Sunday, April 24, 2011

Optoma EP-PK-101 PICO Pocket Projector- 4 oz.

Optoma EP-PK-101 PICO Pocket Projector- 4 oz.
I've had this for about a week now. I've watched about three movies on it, played Gears of War 2, and watched the Cotto/Pavlik fights off pay per view on this. 
We watched the boxing matches at my brother's apartment, we had the Pico on a tripod and connected to a 2.1 Logitech system. We were able to comfortably watch the fights on a 122 inch image on the wall! We actually could have gone bigger but didn't because of space restrictions. Mind you, the living room was about 90% dark, and the walls are light brown and not white. We were quite impressed! 
What I've noticed though is that this thing is meant for VGA-type stuff. Yes, Gears of War 2 was playable, but it looked... like crap. This is the case when you try to play something that is meant to be played at 10801 or 1080p and view it through VGA. It's going to look bad. 
I knew this before I bought the Pico. My main use for this is to watch DVD's and play Nintendo Wii off of it. So, if you are expecting high-definition off this thing, don't buy it. Only buy this if you're going to watch stuff on the go, and you understand its limitations. Yes, it is expensive, but it is the best of its kind, at least right now (until the Microvision Laser Pico come out, wow) and it doesn't feel like a 1st generation product. 
Pros: 
- 10 or 11 lumens... not that bad! 
- you can get a suprisingly huge image size! 
- I guess because of the DLP, the reds this produces are RED, like it glows red almost. You will notice this, trust me. 
- ultra portible, smaller than my Ipod Touch 2G and LG Voyager. 
- comes with 2nd battery, Ipod adapter... basically everything you need right out the box. 

Cons: 
- EXPENSIVE (however, I got mine for $349 through Microsoft Live cashback). 
- You need a DARK, dark room to get the full effect 
- "Rainbow" effect due to the DLP, but it's not that bad really. 
- I have the feeling this is going to get outdated fast, since the technology is small enough to fit in cell phones. 
- You need to know and expect its limitations, if you can't don't waste your money. 

***UPDATE: (11/27/10*** 
It has been quite some time since I have used this. Since the price has gone down so much, it is not even worth selling. However, there still will be many uses for this product. It is still very much fun to show movies outside in the dark. The perfect complimentary products would be the Epson Duet projection screen (fold out to 80" widescreen) and the Behringer EPA40 portable PA system. The speaker is LOUD, almost to the point of annoyance. Still, the battery lasts for 5-6 hours on a single charge (depending on how loud you crank it, less). All this on a dark night outside would give you a legit movie-theater experience.

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