Customer Reviews

AAXA P1 Pico Projector

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently bought this little giant to compliment my collection of Portable media players. I now use it regularly at night to watch TV shows recorded via Archos on my ceiling at 40" -50" and it works really well with Archos products. I primarily use it with Archos 504 that has the direct video out form the player, however I have also used it with Archos 605 with travel adaptor and it does the job just fine. Below is a mini review for people who may consider buying. You can buy it directly from the manufacturer at aaxatech.com

Pros:
* Tiny projector
* 30,000 bulb life, will never need replacement.
* Has built in memory of 1 gb
* Micro sd card slot (read my sandisk 8gb card just fine, a very pleasant surprise, manual says can read up to 2 gb)
* Portable with battery, in my battery test it gave me 48 minutes with speaker, have not tried it with headphones, I am assuming it will add more time.
* Works really well through a/v in function, one can use any video source.
* Built in software is good, I observed no video stuttering while using the micro sd card as the source of video.
* Supported file formats include MP4, MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AVI, WMV, SMV, BMP, JPG, GIF, and TXT.

Cons:
* Of course with 12 lumens you have to be in a room fairly dark, it is pretty much useless in a bright room. Best use in my opinion is at night with very little light. So, this may not be a good choice for people considering it to run presentations in offices. However, at night I had no problem watching videos on this.
* Does not come with a tripod, I found it difficult to hold it; it would be nice to see an accessory that may offer tripod that one could use even on uneven spaces.
* Sound output is tiny and useless from built in speaker, you may have to use either head phones or have it attached to some kind of music system.

I ordered one as a gift, but when it came, I kept it. It was too cool. I ordered it with the IPOD cable ($15) plugged it in, turned it on and hit play on my IPhone 3G. Killer picture. It works pretty good in a well lite room at maybe 13" to 18" screen size. In a pitch black room, on a white wall the picture was 50" to 60" easily....Wow. It's a wee bit noisy, like fan noise. But other then that thumbs way up. Very Impressed, especially for the size and price.

This is a review of the AAXA Pico mini projector, based on use over a month.

Brightness: The Pico offers adequate brightness at short range in daylight at normal monitor size of 15-22". In a completely dark room, the image is bright at 24" and adequate at 42" The picture is low-resolution but certainly adequate for videos.

Convenience: The size of a pack of cigarettes, the projector is easily pocketed. Use with an iPhone/iTouch, however, is inconvenient, especially with the short cord supplied as an extra.

The device, however, can also be used alone or with iPhone/iTouch or periferals such as a digital TV tuner or the Netflix TV device. These items worked well. Use alone is most convenient.

Comparison: Since the device is marketed for use with the iPhone/iTouch, an evaluation is needed here. Does the iPhone expand the usefulness of the projector? The short answer is no.

The iPhone iTouch small screens are themselves mostly preferable for individual viewing. More important, iPhone/iTouch AV does not provide a picture to the Pico at all much of the time, for example, the desktop/springboard, Safari browser, the weather channel. The latter limitation greatly diminishes usefulness of the Pico.

Based on all the above, then, the best use of the AAXA Pico is in the dark without any other auxiliary equipment, such as for viewing a movie downloaded to it. The Pico is put to its best advantage in projecting a large picture to the ceiling in the dark, for example in a hotel room or hospital. For such use a vertical bracket would be desirable to hold it in place. A bracket is also really needed for horizontal projection.

The device looks substantial except possibly for the light rubber lens cap and the plastic battery cover. External headphones or speaker(s) are mandatory; the speaker volume is extremely low.

Summary: The Pico excels at use without other equipment in the dark, especially for overhead projection. It is not recommended here for use with the iPhone/iTouch. However, use with Netflix box might be handy. Use with a digital TV tuner worked but requires an antenna for good reception.

For seniors, such as with wheelchair and small attached screen, use is impractical. Hopefully such uses will be developed for the handicapped..

In this modern day of technology, smaller is better. Everything is getting smaller, from cellphones to even game consoles (slim versions). It's nice to be able to pack practically an entire entertainment center into my suitcase taking up so little space. I use to have everything except a display, but now with this little gem, my entertainment center is now complete. An earphone set is essential with this unit though as the on-board speakers don't really do much in terms of providing quality sound, but it's there.

When there's a good amount of ambient lighting around, like during the day, this unit does not work well at all. You'd have to have it like 1 foot away from the wall to get a small but bright enough image to see. However, at night in a dark room, it's pretty amazing what this tiny unit can put out. It's like being able to carry a 60" flatscreen wherever I go.

This unit is great for anyone who has a collection of movies on their laptop or iPhone and doesn't want to pay any extra fees from some hotel. Just plug in your P1, get some popcorn, put on your earphones for the ultimate portable movie experience. I definitely enjoy viewing with this unit more than my 7" portable DVD player.

this is a great little projector , it is easy to set up. i like to play playstation with it and it goes on most flat surfaces. the room has to be comepletly dark for a desent picture.

The Aaxa Pico Projector seemed perfect for my small classroom setting, and my graduating seniors gave one to me as a gift last June. After waiting for 2 weeks, it arrived but would not work with the battery. I had purchased their VGA cables, though, and was hopeful because with the unit plugged in, it worked well with my laptop. The company replaced the battery and it still didn't work. After the replacement battery didn't help, I sent the unit back and finally received a replacement at the end of September. Meanwhile I bought their ipod cable. When I received the replacement, the battery worked, but I could not get the VGA cables to work with the computer and could not get the ipod cables to work with my ipod Touch2. Aaxa then said I would need Apple's cables (another $50). They did not work. By Nov 4th they suggested a few more fixes, and said that if I couldn't get it to work, they'd reimburse me (minus a 20% restocking fee if they found it ok). I tried their suggestions, but could not get it to work with my computer or ipod. On Nov 20, I asked for an RMA, which they sent. I then was down for 3 weeks with the flu and complications. I was finally able to send the unit and cables back right after Christmas. They checked out the unit, which they said was ok but RENIGGED ON THEIR COMMITMENT TO REIMBURSE ME. Don't bother with this company. I only wish I had purchased it on Amazon.

Ordered a unit directly from aaxa on a monday and received it on the friday. plugged in the battery and the charger. turned it on, took a few seconds to reread the manual to figure out that to get to the menu you have to hold down the play button and not press the menu button. the menu system is kind of confusing. to move up and down through the list of files you have to click left and right instead of up and down.

i thought the unit would come with 1 gb onboard memory and a 1 gb microsd card, perhaps it was an old promotion for a free sd card? dont know

so i turn the unit on, and get to the pictures that came with the unit, after about 5 seconds, the colors become inversed, whites black, blacks white, etc.. i go back to the menu and the colors remained inverse. i try turning the unit off and then back on. the colors are fine, i go try to play the onboard video, a few seconds later, the colors become invesered, go back to the menu and they remained inverse.

i sent an email the same day on friday to their tech support, no reply.

the next week i call them on monday. they say they will call me back in 15 min. they don't call back for a few hours, so i call back and then they tell me to ship the unit back to them without reimburing the shipping costs.

so now im waiting for a proper unit.

I bot this product from AaxaTech...and let me tell you that they are real good. Product arrived in 2 days...They have very good support. Product is also really good with iphone and ipod.
satisfied with product and shipper.