us sell our services, but on a couple of occasions the client has expressed an interest in buying the projector as well."