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The Pocket-Sized Projector Has Arrived
mallumax writes "David Pogue of New York Times has reviewed the Pico, which is a pocket projector from Optoma. The review is quite entertaining (Pogue projects the images on to a plane's ceiling, leaving passengers baffled) and detailed. The highlights are: It is a pocket-sized projector which runs on batteries and can project images and videos from a variety of sources like iPhone, iPod and DVD players with a 480x320px resolution, with a maximum screen size of 65 inches at 8.5 feet. It uses a non-replaceable 10,000 hour LED lamp and a DLP chip from Texas Instruments. The battery lasts for 90 minutes and can be recharged through USB or with its own power cord. The device weighs 115g and comes with an inbuilt speaker which is practically useless. If you want one, it will set you back by $430."
It's a laser, so it should last like, 40 million hours or something. A tad longer than your average incandescent bulb.
Or you can lie in bed and point the thing straight up. In a dark room, you'll have yourself a huge, bright movie playing on the ceiling.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Being able to carry one in your laptop bag for impromptu meetings is a key use. Having one to project the latest episode of [insert favorite show here] from your cell phone is one of those cool applications you buy it for, even though you'll probably never use it that way.
BTW - not every presentation occurs where there is a mounted projector. In the architecture field, for example, we often give presentations to smaller clients (churches, non-profits, individuals) in class or meeting rooms with nothing but a table, some chairs, and four white walls. These people don't have their "dream buildings" yet...which is why we're working with them.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
That's not much more than the cost to replace my *replacable* lamp for my home theater projector. Which is rated for only about 3k-5k hours.
I'm not exactly a gadget freak but I have to say I do want one of these (not at this price though). With the ability to store a whole bunch of video on a tiny device and the major problem of having to watch it on the little screen, this seems to fill the gap nicely. You just need a flat surface (as the review says, back of the seat in front of you on a plane or whatever) and you can watch it comfortably. And it still fits in your pocket. Why isn't everybody making them?
Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
for those around here that remember 1998, the Rio PMP300 was the 2nd but the most important MP3 player that came on the market. Not exactly ripping it up at 32 MB of RAM but an important introduction nonetheless and ultimately led to Creative and then Apple following with their MP3 players. Given that, in 10 years we may all have them on our key chains next to the USB terabyte drives.
Power Point? Who the hell is going to be using this thing for Power Point?
Sheesh, it fits in a your pants pocket. So does a video iPod. Add porn to this lovely mixture. Do I have to say anything more?
It sure is replaceable! Only $430!
The $430 price is only for new adopters. It'll be $19.95 by the time you have to replace it.
I suspect the opposite is true, and it will find acceptance mainly as a display for iPods, netbooks, etc. As a replacement for business or home theater projector, it is mostly just less bright, since the size usually doesn't matter (most conference rooms have a projector available anyways). But screen size is a real limiting factor in making smaller iPods, laptops, and PDAs - they are totally size-limited by I/O (screens and keyboards).
When it goes on sale in two weeks, it will give parents a completely portable backseat-of-the-minivan movie theater for the kids.
Sure, provided you're driving at night, or with all the windows painted over.
Not to mention it's cheaper too.
I thought he did...
Sometimes, life itself is sarcasm...
and you thought cell phones were annoying when they came out . .
They still are.
They should make the battery replaceable. I think the battery will die long before the LED dies off.