Projector PMP

The nice folks at AAXA has sent us one of their new L1 laser pico projectors for review. Just for your information, AAXA is an advertiser here at picoprojector-info, but I'll try to be as objective as possible.

The L1 Pico-Projector is a small laser-driven LCoS pico-projector (800x600, 20 lumens). It is focus-free, which is great (more on this later). It can accept RCA/VGA/S-Video inputs, and can also read files from a USB key (which is very useful). It's got a little bit of internal memory (160Mb) - which only makes sense for documents or presentations. The L1 costs $599, it's an expensive pico!

Update: Checking at Amazon.com, they now list the MPro-150 for only $346 (that's a $40 drop from yesterday)! 

3M's new MPro-150 pico projector is now shipping for $346 (yeah, we announced this a few weeks ago, but now it seems to be really shipping from Amazon). The MPro-150 is 3M's third pico-projector. It looks pretty much like the MPro-120, but it's brighter (15 lumens), and adds built-in memory (1Gb) and removable micro SD card (it comes with a 2Gb SD card). The MPro-150 supports Office documents, PDFs and Audio/Video files.

3M Mpro-150

Young Optics say that they are very optimistic about pico projectors: shipments of embedded pico projectors are expected to enjoy strong growth. They are working with three handset makers and two digital camera makes to embed their modules into the gadgets. They are also working with 'a number of other multimedia device vendors" that have adopted their modules.

Via digitimes

Optoma's upcoming pico-projectors, the PK201 and the PK301 are now up for pre-order over at Amazon.com. Both use TI's new WVGA (854x480) DLP chip, has USB/VGA/HDMI/A/V ports and  internal memory and microSD slots, and can play back several movie and photo formats. Both are expected to ship within a few weeks.

The PK201 sports 20 lumens (or 12 lumens at eco-mode) and has one 0.5w speaker and an audio-out jack. The PK201 costs $299.

Optoma PK201

The PK301 is very bright at 50 lumens (it also has a 20-lumens eco-mode). It also has a 0.5w speaker and audio-out jack. Optoma will also offer an external battery pack because the high-brightness mode needs a lot of power. The PK301 costs $399.

Optoma PK301

Here's a nice hands-on video of the new AAXA L1 laser pico projector. The L1 is a focus-free laser-driven LCoS projector (20 lumens, 800x600, up to 50" images) with a built-in media player that is now shipping for $599.

You can buy the L1 here for $599.

AAXA's latest pico-projector, the L1 laser pico projector is now shipping for $599. This is a smallish focus-free laser-driven LCoS projector (20 lumens, 800x600, up to 50" images) with a built-in media player.

The L1 costs $599, and is now shipping. AAXA admits that laser-diodes are available in very limited quantities, and supplies of the L1 are limited...

AAXA has announced their latest pico-projector, the L1 laser pico projector. This is a laser-driven LCoS projector (20 lumens, 800x600, up to 50" images) with a built-in media player. It's tiny: 4.2" x 2.1" x 0.8" and weighs just 170 grams (including the battery). It uses lasers, so it's focus-free and can project on curved surfaces. It has 160MB of internal memory, but can access USB disks, and a 2GB one is included. It supports movie, photo and audio files. It also supports office documents. AAXA say that the battery life is 90 minutes.

The L1 costs $599, and is ready for pre-order (should start shipping on February 12). Interestingly, AAXA admits that laser-diodes are available in very limited quantities, and supplies of the L1 are limited...

Yinlips' YDP800 projector-PMP is finally shipping in the US for $240. This is a 4Gb PMP that's also a game-emulator that supports several formats. It includes a 12 Lumens LCoS projector, too.

Via Engadget

I had an interesting discussion with Karl Guttag from Syndiant, about the difference types pico-projectors, I thought it was a good idea to turn it into a post (thanks Karl!).

There are three main types of pico-projectors:

• Stand-alone: These are devices that are essentially just a projector. They receive the input via a cable (A/V, USB, etc) and cannot display anything unless you use another device to stream the video signal. Sometimes these include speakers, too. Examples include the 3M MPro-120, Optoma's PK-100 and PK-101 and Microvision's upcoming laser-based Show WX.
• Media-player: These projectors also include on-board memory (or a memory-card slot) and can play files directly from the memory. Obviously the projector needs to support the file type you want to view, whether it is photos, videos or audio files. Examples include the AAXA P2 and the Optoma PK-102. Some of these projectors actually include a mini PC. The Allcam CP1 actually runs Win-CE, and thus can show Office documents, includes a touchpad controller and can be hooked to external mouse and keyboard. It's a bit bigger and heavier than the average pico-projector, though.
• Embedded projector: in this case the light-engine is added to an existing product (projector-phone, camera, laptop, PDA, etc.) as an accessory. Examples include the Samsung Show phone and Nikon's Coolpix s1000pj camera.

Chinese Yinlips announced a new projector PMP, the YDP800. There's not much info yet - but they say it will be able to display 80" images, has a 3.5" display, and can play 64-bit games.

Via Engadget