iSival MP720B1 LED HD 720p Mini Projector - Page 3

Unless you are a trucker, i really cannot fathom why you would want to put a projector in your car. Not to mention the legality of doing so.


Well, there is 1 reason... attention.

The guy from Isival told me that they will coming out with a new LED projector next year that will have much better brightness and less noise, he was also telling me that the new 1080p LCOS is coming out next year but he didnt say if it would be out on the new projector.

I wonder if it's next year as in next September, Cedia 2011.

Thanks for your review! It has helped me to decide! I am going to buy the iSival in November 2010. It will be used to augment my 46" Samsung 1080P LCD TV (where I watch everything now). I hope to use the iSival for movies mostly off HD Satellite or Blue Ray! My one question is - if the lens itself is about 12' from the screen, how large of an image will I get (horizontal and width-wise). I am thinking of using a second "first surface" mirror (along with the one included) in order to gain more distance from the screen and get a 100" (Horizontal) image, which is the full size of my pull down white screen. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer! I will be posting review of the iSival about a month or so after I get it, so I can give it a reasonable amount of time to see how it actually functions!

(first post here on this forum)

I'm looking at this projector as well for my first home theater project.

I will be setting up from a giant old school TV... not sure what you even call them, not flat panel or anything... huge and heavy! CRT I think?

That being said, I'm not a huge video guy like most of you. I like to watch sports and the ocassional show on TV.

I'm going to plug the projector into a media PC and run the sound via a surround sound system.

I'm debating between the iSival and the LG HS201. The iSival appeals to me simply because of ability to display 720p.

The room will be dark, there are no windows. The only light is from my 200gallon saltwater tank, and the lights from that will easily wash out any projector. I plan on installing a track in the ceiling around the tank so I can pull a blackout curtain around the tank.

The screen will be a DIY screen made from white blackout material, i found the plans online... unless anyone else has a cheaper, better solution...

Are those of you with the iSival still happy with your choice?

Keep in mind this is my first projector so anything will be a major step up for this room (have a 50" upstairs, but this is for my 'man-cave')

This isn't a home theater projector, neither is the LG. If you want a home theater, take some time and save up some money, or try to find a used home theater projector... It will be worth it.

Perhaps home theater projector was the incorrect phrase, lets try

"Projector to mount on my ceiling to watch TV and the play the ocassional video game"

It'll prolly work... make sure you have a dark room, and a bright-ass screen though.

Is it your belief that I would be happier with the LS201 model?

It's just as dim.. these thing have 1/10th the lumens of bulbs. Just prepare yourself. IMO, the lg would suck. Good luck getting sniper pwnzed playing video games on it.. it's not even fair playing at 480p.

i'll be buying this projector. and I'll have comparison pics up with it going against my parent's ax200 and my friends sony VW70

It's going to end up in a trashcan if you put it next to a vw70.

If you would like a already made, excellent pull down screen look here:

http://www.bestcovery.com/draper-acc...-manual-screen

For about $100 it a great screen!

Anybody tried it in his car?

My car came with 7 inch flip-down screen. Just right for kids on long trips, but kids are extremely non critical of picture. They hear a movie and the picture hints at the story, and that seems enough for them.

Has anyone tried micro projector on a white board? Maybe 20 inch? When I'm waiting for my wife, I could sit in the third row and project a movie to the second row seat?

I have to admit 200:1 contrast seems woefully low, but there's no law that says it's criminal to foist upon the customer anything less than 1000:1 contrast. If you could make a wish, you'd wish the same product had 4000:1 contrast, but maybe that's a wish for 6 years from today. Products have a way of improving with each passing year.

I believe a product has validity if you can find a use for it. If you thought this product was only good for filling up landfills, you haven't exercised your mind enough.

If you've strained your brain trying to come up with honest to God use for this product, and you've arrived at the conclusion that you've failed, at least it is one product that evolves towards micro projector with portability? I remember early LCD projectors. Critics said LCD had potential.

This micro PJ has potential. For today I recommend to my friends, to my brother and sister, Epson's 8350. It took some 18 years to reach this level of performance at a good price.

I bought that screen I mentioned and am completely pleased with it. I had a home made screen before made with black out cloth and it sucked in comparison. And for the price (about $110.00) with shipping, you can't beat the price of this pull down screen.

As far as the contrast and brightness on the iSival, I had a Sanyo z3, not a bad projector but it was not a super contrast projector either (2000 to 1 with an Iris to achieve it). and about 900 lumens (but of course when configured for video it was more like 300 lumens). So I am willing to give the iSival a chance. I certain like that I will not have to spend $250 for a lamp every year or so! And in truth the heat from those mercury lamps, even if you diligently keep the filter clean, burns up the LCD panels (a really benefit of DLP which doesn't get toasted from the heat). I had to replace my panel in the middle of my ownership and that $400, added to the $250 for the new lamp and the original $1990 for the projector, made it not a good deal at all. If I was not getting the LED iSival I would be getting a 720 DLP but I hate that the under $1500 DLPs do not have any lens shift (a feature on the Sanyo that was really really useful in the room that my projector will be in)! Anyway, ordering the iSival on nov 3, will take some pix and defintely review it for you after I have it a few weeks!

My purpose for it is not theater. Primarily will be used as a portable second monitor for my laptop. The TV/movie watching on the go on some wall is my secondary use. I'm not expecting performance of the VW70, AX200 or my own JVC DiLA projector but i'm expecting it to be watchable enough.

my expectations are realistic. not expecting to be super wowed. but It's better than carrying a small 9" lcd monitor around with my x200 tabletpc.

It comes in next week. I'll have comparison pics up.

If you'd like to snag it for a lower price.
The projector is sold under many different names.
Q-mini m3 hd-720p
Isival (on amazon)
Forever plus LED 720p (when it was first shown last year and featured on engadget)

I'm sure there are more "clones" of names this taiwanese ODM uses in different distribution chains/retailers.

still waiting on mine to arrive.

I tired finding these other "clones" of the Sival but to no avail. I'd have to buy directly from china in bulk - at least 10 - which is not going to happen. Ordering it tomorrow. For those who ordered from Sival, how long after ordering did it take to deliver and who delivered it (US Postal, UPS, Fed Ex, etc)?

Why does it seem to me that there are no "good" or "reputable" companies making LED bulbs for projectors. Is it because they don't want to end the racket with replacement bulbs?

I would love to buy a projector but can't stand the fact that I need to do maintenance on it unlike my plasma.

Does anyone know if they are even in the works?

Here is the update:

I attempted to buy this PJ online at Sival, for some unexplained reason it would not take my debit/credit card. Sival never responded to either my emails or my phone calls (Long distance too I might add - get an 800 number already!!!) It felt like a "message" so I have decided not to buy this pj.

Instead, I am going to save up for an extra month and go with the Acer H5360. It is DLP "Home Theater projector" (1280x720) so it is HD. It also has bulb which lasts about 4000 hours and they are replaceable at around $150 - compared to the $290 I laid out for Sanyo bulbs which at best lasted 3000 hours, !!!

It will be "bright" so I can enjoy it even with a light or two on and it has a lot of control over the image: color, saturation, etc. - refinements that the iSival just doesn't have. I am only concerned with placement (DLPs notorious lack any real lens shift which my Sanyo had in spades), but from what I have read I think I can work with it in the room it is intended for.

Anyway, good luck to others who want to buy the iSival, maybe you will have better luck getting through !

LG and Samsung make "reputable" LED projectors (though both only go to XGA resolution). It will be another year I feel till we get at least a 720 LED from either of those two...

well. that's odd. different chipsets. same platform?
Connected to my computer, mine says Mstar Demo.
it says Q-mini HD-720p-Speaker
Mini projector on the side.

Maybe I can do a comparison with the isival version as my coworker just offered me 350 for this one. (I got it on ebay for much less)

as for it's overall performance. for what I paid for it. It's badass.
I would say defnitely not close to a home theater projector but for something
that you'd leave on for long periods of time. or need the portability and don't want to worry about the
fragility and pain of colorwheel/light bulbs.

Very clear during daylight in poor conditions. from about 4-5 feet from the wall it projects 28 - 35" screen.
Text isn't super sharp but that may be because of the textured wall. It's more than adaquate for movies. yeah.. color isn't accurate but hell. it's the **** for presentations.

For 250 Pure win.

Best place to buy isival would probably be amazon.

although if you don't think you'd be toting it around and are using it for light tv/cinema type duty
and aren't worried about bulbs being burned out and all that cuz you don't leave it on for hours.
Your money would be best spent at 499/599ish for a refurbed epson 720p projector.

the only semi-con I can think of is that the Fan in the version I have is pretty loud. but so is the fan on many business projectors. I'd compare it to a stock intel socket 775 cooler (core 2 quad/core 2 duo) fan at full speed. like a desktop replacement laptop's fan going full speed.

sorry for the rambling review... i'm excited playing with the new toy..
I'll sit down and be more detailed in a bit.
the chipset in this one is different. it's a Mstar 6M68
because it has features the iSival does not such as being able to play xvid and h264 videos from usb and/or sdmemory card. can view documents, pictures. and browse sd cards. it might be way the fan is louder as it has to cool a SoC that handles alot more than just basic video processing.

Have it playing HD video from a 32gb class 8 SD card as we speak. it has a pretty loud onboard speaker. nothing to write home about but its nice to have.

What's the definition of reputable?
just because they are known names?

This unknown chinese 720p LED mini projector "platform"
is better than most of their similar offerings.

I say platform because of all the different clones where some actually have a intel atom pc built into the case while others like the one i got off of ebay have a media player that can play straight from usb or SD.

the one thing in common is the light/video engine/lens assembly.
the thing that differs I suppose is the chipset that accepts the signal.

iSival according to heenan has a SiS while the clone I have has a mStar chipset. also mine apparently does not have all the color calibration/tweaking options I saw that the iSival supposedly has.

for 499. iSival is a no brainer for the most part.
however since this is a videophile forum.
If you can get that Refurb Epson 720p for the same price. that's a better way to go depending on how long the bulbs last and how often you use it.
I'd probably

Well projector Central just did a review and they seem to like this little projector. I think I am going to put this back on the table as a contender. I really, really love the 30K hour of lamp life and the sealed optics to keep out dust!

Now if I could only get in contact with Sival to find out what the problem was when I attempted to purchase it on Nov 3rd!!?