Quick Review: AAXA P1 Pico Projector

[quicke60]

I've been meaning to write a review for sometime on the AAXA P1 pico projector. Have had it for a few months but never really got around to writing a review about it...

PROS:

Portability! This unit is a true pocket projector (fits in your pocket), is battery powered, and runs about 1 hour on battery power. It's an awesome companion for your mp3 player (Ipod, zune, whatever) and is also great if you have a video out in your head unit. The projector is capable of about a 20-25" image in a lighted room and you can easily go beyond 70" in a dark room which is pretty damn awesome considering you basically have a 70" pocket TV! The nice thing about the AAXA micro projector is that it has higher resolution than a lot of the other ones out there (640x480), it's a bit brighter (12 lumens) and it has onboard video / picture / music player which also has 1gig of storage and can take up to a 4 gig micro SD card.

CONS:

The onboard speaker sucks - it's too quiet, you need either headphones or an external speaker to hear anything in loud environments such as in the car, etc. Luckily in the car I hook it up to my audio port on my head unit. The battery life can be better too - at 1 hour it's just not enough for movies.

OVERALL:

Considering the replacement bulbs for my home theater projector cost more, for the $239 I spent on it (http://www.aaxatech.com/products/kp190.htm) it's a pretty bad *** deal for a cool toy. If you're a gadget person like me, or have a Zune, Ipod/Iphone, PSP, or whatever I recommend a micro projector.

Here's some pics:

1. AAXA P1 Micro Projector (easily fits in the hand)
2. Transformers outdoors
3. SLR in the sand
4. Hooked up to my buddy's car-PC

 

[daniels_co]

when u say bad u realy mean bad? Because is good to know... i also wanted to buy one...

 

[BMXTRIX]

Keep in mind, these are toy projectors. They are not bright enough for any board room presentations, and are extremely limited on connectivity and brightness which makes them useless for home theater.

This is a great 'travel' type product to use almost exclusively after dark on fairly small screens.

The BenQ Audioholics reviewed a few weeks ago (see post below) was over 8 times as bright and they recommended a limitation of about 40" diagonal. This would put this one under 20" diagonal as a max size to maintain that quality.

THX standards would require a screen of about 12" diagonal - smaller than your typial laptop - for optima DARK THEATER quality!

These things are really cool, but are just several years away from being practical for anything worthwhile.

 

[quicke60]

when u say bad u realy mean bad? Because is good to know... i also wanted to buy one...

I meant bad *ss It's awesome, I really like it, it's a great travel toy. I'm going to try to build a headsup display with it - not sure if that will work though...

 

[quicke60]

Keep in mind, these are toy projectors. They are not bright enough for any board room presentations, and are extremely limited on connectivity and brightness which makes them useless for home theater.

This is a great 'travel' type product to use almost exclusively after dark on fairly small screens.

The BenQ Audioholics reviewed a few weeks ago (see post below) was over 8 times as bright and they recommended a limitation of about 40" diagonal. This would put this one under 20" diagonal as a max size to maintain that quality.

THX standards would require a screen of about 12" diagonal - smaller than your typial laptop - for optima DARK THEATER quality!

These things are really cool, but are just several years away from being practical for anything worthwhile.

Yeah that's true, if you're looking for theater quality - these devices are not it - it's not going to be able to compete with a home theather projector - no freaking way.

As you said - these things are best for travel / portability and of course totally battery powered! As for the diagonal size, I have to respectfully disagree, I can get 60" in the dark that is watchable. Sure it can't compare to my 1080P home theater projector, but it definitely is watchable.

The AAXA P1 is great for TV shows, short videos, etc. At least for me anyways

 

[quicke60]

Aaxa P2 Projector!

AAXA has just released their P2 projector:

http://www.aaxatech.com/news/P2_release.htm

33 Lumens!

I'm seriously thinking about upgrading...

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm seriously thinking about upgrading...

I would certainly encourage that...

How about an HD20?

 

[audiohonic65]

Nice detailed article, can really help people to make the right decision. Much appreciated!

 

[quicke60]

As in Optoma HD20?

My cousin has a mitusibishi HC5000 projector - the P1 has NOTHING on this projector. The P1 can't do a 150" movie with clarity and resolution but the Mitsubishi and I'm assuming the Optoma can. Honestly for movie watching the P1 (and I would imagine the P2 also) is probably best left to cable or regular TV shows in 50-60" sizes. It can't do anything close to the quality of a 1080P projector (obviously). I do stream a lot of Adult Swim through my P1 at night however. With sometimes 3-4 hours of TV / night it's nice not to have to worry about replacing the projector bulb.