Having never owned a pico projector before, I was intrigued by the idea of them. My old projector has a blown bulb, and instead of spending another $300 for a new bulb I decided I would give this a whirl. I spend a lot of time at work or traveling, so I wanted something to have handy if I ever wanted to play a game or watch a video on the go. I just received my pk320 today and here are my initial impressions:Pros
1) Very small
2) Lightweight
3) Still feels durable despite 1 and 2
4) Bright picture....this one shocked me. In my living room with the lights on (granted this took place at night) I could clearly see the picture when projected onto a wall across the room. I imagine the result with my projector screen will be better.
5) Built in card reader and decoder work well. I loaded some avi's onto a memory card to test out how this would work. Not only did it work quickly, it also was able to find the avi's I nested within a folder.
6) Built in speaker works surprisingly well
7) Seems like optoma listened to some of the feedback from earlier models and included a remote and some accessories with this model.
8) Padded case seems nice
Cons
1) There is no keystone adjustment feature. This is actually a large issue, in part because of the size of this unit. If you put this on a table/desk/furniture/etc... there's a high chance you will not be directly centered from where you are projecting the image. The tilt up/down/to the side causes very visible distortion in the image shape. It's still watchable, but this seems like a huge oversight for a projector that cost $400+
2) Fan is loud when on "bright" mode (100 lumens). Fan noise is most definitely audible when the projector is running at 100 lumens. This isn't a deal breaker, and honestly it's not terribly loud.
3) Even though the padded case seems nice, there is no spot to put your charger or any accessories.
4) Unit heats up quickly. I haven't had it on for prolonged periods yet, so I'm not sure how this will effect the picture quality or processing. I can tell you that during my 10-15 minute trial runs today it became warm to the touch. These were all during 100 lumen "bright mode" tests, so perhaps the effect is not as great on the normal mode.
5) Cords for accessories are short and move the projector if you are adjusting the input device position. To fix this (and help fix problem 4), I would recommend getting a good mini-tripod. I wouldn't skimp on something in the $1-2 range. I personally went with Joby GP1-A1EN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod (Grey and Black). It was still relatively cheap, and does an excellent job holding the projector firmly in position. I imagine that tripod will also come in handy when I want to bring the projector outdoors along with some external speakers to have a movie night with friends.
6) No lens cap for the projector. The lens appears to be made of plastic and is recessed, but this still seems like an area for concern. A small modification to add a lens cap, which I can't imagine would cost much, could have corrected this issue.
I'll try to do a more detailed review soon, and maybe a video review if I get enough time. Overall I am pleased with the projector, but I still have some other tests I want to do before rendering a final verdict. If you go into this purchase expecting to get high definition, movie theater quality images...you will be disappointed. If you go into this realizing you are trading off movie theater quality picture and a huge projector in exchange for ease of portability while still maintaining a good picture, you will likely be happy.
Initially I'd give this a 4/5.
*Update 3/10/2012*
After having some time to play around with this, I have some additional comments:
* The sound is not nearly as loud as I thought when you are in a large room. It is still better than nothing, but you will likely need an external speaker of some sort to fully enjoy this. Not a deal breaker though, this is a small projector so this shouldn't come as a shock.
* The unit is not as bright when played for a long time. This was expected, as Optoma has admitted their projector dims itself slightly if it gets too hot. Mainly mentioning this so others are aware this is normal behavior.
* I have had some severe problems when playing media directly off the projector (either via micro SD or internal memory). In a handful of cases, the audio is out of sync. In one case, the audio did not play at all. Other times when moving from one video file to another, the projector simply will not play the file. If I restart the projector, the file plays fine. These examples are all using files that meet the Optoma specifications for what the projector can play back. I thought that there may be a chance the firmware was outdated, but when I went to the Optoma site I couldn't even find firmware for this model. Seems to be a big oversight. I plan to call tech support tomorrow to find out what is going on.
* I'm going to do further testing on this issue, but yesterday I started up my projector and after the "Optoma" logo, I got a blank white screen. It did not take me to the menu. This continued several times until I plugged the projector into the charger. I'm not sure if this is normal behavior for when the unit is low on battery, or if there is a bigger issue. This is another item I plan to address with tech support tomorrow.
Overall I am still happy with this unit, but a lot will be riding on my interaction with Optoma tech support tomorrow. I'll keep this updated with the results. Also, I did get a chance to take some pictures in full fluorescent lighting as well as dim lighting. I'll post those in a future update.
*Update 3-18-2012*
I contacted Optoma tech support and they confirmed that my unit is faulty. They said it either has bad software, or a bad battery. Strangely, they advised me to return the unit to Amazon and have Amazon fulfill a new unit. Strange, specifically because the paper inside the box says "STOP! Call tech support and send your unit in for repair before returning it to your place of purchase".
At any rate, I have my new unit now and I'll be testing it out during the week.
If I am doing presentations in a large room to a lot of people, I still need the big projector, but the PK320 is plenty bright enough for someone's office of small meeting room. Some of my meetings with people inspire ad hoc presentations. I have many preloaded on microSD card in the projector. Now I can whip out the projector and say, "let me show you...". Within seconds, I am able to shine the presentation on a wall. I carry a bright white piece of paper that allows me to throw a 50 inch image. The paper folds down to 8 X 10. No cords. No waiting for extensive warmups. The PK320 is ready to go quickly. Buttons on the top allow me to find the presentation I need quickly and easily. POW I'm off and running.
I have received comments from some I have given presentations to that they were impressed with my preparedness. When I said, "I have a presentation I would like to show you." I merely reached in my pocket and pushed the power button while I was still talking.
The PK320 has 2 brightness modes. Most of the time, I find that I need the high brightness mode, which eats up battery life or depends on external power (from an external battery pack or wall power). I use the external battery pack because its small size is less that the space required for power cords and adapters. The low brightness mode really requires a dark room. The high brightness mode (150 lumens) gets washed out by direct sunlight or bright room lights, but it is bright enough to have moderate lighting on sufficient for people to take notes.
Because of the brightness issues with any pocket projector, I have adjusted my presentations to use high contrast colors. I have not encountered any problems with readability or washout. I do, on occasion, also show some videos with the PK320, and some of those do get washed out if lighting is too high. However, I find myself leaving the old notebook sized road projector at home 95% of the time now that I have the PK320. No more cords to mess with. Everything is in my pocket, literally.
Free at last, free at last!
Buy Optoma PK320, WVGA, 100 LED Lumens, Pico Pocket Projector Now
I was very excited about this item for two reasons, its portability, and the fact that the bulb would last a very long time so I wouldn't have to worry about replacing it as I travel internationally. Unfortunately the projector started malfunctioning right off the bat. Within three months I had to replace the cord, it cost sixty two dollars. After I received the cord, within a month the new cord doesn't work correctly. I don't think there's anything wrong with the cord, it appears that at the junction point of the cord going into the projector is a malfunction in the design, as it does not want to sit straight for very long, causing it to not connect correctly, which causes the projection to cease in midstream. Can't watch things very long before this happens.Also, within six months the pixels I think, the screen started showing one white dot, then after another month it was three, and after a year it's like sixteen white dots on the screen from the lens coat falling apart or something. Bottom line, within one year this thing is a piece of junk, and at four hundred dollars, it s a big disappointment.
Read Best Reviews of Optoma PK320, WVGA, 100 LED Lumens, Pico Pocket Projector Here
It was brilliant while it worked. I bought this unit about a year ago for business presentation while on the road. I used it less than 10 hours in total. Last month I was about to give a presentation to a small group of people using this projector only to find out 100s or maybe 1000s of pixels were dead. It was so bad that I had to use my small laptop screen to continue the presentation. It was a great idea to pack many features and LED light sources in the small body but terrible quality although, I admit, it feels solid. I would not recommend this unit at all. If you can live with a projector that is a size of 13" laptop instead of pocket size one, I recommend Casio XJ-A256 3000 Lumens WXGA DLP Projector with USB and Wireless Projector or Epson PowerLite 1776W Widescreen Business Projector (WXGA Resolution 1280x800) (V11H476020). These are 'real' projectors, not compromising brightness or features at all. 3000 lumens is high for regular projectors you can use it in lighted room no problem and they will probably last many years. If they are too big or too pricy for your need, I would suggest View Sonic series, such as View Sonic PLED-W200 WXGA Front Projector, 300 Inches Black or ViewSonic PLED-W500 80-Inch 720p Front Projector (Black). View Sonic PLED-W200 WXGA is a direct competitor of Optoma PK320 Pico Pocket Projector, but it's much brighter and let's be honest, View Sonic is much more established (trustworthy) brand. Brand name really matters IMHO. I ended up buying a Epson PowerLite 1776W Widescreen Business Projector (WXGA Resolution 1280x800) (V11H476020). Ass-kicking performance! No comparison!Want Optoma PK320, WVGA, 100 LED Lumens, Pico Pocket Projector Discount?
So I just purchased this item a couple of days ago, and I was concerned about 2 things:1/ The brightness. 100 lumens is nothing compared to the full-size projectors that are in the 3,000 lumens range, so I was really worried that the room would have to be pitch black in order to make anything out. I was wrong I got an EXCELLENT picture, even in my living room, with several light sources present. The clarity was perfect too!
2/ The noise the fan generates when connected to a power source. I read that it can be deafening at times, but that's rubbish. I barely noticed the sound, and it's nothing more than you'd get with a typical laptop anyway (which you're skipping by storing stuff directly on the SD card).
Overall, an excellent purchase! Love this
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