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Optoma EP-PK-100 PICO Pocket Projector
By pfhometheater | February 1, 2010
- Ultra-light at 4 ounces including battery
- Projects image size up to 60 inches; Utilizes DLP Pico technology
Resolution 480 x 320 - LED light source lasts over 20,000 hours
- Recharge battery via USB or included AC charger
- With optional iPod/iPhone Upgrade Kit play directly from your Apple device (Part No. BC-BBIDMJA)
Product Description
The versatile Optoma PK100 PICO projector is the smallest projector you have ever seen! Its compact size and durability make it a must have for sharing videos and images on-the-go. Small enough to fit in your pocket, bright enough to spark your imagination…. More >>
Optoma EP-PK-100 PICO Pocket Projector
Written by Patrik Karlsson - Projectors For Home Theater
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Topics: Projectors For Home Theater | 2 Comments »
February 1st, 2010 at 7:41 pm
I was surprised by how well this device works, especially because it is so small. The size and weight of a cell phone, the PICO is a very compact and bright DLP projector. It is powered by a flat cell phone battery, or by an external AC adapter through the mini-USB port. The prongs on the adapter are interchangeable, an increasingly common feature, for those who travel abroad (US prong included, additional prongs sold separately). Video and audio input is through a single port on the side, using an composite cable with an audio-jack shaped plug on one end. Portability is where the PICO excels, but it comes with a sacrifice. It is perfect for people who need to take their show on the road, provided that you’re only outputting from a portable media player, digital camera, or device with composite outs. It won’t replace full-size projectors because of the 480 x 320 resolution and lack of VGA port. You’ll still need a regular projector for laptop output and business presentations.
But for personal use, the Optoma opens up the possibility of family movie nights! You can enjoy big screen fun at about 1/3 of the price of traditional DLP projectors, and you don’t have to worry about storage. It also comes with a protective soft zippered pouch (but it’s too snug to fit the unit in easily).
The PICO is very easy to use and there’s only 1 control: a focus dial. It’s a bit finicky, but it works. There’s no setup screen or any other hassle. It turns on instantly and displays the video the moment you plug in the cables. I tested it out on my Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player and ASUS O!Play – TV HD Media Player (Black) playing back some movies through the composite outs. Video quality looked pretty good, given the size of the device. Not great, but very acceptable. I sat the PICO on my desk about 15 feet away from the wall. The resulting video was about 10 feet across by 8 feet tall, covering almost my entire wall, and easily viewable. This distance was no problem with loss of brightness or visibility. The closer the screen is, of course, the brighter the image is (but smaller). It was actually quite cool projecting this onto my wall and I felt a sense of giddiness at seeing how big the video was. It was like having my own little private theater. I didn’t like the lack of volume controls on the unit though, but this is a minor inconvenience as you can adjust the audio through the source device. The unit only has one speaker but no audio passthru port, another weak point, but it’s loud enough in a small room of people. If you’re competing with outside noise, it will probably be inadequate.
This product would’ve scored higher had it not been for the battery. The projector itself is warranted for 1 year. The battery for only 3 months! When I first got the projector, I charged the battery up fully, then forgot about it for a few weeks. Expectedly, it lost its charge during that time, so I left it plugged in overnight. The next day, I unplugged it and discovered that unit would not turn on. The battery inexplicably died. The red LED on side normally lights up when charging. I had to run the unit plugged into the wall at all times because of the faulty battery. This may be an isolated incident, but Optoma’s 3 month warranty on the battery isn’t very reassuring. This is definitely fishy and something to consider.
To summarize: if you’re looking to connect a laptop to this, look elsewhere because it has no VGA port, and the low resolution means you won’t see much even if you use a [[[...] High Resolution VGA to Composite or SVideo Converter (VGA2VID)]] because laptops are typically 1024×768 or higher. For geeks and video enthusiasts, the possibility for home theater fun may be an attractive selling point.
Rating: 4 / 5
February 1st, 2010 at 9:17 pm
The Pico PK100 is a very small battery powered portable projector that produces a surprisingly good image in a darkened room. This model only supports composite video input. I was given this projector as a gift so I would likely have chosen the Optoma PK102 Pico Pocket Projector for the additional PC VGA support if picking one out for myself (I bought Sabrent PC Laptop Mac Computer to TV Presentation Converter, VGA to Video, PC to TV Converter Box, VGA-Video Converter TV-PC85 to provide the composite video, works great). That being said, the PK100 is still a remarkable device that is both fun and useful.
The box contains the Projector, rechargeable battery, USB cable (for charging only), charger, tripod adapter, and composite videoaudio cable (Yellow, Redwhite). We tried several video sources, including a digital camera, portable DVD player, and an iPod Nano (with the video output cable). These all worked well and produced perfectly acceptable image quality.
The unit has two brightness levels, but I always use the brightest one as it makes the truest colors. The darker the room the better, but the image is very visible at 6′ in normal home ambient lighting. At 6′ the image projected is roughly 2′x3′ at 12′ the size is 4′x6′ but too washed out in anything but near total darkness.
Having a projector that works so well and that can be slipped into a pocket is very cool.
Highly Recommended!
CFH
Rating: 5 / 5