I had pre-ordered this projector for almost a month before it was shipped, which gave me time to contemplate my purchase decision. I went around to the shops and checked the PK 201, 102 models and other brands like the 3M pico projector and the Samsung palm sized LED projector. Especially that I have a full size DLP HD projector that i bough last year. The inconvenience of having to setup the screen and the speakers in the garden to watch a nice cinematic experience on giant screen reduced these occasions to just a handful through a year. I had high hopes for the portable battery operated projector but I was aware of the fact that its power was low and can only be used in dimmed rooms.
It finally arrived, and much to my surprise it beat my expectations just out of the box. it looks and feels better than any of the other ones i have examined first hand. The casing is sturdy and compact although the zoom swivel looks fragile.
The picture quality is very good and can certainly beat the quality of a regular TV. i used it with a nokia micro SD card from my old mobile and i ran a slide show on the ceiling with short videos it took my breath away. i hooked it up to my iphone and watched a full movie in my bedroom in full widescreen mode, you will be in for a good surprise :) you only need the AV cable for the iphone or ipad and a bluetooth or wired earphones and you have you 100% portable cinema box that fits in your pocket. I also tried it with apple TV connected through the HDMI link. It delivers a very nice picture. the built in speaker is good enough for my kids to watch cartoon while sitting just behind the projector.
Although I love this projector i have a few comments to make.
The battery life is not enough for one full movie and does not charge well if you operate the projector while it is plugged to power source.
It heats up a little too quickly, i know it is summer time but in 10 minutes it's casing is hot.
With that said, my final verdict is still excellent and highly recommended.
I also recommend the following accessories:
1) A small tripod is very important for ventilation and also positioning
2) The remote is very handy because the buttons on the projector are small and as they dim you cannot make out which button you are pressing. also good for slide shows and short videos off the memory card. Optoma PK301 Pico Pocket Projector
I use this projector for video and image files. In my opinion, it is best suited for impromptu displays for groups of 5 people or less. I always load all my materials on a 16GB class 6 Micro SD card which I leave plugged into the projector. I seldom use it connected to my linux gear, tho it works fine with all my 'nix machines including my Nokia N900. It's great for quickly displaying something on a white board in someone's cubicle. You don't need a lot of complicated equipment and a laptop because everything is thoughtfully self-contained.
Although software does come with the projector for converting PowerPoint presentations to a portable format that can be loaded to an SD card (as well as converting videos), I don't use that software because it's for windows and I'm not a windows user.
The PK301 is larger than my 3M Pro120 with greater resolution and a significantly brighter/sharper picture. I don't notice any of the rainbow effects that are sometimes a nuisance on my 120. It throws a 32 inch diagonal 16x9 aspect picture from 4ft away which is bright enough to be enjoyed in most office lighting conditions (overhead florescent). Usually, I'm just holding the projector at belly button height. The focus-ring is great and makes it easy to get a tack-sharp picture. You can operate all the controls with your thumbs because they are centered on the top of the machine with the exception of the on/off button which is on the side. It accepts a camera tripod (not included), and I bought a mini-one to set on a desk/table top for when I connect to my netbook or something.
Battery life is much, much less than the 3M (I get about 30-40 mins), but unlike many projectors, you can use the power cord while the projector is running for unlimited working time.
I use Mpeg 4 video formats with this projector when playing programs from the Micro SD card. I experimented with several tweaks and bit rates and discovered that the internal video player software cannot play variable bit-rate MP4 encodings. It does, however, play constant bit rate, quality, or quantization videos very well. I settled on MP4, Level 5, 720x408p (yes, 408 - remember it's 16x9), 29.97fps, constant quality 13, with 128kbps AAC 48khz audio. You need a class 4 or above SD card because the video will stutter if played from a class 2.
While you're playing a video, the < and > buttons allow for RR and FF, and the up and down buttons control the volume. The remote (sold separately here at Amazon) has an additional volume control on it as well as a mute button. You can shut off the projector from the remote, but you cannot turn it on. And order yourself a CR2025 lithium battery for the remote (it doesn't come with a battery). I got mine at Target, but they can be hard to find.
And at the end of the day I set the projector on the hotel nightstand and flip the tripod head to vertical. Then I can lie in bed and watch a movie or music videos on a 50" video picture projected on the ceiling (which is almost always white in hotels). I can shut off the projector and there's no lingering cooling fan to keep me awake.
--- UPDATE
The internal media player cannot play Video files > 2,048MB. If a movie exceeds that, the directory shows a negative size (meaning the code doesn't use long integers) and you'll get an error message about an unrecognized format. You must break the movie into smaller files or reduce your encoding quality to constrain the movie to 2GB. - Pico Projector - Pico - Led Projector - Mini Projector'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
