At first sight, the D25 looks much like a medium-sized boombox, with FM radio, CD, SD and USB playback. When you look closer, though, it's the bulge on top that separates it from the crowd. This is a digital projector, which can be used to play DVDs from the built-in drive, Freeview programming from the on-board DVB-T tuner, or slides from memory card.

Built-in projector
The projector is an LED-lit, Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) unit with an output of just 20 lumens. Given that most projectors have an output of between 1,000 and 3,000 lumens, you might think this wouldn't be bright enough for any sensible use. In fact, it provides a dim image in a daylit room but a very watchable one with the curtains drawn, or at night.

The projector can focus from 20cm - when the picture has a diagonal of around 13cm - to a maximum od 300cm, at which point the picture is 190cm across. Focus is manual, using the collar around the lens. The projector module is mounted with a hinge to a small swivel, so you can aim it forward or backward and up and down from the horizontal.

Inputs and outputs
Set into the front panel are USB and SD card sockets, so you can plug in a USB drive or memory card with music or video to play them back. At the back are composite outputs for video and audio - though no equivalent video inputs - plus jacks for mic and line inputs.

There's also a coax socket for the supplied mini-tower TV aerial, but this will only give satisfactory Freeview TV if there's a very strong signal. A household aerial can be connected just as easily, though. A telescopic FM antenna is fitted to the back of the case and the main controls are neatly organised, though they're left looking rather cheap by their light, plasticky appearance. Most of the controls are left to the infra-red remote.

Power and precision
The D25's audio ouput is a healthy enough 4W RMS per channel, and the 80mm speakers produce a well balanced, clear sound - as good on orchestral scores as they are with rock music. It's more than adequate for handling film soundtracks.

There are flaws in the D25's design, though. The hinge on the projector module isn't stiff enough to support it at all of the angles at which you might want to position it - which makes projecting on the ceiling, for example, awkward.

Although it uses an LED light source, the unit still has a cooling fan, which isn't silent, and the projector takes too much power to be used when the D25 is running on batteries - even though it requires eight C' cells.

Verdict
£300 may seem a high price for a boombox, but the addition of the projector makes this a very versatile player. Audio and video from DVDs, CDs, footage from USB drives and memory cards, as well as the Freeview TV from the internal tuner are all well reproduced. The D25's only real downside is the fact that it looks a little cheap and plasticky.

Company: Aiptek

Website: http://Firebox.com

Contact: 0844 922 1010 (Firebox)

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