The pico-projector market is a new one, and the products are still evolving. It really wasn’t very long ago that this product’s predecessor, the MPro 110, hit the market. It got pretty lame reviews (before which I prematurely called it awesome), but that isn’t really indicative of the worth of this kind of device. A projector you can keep in your pocket? Genius. Now they just need to get it right. The MPro 120 takes some major steps towards doing that, but that still doesn’t quite elevate it from niche product to must-buy.
For those of you unfamiliar with the tech, what we’ve got here is a tiny little battery-powered DLP projector with a 12-lumen brightness — which, let’s be honest, isn’t very bright at all. But I don’t think anybody expected a pocket projector to be able to throw up a 50-inch screen on a day-lit wall. No, the application here is for when you can control your light: in a closed office, dark bar, or in your home at night.
I was very pleasantly surprised at the brightness, clarity, and size of the image it threw out once the lighting (or lack thereof) was correct. Here’s a long exposure so you can see the dimensions more clearly:
The picture was remarkably clear, and at five feet the image was about 40 inches in 4:3. One fun thing I want to add is that this creates an entirely new kind of party: having beers with a couple friends and trying to play Street Fighter II Turbo while someone moves the projector around the room. Also, incidentally, Mortal Kombat II is blowing it. We did those fatalities exactly right and not one of them worked. Not the projector’s fault, but I needed to get that out.
The perceptive among you may notice that all three RCA cables are going into the projector — yes, this thing has stereo speakers. Not good ones, mind you, but good enough that you can hear dialogue and effects clearly and loudly, though bass is pretty much absent. They tended to clip a lot at max volume — imagine two of the speakers in your phone and how that would sound. Limited and tinny as they are, they’re a welcome addition (the MPro 110 had none).
Battery life was surprisingly good. I’d give it about three hours at full brightness from full to fully empty; I beat StarFox and had a good hour and a half of Street Fighter II with my friends before it was down to low battery status, after which it probably had about 20 minutes left. More life can be gotten, of course, by changing the brightness or not blasting the sound.
Inputs are few but fairly universal: RCA and VGA. If you can’t find a combination of adapters to work something out, you disappoint me. Both pictures were perfectly sharp, and although the fidelity will obviously be lower if you play a 720p movie through a 640×480 projector, it didn’t cripple it or downsize it in any horrible way.
Controls are simple and clear: volume, brightness, power, and a focus dial. All work as expected.
3M thoughtfully includes a sturdy little flexi-tripod that was extremely handy in positioning the projector. It has a little flip-down foot at the front, but that only elevates it by half an inch, so the tripod stays on for the most part.
The Bottom Line
Having a projector with you sounds pretty cool, but the truth is it’s pretty rare that you actually need one on the run. Combine that with its poor performance in anything but the darkest of situations, and you have a pretty limited tool. That said, within its narrow set of parameters, this is a great little device. The downside is its cost: at $350, it’s a whole bill more than its closest competitor, the Optoma PK102, which has the benefit of 4GB of internal space — possibly a killer feature.
At the rate they’re improving these things, I can’t really recommend buying one unless it really fills a need you have. Maybe you give presentations on the go. Maybe you’re a guerrilla film-shower. But I have a feeling that in six months there’s going to be one of these that’s even better, and this one will be a hundred dollars cheaper. A great little device, but at the moment, a bit ahead of its time.
This is quite a cool projector and a real improvement on the Mpro 110. I think in most cases the nature of pocket projector means its highly portable so its easy for the user to choose exactly where it projects ie onto a light or dark area in a room – you can usually find some spot which is ok and most boardrooms are fine just by turning the lights off.
The 3m mpro 120 is definitely one of the brighter pocket projectors out there especially with its enhanced brightness.
The PK102 doesnt really work for me as it doesnt have the VGA to laptop connection which most business people are gonna need – and the 3m does have this connector.
Whilst the onboard storage is good on PK102 device it really needs both the VGA connection and the onboard memory (plus SD card).
The only option right now for the best of all worlds is the Adapt 305 pocket projector which not only has the 4gb storage but also a standard VGA connector too. Its also one of the worlds brightest projectors at 45 lumens.
Its more expensive at £300 (plus vat) and is available at the end of Oct from http://www.personalprojector.co.uk
Overall the 3m has definitely a place for business, education and travel users as long as they can control the lighting and dont expect a 2,000 lumen light show. Bottom line is you get your message across and there is still a wow factor in pulling a personal projector out of your pocket!
This Pico Projector is cool but there is an even cooler one on the http://www.aiptek.com web site with a built-in:
4GB memory
Flash memory card support up to 32GB
Media Recorder and Player
Media / Menu controls on top of unit
VGA input
640×480 native resolution
LCOS LED with 10,000 hr lamp
Li-Ion Battery / mini-USB powered
Tripod included
4:3 aspect ratio
10 lumens
up to 50 inch imag
Focus wheel
There is another model capable of creating up to 42 inch images that lacks the built-in media recorder / player. Lots of cool things can be done with these devices. Going to the club and wanna show off? No prob, pull out the pocket projector, mash play on the projector, and dance the night away with your own light show.
Need to advertise while on the go or have multiple video presentations ready at a moments notice? No problem. Attach to a Netbook and run your business or use the model with the built-in player to give on-the-spot demonstrations. Then ask to schedule a formal meeting where you can use a traditional projector to close the deal.
Tailgating? Going camping? Going to your favorite sci-fi con? All of these are great uses for these types of projectors. Give demos of your newest DVDs with or without a portable DVD player. Great for catching people’s attention when in public. Who’d expect to see a light show or video advertising at street fair?
Use it for in-store rear projection to draw customers into your establishment or to run samples of your art, services, or other products. In a “home-made” rear projection setting you already have control of the lighting and do not need to dim or shut off the lights in your store just to see the screen. The video should be sufficiently bright to view the video but not bright enough for customers to use their digital video recorders (camcorders, digicams, etc) to make personal bootlegs.
I had one of those tripods shown in the photos but I lost it. Anyone know what brand it is? I want to get another one, it’s totally wonderful.
Gorillapod makes stuff like that, but not this exact one, since it came with. It is very handy, though.
I have the exact flexible mini tripod with an Olympus stamp on it. It’s over ten years old. They can be found http://www.meritline.com/camera-camcorder-tripod-986—p-34048.aspx
Or try here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/272486-REG/Sunpak_620786_Tabletop_Tripod_with_Flexible.html
Excellent, thank you.
Thanks! I found it on Amazon.com also. I’ve got two of the Gorillapods (small and medium) and like them but they aren’t as convenient as the sunpak.
I am one of those rare on-the-go film-showers . . . I know, odd, but true.
I hate luging this gigantic dell, can anyone make a real recommendation? Not a my brother said his boss used blah, blah, blah.
I teach classes in well lit rooms and need to be able to project for 3+ hours tied to a laptop – have to start stop, rewind, ff presentation as students ask questions.
Recommendations appreciated.
This one comes to mind.
I’ve recently come across Aaxatech’s 2nd gen pico as well, their P2. For those who think 10-12lumens is too dim, they sport 33lumens!
http://www.aaxatech.com/products/p2_pico_projector.htm
the AAXA P2 is pretty nice – all of these second generations are pretty similar level of quality – The third generation pico’s is where its going to be at!
Good review though fair play
Micro Projector 5 will document it all!
http://www.microprojector5.co.uk
http://wiki.microprojector5.co.uk