With a brightness rating of 2,000 lumens at this price, consider the iPod playback a bonus.

Every company seems to be looking for ways to stick an iPod dock into their product, but in the case of the PJ258D ViewDock Projector, there’s a good reason why you’d want it - so you can play your 5G iPod movies on a big screen (the PJ258D isn’t compatible with the new iPod classic, iPod nano, or iPod touch). This projector streams video straight from the 5G iPod and then beams it out at a bright 2,000 lumens and a 1,024-by-768-pixel XGA resolution.

Waitaminute, you say - 1,078 by 768? Think that’s too low to natively run 1080p high-definition video? We agree, if you were playing HD content from a source other than your iPod. But for your iPod, the resolution works fine. And as for the brightness, it’s bright enough for a semi-lit room that fits about 30 people.

The control buttons are inconveniently located on the back instead of the top, but the remote control helps. The zoom is a slider rather than a wheel, but some practice with it helps you recognize its nuances. A screw lock underneath the projector lets you mount it on the ceiling. Screw legs let you angle the unit while it rests on a table.

You can use the PJ258D for business presentations, and if you want to use your iPod to store your slides instead of your Mac notebook, you have to save your Keynote slides as JPEGs. That also means you can’t embed video into your slides. You can even use the projector in your home entertainment center. It has composite, component, and S-Video inputs for other devices, such as a DVD player.

The bottom line. We like the video quality and features of the PJ258D.

COMPANY: ViewSonic

CONTACT: www.viewsonic.com

PRICE: $1,399

REQUIREMENTS: Video-capable iPod, DVI-to-15-pin video adapter

Full 5G iPod integration. Nice design. Good brightness.

Not compatible with current iPods. Fiddly onboard control. We prefer a zoom wheel to a zoom slider. No widescreen mode.