Dell M109S (LED projector) - Quick Review

klover · 01-22-09, 12:01 AM

I recently purchased a Dell M109S projector as a portable monitor when I'm visiting my parents. With only one flat panel at their home, it's often difficult to watch a movie or play a game on my own.

Of course, this product was designed for purposes altogether different (business presentations, trade show displays, etc.) but I decided to give it a shot and eat the restocking fee if necessary.

Build
It's incredibly small and, until you own one, you won't have a full appreciation for the size of this thing. I expected a flimsy plastic "toy" but this thing feels solid and well-built.

Inputs
Minimal. A three-cable cord includes the power, composite, and VGA inputs. Thankfully, the projector will accept component inputs via VGA (adapter not included).All of these cables combine into a single multi-pin connector (similar to an iPod connector) that fits into the rear of the unit. The connector fits securely enough but a strong tug would surely dislodge it (and cut the power).

Brightness
Much brighter than expected. The 50 lumen rating was the one specification that concerned me the most. However, in a dark environment it easily projected a 78" diagonal screen that was very watchable.Granted, turning on a light or two will wash the image out considerably but reducing the image size (to 35-45") regains much of the brightness.

The 10,000 hour light source rating is easily the biggest feature for me. It just runs and runs without me giving it a second thought. I can't wait until true HT projectors start incorporating these light sources/engines.

Image Quality

Again, better than expected.

First, the 858x600 resolution is a long way from anything one would consider worthy of a home cinema but is sufficient for console gaming and DVDs. Interestingly, the 858 horizontal resolution allows you to feed 858x480 video to the device which I used to do with my Infocus IN72 (856x480). The extra 58 horizontal pixels help provide the proper widescreen size/AR.

At 78", I had to get very close to see pixels (within a foot). The image doesn't suffer from any flickering or pixel noise. In fact, it looked much better than my old Optoma HD70 (which always introduced pixel noise into dark images).

Screen geometry is excellent. Brightness uniformity is mediocre. The bottom-right and upper-left corners are slightly darker but, in all but full white screen situations, this isn't noticeable. Nevertheless, I called Dell, complained, and received a 15% credit back to my credit card (AKA the "Dell Discount"). I'll send it to the techs later if it still bothers me.

Colors are quite good and better than most business-class units I've used. I suppose one could attribute this to the LED light source but I'm just guessing. Great reds, blues and greens. Yellows are, well, yellow...and not "mustardy".

Rainbows? None. Everything I've read indicated that this unit does not use a color wheel (pulsed LED) and the 50 lumen rating would likely limit much of the dreaded RBE effect anyway. Either way, a pleasing image without a hint of colour breakup (to which I am very sensitive).

Shadow detail in movies is OK and dark scenes are much less muddy than a couple Optoma business units I've used. I can easily see myself watching movies on this.

Finally, the projector has black levels similar to most business DLPs.

Controls/Options

The projector controls are quite poor. Dell has implemented a touch-sensitive set of controls on the top of the projector which do not provide any feedback when pressed. You have to hold the projector, look at the button you want to push, and then look up to see if the menu option as selected accordingly. Cumbersome, inaccurate, and clumsy. All of this would be a moot point if Dell had included a remote. They didn't.

Options-wise, the projector has a few neat tricks. Okay, one really - auto keystoning. I turned it off.

You have your standard colour settings, sharpness, contrast, brightness, white peaking, gamma, colour temp, and separate R,G,B colour saturation controls. There are also "bright", "PC", "Movie", "sRGB" and "Custom" pre-sets. Bright mode is slightly brighter than PC. The rest of the modes are just gamma, colour and brightness presets.

Noise/Heat

The fan is about average for a projector. The LED itself makes a high-pitched noise when it kicks on but this goes away after a few minutes. The little sucker certainly can heat up (it's size most definitely has something to do with that) but it never too hot to handle.

Summary

+ 10,000 hour LED light source
+ Damn small.
+ Better than expected picture quality.
+ No rainbows!

- Poor menu controls.
- Mediocre brightness uniformity.

Some pictures...(all projected images 78"). More to come (including some smaller projection sizes to show the improvement to brightness at recommended size).

victor-eyd · 01-22-09, 12:34 AM

Great review. Thanks. How is the delay on games (COD, i'm guessing) or movies like the T2?

Victor

klover · 01-22-09, 10:27 AM

In terms of video delay or lag, nothing. The projector is equal to my Pioneer Kuro when playing games.

travis_bickle · 01-22-09, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klover

At 78", I had to get very close to see pixels (within a foot).

you are serious? i had the lg hs 101 for a few weeks and the only negative thing was the screen door effect, caused by low res. the lg has svga and i could see the lines on 55" during high contrast pictures (like explosions) from about 6,5 feet. so i dont think the somewhat about 50 more pixels make such a big difference. thats the only reason why i afflict myself with movie-absence in my life and wait for 720p led projector

klover · 01-22-09, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travis_bickle

you are serious? i had the lg hs 101 for a few weeks and the only negative thing was the screen door effect, caused by low res. the lg has svga and i could see the lines on 55" during high contrast pictures (like explosions) from about 6,5 feet. so i dont think the somewhat about 50 more pixels make such a big difference. thats the only reason why i afflict myself with movie-absence in my life and wait for 720p led projector

I didn't test this on high contrast images. I'll check back and update the review if necessary. I run some white text on black background tests.

Another update, Dell told me this unit was certainly defective if the corner brightness was lower than the centre image. They sending a replacement by express and I'll update on the picture quality.

eightninesuited · 01-22-09, 02:29 PM

Very cool review. I'm so pissed there isn't a 720p model. My screen is about 88". I don't really need 1080p from my seating. 720p LED would be enough. And I'm highly rainbow sensitive, so that's good to hear that it is very fast at cycling.

parawizard · 01-22-09, 07:38 PM

After 25 hours on the phone and 2.5 months I finally am getting a refund on this projector. They are ok units. Cannot get them to uniformly focus. I would have probably kept it if it at least focused. I have two units here waiting UPS pickup tomorrow. Both have the focus problem and both have different service tag numbers.

How is yours for focusing?

parawizard · 01-22-09, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travis_bickle

you are serious? i had the lg hs 101 for a few weeks and the only negative thing was the screen door effect, caused by low res. the lg has svga and i could see the lines on 55" during high contrast pictures (like explosions) from about 6,5 feet. so i dont think the somewhat about 50 more pixels make such a big difference. thats the only reason why i afflict myself with movie-absence in my life and wait for 720p led projector

How close were you sitting? I cannot see it and I have better then 20/20 vision at a good 7+ feet. DLP's have high fill rate. Much less screen door then LCDs at least.

klover · 01-22-09, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parawizard

After 25 hours on the phone and 2.5 months I finally am getting a refund on this projector. They are ok units. Cannot get them to uniformly focus. I would have probably kept it if it at least focused. I have two units here waiting UPS pickup tomorrow. Both have the focus problem and both have different service tag numbers.

How is yours for focusing?

Focusing has not been an issue.

I've used both the Dell internal signal (test image 1) and external source focus patterns (H pattern) and consider the focus very uniform.

Corner to corner focusing is quite good and comparable to other projectors I've owned.

parawizard · 01-22-09, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klover

Focusing has not been an issue.

I've used both the Dell internal signal (test image 1) and external source focus patterns (H pattern) and consider the focus very uniform.

Corner to corner focusing is quite good and comparable to other projectors I've owned.

Weird. I played with the settings on both of mine for hours and hours. There was always a patch right above the input menu icon image and top right to bottom right that would only fight each other for focus. I was not able to get both in focus at the same time in both units.

klover · 01-22-09, 11:24 PM

A few more pictures. I've adjusted the image to 45" (from 78" in the earlier photos). Pretty significant increase in brightness.

travis_bickle · 01-23-09, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parawizard

How close were you sitting? I cannot see it and I have better then 20/20 vision at a good 7+ feet. DLP's have high fill rate. Much less screen door then LCDs at least.

first of all i used the 16:9 mode of the lg, so i dont know how high or low the res of this mode is. set it up filling my 55" screen. if i throw an pure white picture i can see the lines from about 4 feet. during film session u normally cant see lines. but through all films (about 5) there were a couple of scenes where u have the effect seeing them from even 6-7 feet. u can see that especially on pictures with high contrast at the end of the white level. for example during landscape pictues where the sun shines or explosions in dark scenes. my previous beamer was an acer ph 530, which enables me to sit as close as i want without seeng lines. so i hope at ise we see first higher res palm or home cinema projectors. or maybe the new laser from mitsubishi for front pjs (http://www.aboutprojectors.com/news/...et-projectors/) will result in my new longtime friend^^. we will see who will win the race and how long the track is (hopefully soon

).

klover · 01-24-09, 11:53 AM

Quick update.

I contacted Dell technical support and explained the brightness uniformity issue (dark corners). They quickly agreed it was a defective unit and are express posting a new unit to me. I'll update when I receive it to see if this issue is resolved.

rtchinn · 03-10-09, 02:20 PM

$379.00 now on Dell.com

parawizard · 03-11-09, 12:52 PM

I couldn't get a unit without uniformity/focus problems. I suggest a Samsung P400 which is significantly brighter and has much better features and non-proprietary ports. About twice the cost of the Dell but well worth it IMO.

dmxsoulja3 · 03-12-09, 09:57 AM

wow this is significantly better then I thought this thing would be, 379 bucks to throw a 50" image and fit in a back pack, would be great for a good night with friends and xbox360. Can you post some dvd screen shots at various sizes from 50-60" when you get your new one? Also can you talk about the lens offset and how you are mounting it in your pics above.

klover · 03-25-09, 04:32 PM

After two replacements, I ended up getting a full refund from Dell.

Each replacement had the same brightness uniformity issues (i.e., dark corners). In fact, the last replacement was worse than all of them (very dark, brownish corners).

parawizard · 03-25-09, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klover

After two replacements, I ended up getting a full refund from Dell.

Each replacement had the same brightness uniformity issues (i.e., dark corners). In fact, the last replacement was worse than all of them (very dark, brownish corners).

Ya, same thing happened to me but it was focus uniformity. 2 Bad units took like 30 hours on the phone and 3 months to resolve the issue and get my refund

DaGamePimp · 03-25-09, 05:14 PM

Sounds to me like the price and size make it worthwhile if you have a use for it and are not overly critical (certainly not something to use as a primary display but for portable use it sounds/looks awesome) .

- Jason

talking_walnut · 06-02-09, 07:17 PM

I've been debating getting an entry level projector for myself recently and this caught my eye. Don't know much about projectors so hoping ye guys can give me some advice.

The size and price are a definite plus for me. Don't think I'd go any higher price wise. Not looking for high def type picture quality. Just something to watch the odd movie on instead of my current crappy 20" 4:3 tv/video combo

. Maybe play some games on it too.

Would this be worth seriously considering? I'm not even sure if I'll get one in the end because I've a 22" LCD monitor in my room that serves me well.

CuriousJ3t · 01-19-10, 02:42 PM

sorry to revive, but I'm in the market for a new micro projector such as this one and I'm curious as to how it compares in its market? (price to brightness)

MCaugusto · 01-19-10, 10:17 PM

I purchased a LG HS201 LED mini projector last week and i am amazed with the picture this babe puts out, mostly having to do with its highly saturated colors, brightness levels, shadow detail, good black level, focus uniformity, HDMI/USB/RGB&component inputs, full picture adjustability, etc, etc...
On my high-gain 76" diagonal screen and running on normal mode, i had to actually decrease the contrast as the picture was too bright !
The LG HS201 puts out 200 lumens, the picture comes on to full brightness levels within 5 seconds (likewise when shutting off) and even after 10 hours of use it gets barely warm to the touch....M.S.R.P. : $500.

01-22-09, 12:01 AM	#1 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a4ac4393' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:30&n=a4ac4393' border='0' alt=''></a>
klover Advanced Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 881	Dell M109S (LED projector) - Quick Review I recently purchased a Dell M109S projector as a portable monitor when I'm visiting my parents. With only one flat panel at their home, it's often difficult to watch a movie or play a game on my own. Of course, this product was designed for purposes altogether different (business presentations, trade show displays, etc.) but I decided to give it a shot and eat the restocking fee if necessary. Build It's incredibly small and, until you own one, you won't have a full appreciation for the size of this thing. I expected a flimsy plastic "toy" but this thing feels solid and well-built. Inputs Minimal. A three-cable cord includes the power, composite, and VGA inputs. Thankfully, the projector will accept component inputs via VGA (adapter not included).All of these cables combine into a single multi-pin connector (similar to an iPod connector) that fits into the rear of the unit. The connector fits securely enough but a strong tug would surely dislodge it (and cut the power). Brightness Much brighter than expected. The 50 lumen rating was the one specification that concerned me the most. However, in a dark environment it easily projected a 78" diagonal screen that was very watchable.Granted, turning on a light or two will wash the image out considerably but reducing the image size (to 35-45") regains much of the brightness. The 10,000 hour light source rating is easily the biggest feature for me. It just runs and runs without me giving it a second thought. I can't wait until true HT projectors start incorporating these light sources/engines. Image Quality Again, better than expected. First, the 858x600 resolution is a long way from anything one would consider worthy of a home cinema but is sufficient for console gaming and DVDs. Interestingly, the 858 horizontal resolution allows you to feed 858x480 video to the device which I used to do with my Infocus IN72 (856x480). The extra 58 horizontal pixels help provide the proper widescreen size/AR. At 78", I had to get very close to see pixels (within a foot). The image doesn't suffer from any flickering or pixel noise. In fact, it looked much better than my old Optoma HD70 (which always introduced pixel noise into dark images). Screen geometry is excellent. Brightness uniformity is mediocre. The bottom-right and upper-left corners are slightly darker but, in all but full white screen situations, this isn't noticeable. Nevertheless, I called Dell, complained, and received a 15% credit back to my credit card (AKA the "Dell Discount"). I'll send it to the techs later if it still bothers me. Colors are quite good and better than most business-class units I've used. I suppose one could attribute this to the LED light source but I'm just guessing. Great reds, blues and greens. Yellows are, well, yellow...and not "mustardy". Rainbows? None. Everything I've read indicated that this unit does not use a color wheel (pulsed LED) and the 50 lumen rating would likely limit much of the dreaded RBE effect anyway. Either way, a pleasing image without a hint of colour breakup (to which I am very sensitive). Shadow detail in movies is OK and dark scenes are much less muddy than a couple Optoma business units I've used. I can easily see myself watching movies on this. Finally, the projector has black levels similar to most business DLPs. Controls/Options The projector controls are quite poor. Dell has implemented a touch-sensitive set of controls on the top of the projector which do not provide any feedback when pressed. You have to hold the projector, look at the button you want to push, and then look up to see if the menu option as selected accordingly. Cumbersome, inaccurate, and clumsy. All of this would be a moot point if Dell had included a remote. They didn't. Options-wise, the projector has a few neat tricks. Okay, one really - auto keystoning. I turned it off. You have your standard colour settings, sharpness, contrast, brightness, white peaking, gamma, colour temp, and separate R,G,B colour saturation controls. There are also "bright", "PC", "Movie", "sRGB" and "Custom" pre-sets. Bright mode is slightly brighter than PC. The rest of the modes are just gamma, colour and brightness presets. Noise/Heat The fan is about average for a projector. The LED itself makes a high-pitched noise when it kicks on but this goes away after a few minutes. The little sucker certainly can heat up (it's size most definitely has something to do with that) but it never too hot to handle. Summary + 10,000 hour LED light source + Damn small. + Better than expected picture quality. + No rainbows! - Poor menu controls. - Mediocre brightness uniformity. Some pictures...(all projected images 78"). More to come (including some smaller projection sizes to show the improvement to brightness at recommended size). Last edited by klover; 01-22-09 at 10:31 AM..

01-22-09, 12:34 AM	#2 \| Link
victor-eyd Quad Yeah! Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Hayward, CA Posts: 1,920	Great review. Thanks. How is the delay on games (COD, i'm guessing) or movies like the T2? Victor __________________ Big Screen/Small Space! My 13x12 Bedroom HT Think small, project big! Small theaters gallery

01-22-09, 02:29 PM	#6 \| Link
eightninesuited Picard was a fool! Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Toronto, Republic of Canuckistan Posts: 4,675	Very cool review. I'm so pissed there isn't a 720p model. My screen is about 88". I don't really need 1080p from my seating. 720p LED would be enough. And I'm highly rainbow sensitive, so that's good to hear that it is very fast at cycling. __________________ No animals were harmed in the creation of this sentence.

01-22-09, 11:24 PM	#11 \| Link
klover Advanced Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 881	A few more pictures. I've adjusted the image to 45" (from 78" in the earlier photos). Pretty significant increase in brightness. Last edited by klover; 01-22-09 at 11:48 PM..

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parawizard Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 44	I couldn't get a unit without uniformity/focus problems. I suggest a Samsung P400 which is significantly brighter and has much better features and non-proprietary ports. About twice the cost of the Dell but well worth it IMO.

01-22-09, 10:27 AM	#3 \| Link
klover Advanced Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 881	In terms of video delay or lag, nothing. The projector is equal to my Pioneer Kuro when playing games.

01-22-09, 07:38 PM	#7 \| Link
parawizard Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 44	After 25 hours on the phone and 2.5 months I finally am getting a refund on this projector. They are ok units. Cannot get them to uniformly focus. I would have probably kept it if it at least focused. I have two units here waiting UPS pickup tomorrow. Both have the focus problem and both have different service tag numbers. How is yours for focusing?

01-24-09, 11:53 AM	#13 \| Link
klover Advanced Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 881	Quick update. I contacted Dell technical support and explained the brightness uniformity issue (dark corners). They quickly agreed it was a defective unit and are express posting a new unit to me. I'll update when I receive it to see if this issue is resolved.

03-10-09, 02:20 PM	#14 \| Link
rtchinn New Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 14	$379.00 now on Dell.com

03-12-09, 09:57 AM	#16 \| Link
dmxsoulja3 Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 288	wow this is significantly better then I thought this thing would be, 379 bucks to throw a 50" image and fit in a back pack, would be great for a good night with friends and xbox360. Can you post some dvd screen shots at various sizes from 50-60" when you get your new one? Also can you talk about the lens offset and how you are mounting it in your pics above.

03-25-09, 04:32 PM	#17 \| Link
klover Advanced Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 881	After two replacements, I ended up getting a full refund from Dell. Each replacement had the same brightness uniformity issues (i.e., dark corners). In fact, the last replacement was worse than all of them (very dark, brownish corners).

03-25-09, 05:14 PM	#19 \| Link
DaGamePimp AVS Addicted Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,917 Classified Rating: 100% (3)	Sounds to me like the price and size make it worthwhile if you have a use for it and are not overly critical (certainly not something to use as a primary display but for portable use it sounds/looks awesome) . - Jason __________________ My HT SLIDESHOW My AVS Gallery

06-02-09, 07:17 PM	#20 \| Link
talking_walnut New Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1	I've been debating getting an entry level projector for myself recently and this caught my eye. Don't know much about projectors so hoping ye guys can give me some advice. The size and price are a definite plus for me. Don't think I'd go any higher price wise. Not looking for high def type picture quality. Just something to watch the odd movie on instead of my current crappy 20" 4:3 tv/video combo . Maybe play some games on it too. Would this be worth seriously considering? I'm not even sure if I'll get one in the end because I've a 22" LCD monitor in my room that serves me well.

01-19-10, 02:42 PM	#21 \| Link
CuriousJ3t New Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 1	sorry to revive, but I'm in the market for a new micro projector such as this one and I'm curious as to how it compares in its market? (price to brightness)

01-19-10, 10:17 PM	#22 \| Link
MCaugusto Advanced Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: BOSTON --- MA --- Posts: 564	I purchased a LG HS201 LED mini projector last week and i am amazed with the picture this babe puts out, mostly having to do with its highly saturated colors, brightness levels, shadow detail, good black level, focus uniformity, HDMI/USB/RGB&component inputs, full picture adjustability, etc, etc... On my high-gain 76" diagonal screen and running on normal mode, i had to actually decrease the contrast as the picture was too bright ! The LG HS201 puts out 200 lumens, the picture comes on to full brightness levels within 5 seconds (likewise when shutting off) and even after 10 hours of use it gets barely warm to the touch....M.S.R.P. : $500.