If you spend your life presenting to small groups, the Toshiba TDP-FF1A projector could be of interest.

To start with it’s tiny. Small enough, in fact, to fit into a large pocket, and it’s lightweight too, weighing in at just over half a kilo.

The Toshiba TDP-FF1 also comes with a portable screen and uses a light-emitting diode (LED) rather than a conventional mercury bulb, making it both very robust and economical to run.

However, it’s not particularly cheap and compromises have been made to achieve the small format.

The FF1 comes as a complete kit in a deceptively large carry case to accommodate not just the projector itself, but the neat folding screen designed for ad-hoc presentations.

Other than that, the bag is almost empty with the projector itself measuring just 135 x 100 x 55mm (w x d x h).

A standard 15pin D-Sub video port is used to hook the projector’s SVGA (800 x 600) output to a PC using the cable provided, with a composite video RCA socket underneath and audio connectors alongside.

There’s also a USB socket into which it’s possible to plug a Flash memory stick containing jpeg images for a totally PC-less presentation.

You don’t even have to plug it into the mains, thanks to a clip-on lithium-ion battery, enabling the projector to be used for up to two hours between charges.

Focusing is done by manually turning the lens and there’s a screw foot underneath to adjust the display angle. However, this isn’t very effective and we ended up balancing it on a pile of books.

The four buttons needed to control the projector are all on the top, with a credit card-sized remote control also included in the kit.

The small size is all down to the use of a DLP (Digital Light Processor) chip and the LED light source, with a 10,000-hour life another big advantage compared to mercury bulbs which, somehow, always seem to need replacing just before a big presentation.

It also means that you can power up and start using the FF1 straight away.

Likewise, when you’ve finished, there’s no need to wait for the bulb to cool down. Just switch off, throw it in the bag and you can be off to your next appointment.

Unlike a conventional projector, however, it’s not particularly bright, plus you’re limited to a maximum resolution of just 800 x 600pixels. Good enough, perhaps, for a small group, and the accompanying screen has a reflective surface which helps.

But with a maximum projection distance of around 2.5m the resultant picture isn’t very big.

The bundled screen measures 570mm diagonally, roughly the same as a 22in TV, enabling a group of people to sit around a table and view a presentation in daylight.

However, when we enlarged the image and projected it onto a larger screen or wall, it became necessary to draw the blinds and at the maximum size (1.75m) there was a high degree of fuzziness, further added to by the relatively low resolution.

Portability is clearly the major selling point of this Toshiba projector and that could be important if you spend your time giving demonstrations, running courses or pitching for business to small groups.

However, to present to larger numbers or for permanent installation, a conventional projector is still the technology of choice.