The ViewSonic PJ458D is a digital light projector (DLP), so you could reasonably expect it to be rather expensive. But you'd be 100 percent wrong, as it sells for significantly less than the psychological price point of £999. The XGA resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels is a good compromise as it doesn't cost much more than VGA, while the step up to SXGA can triple the price of a projector.

You get the usual range of ports neatly arranged along the back of the projector to allow VGA, Composite, S-Video and Component inputs, plus an audio mini jack but not, you will note, DVI. ViewSonic includes a full range of cables, however the audio cable has a pair of RCA connectors at one end, rather than the mini jacks that most PCs and notebooks use.

Setting the projector up is relatively quick and simple, although the combination of two drop-down feet at the rear of the projector plus a threaded height adjuster at the front is a bit fiddly. The zoom and focus controls are easy to reach through a window on the top of the lens housing, and we found that we could set the projector up without any reference to the manual.

Technically the projector delivers the goods with a brightness rating of 2,000 ANSI lumens and a contrast ratio of 2000:1 with a rated noise level of 34dB. If you have the patience to navigate through the Advanced menu to switch to Eco mode the noise level drops significantly to 32dB.

Our reservations about the ViewSonic unit are all centred around the DLP technology, which may sound odd because it works perfectly and doesn't have any of the horrid rainbow artefacts that used to afflict DLP projectors.

We also fully accept that many people love DLP because it allows a high contrast ratio with true 'blacks' and bright whites, but still we stand by our opinion: the image that is projected by the ViewSonic projector is accurate and bright but it is also very harsh on the eye and that makes it quite uncomfortable to look at. Naturally we tried to adjust the image but this made the colours dull and muddy.

We fully expect that the PJ458D will be used by mobile workers as it is highly portable with a weight of 2.3kg and dimensions of 256 x 88 x 200mm, which means that it will be connected up to a laptop. The problem here is that you spend your time glancing from the TFT screen of your laptop to the projected DLP image and back again, and the transition is so intense that we found the ViewSonic projector uncomfortable to use.

The ViewSonic PJ458D is a smart DLP projector that delivers a decent specification at a low price. However, we found that the image was very bright and intense, making it very much a matter of personal taste. We strongly recommend that you see the PJ458D in action before you make your buying decision.